“A Longing as Vast as the Universe”
“A Longing as Vast as the Universe” As you may know, Père Teilhard de Chardin was a priest, geologist and paleontologist. He was a rare breed, a scholar who believed with every fiber of his being that one can trace a vision of—as he put it—“a positive confluence of christian life with the natural sap of the … Continue reading
Salon-a-thon
I found three interesting articles on Salon.com today, all related to my interest in theology and teleology. The first is one of Salon’s lead-off articles for today, an interview with religious historian James Carse (professor emeritus at NYU). He takes a very iconoclastic approach to religion, at least, one rather at odds with my understanding. … Continue reading
Postscript to Noah’s Rainbow
Postscript to Noah’s Rainbow: the Epistle to Diognetus In my web travels today, I came upon the Early Christian “Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus,” dated to approximately 130-200 AD. You can read the full letter here. And, nice explanations of it here and here. The letter’s anonymous author, Mathetes (simply Greek for “disciple”), is rather … Continue reading
Noah’s Rainbow
Noah’s Rainbow: The Development of Human Intellect and Compassion The first book of the Bible, Genesis, recounts the mythic stories of some of our earliest human ancestors. The name Genesis literally means “birth,” or “origin,” and it poetically charts how human beings developed knowledge, society and morality over time. For instance, in Genesis 9—after the … Continue reading
Making a Mountain Out of an Anthill
Making a Mountain Out of an Anthill: The Inner Drive for a Social Contract I have been reading Teilhard de Chardin’s The Phenomenon of Man (NY: Harper and Row, 1975), and gotten as far as his third section, “Thought.” His premise is fascinating, that consciousness underlies all matter. Consciousness is thus omnipresent, and ever-increases with … Continue reading
Abba and Amen
Abba and Amen I’ve been reading the book Myths of Religion by Andrew M. Greeley this week. It is a compendium of three of his books written in the Seventies, The Jesus Myth, The Sinai Myth and The Mary Myth. I’m intrigued by Greeley’s definition of myth, one that diverges from Joseph Campbell’s insofar as … Continue reading
Gabriel’s Revelation
Gabriel’s Revelation In today’s NY Times there appeared an article on a controversial first-century BC stone tablet with two columns of painted Hebrew text, the so-called “Gabriel’s Revelation” tablet. This “stone Dead Sea Scroll” recounts an apocalyptic vision revealed by the Angel Gabriel, one that involves a suffering messiah who will redeem Israel through bloody … Continue reading
Finding Ted Neeley
About a month ago I watched Norman Jewison’s 1973 film “Jesus Christ Superstar” for the first time. The film and musical score date from my childhood, and I was therefore amazed that it has held onto its “freshness” in terms of its music and impact. To begin with, it seems Rice and Webber’s rock … Continue reading
In the beginning…
Percyflage is a new forum for sharing ideas and opinions about the boundless mind and spirit: past, present and future. I will be posting my own raillery and musings, but welcome everyone to weigh in and craft a dialogue. Thanks for visiting!
Percyflage 