Was Jesus a Deontologist or teleontologist?

Given that a deontologist is concerned with right or wrong given a set of rules  and a teleologists is concerned with the outcome I would say Jesus was a teleogist. I say this because he was breaking or moving beyond the rules that was in his background. He was concerned that everyone knew about the love of God and learned about the kingdom of heaven being upon them.

Divine Order and Free Will- Anyone up for baseball?

The question is usually posed Is it Divine Order or Free Will? Divcine order then can be transformed into predestination and all hell breaks loose. Is Divine order and free will mutually exclusive? I suppose it depends on how you  define Divne order. Can Divine order be the laws set in motion at the time of the Big Bang? I look at how magnificent creation is and the order within it. Has to be some Divine order at work. Our bodies are truly amazing. There has to be divine order at work there. This divine order does not invalidate the existence of free will within humans. We have the power to choose.  Maybe it is like a professional baseball game. Both teams agree to play within a set of rules/laws. They get to decide whether to bunt, swing away or hit a ball at a specific area on the field. The defense gets to choose how they are going to play each play also. Free will/choice operating within a set of given rules/laws. Both make up the game. Play Ball!

Is Unity part of the Church?

By Church are we saying the body of Christ? Well, yes we are people who have the Christ within.  We gather to empower ourselves and each other to live out of the true nature of who we are. I think as a Unity minister it is wise to be connected with the other ministers in the area that we live in to make connections. It is wise to know what is happening in other churches and their "service" projects and possibly get congregants that are interested in community projects connected.When a tornado went through North Minneapolis we were asked to go and be present to people during the dinner meal at another church. We were there to listen and be present to people. Connections are important. You never know where you will find a kindred spirit.

Is salvation for the living or the dead?

As I read the chapter on sorteriology I came up with the question: Is salvation for the living or for the dead? As I typed the question for the title of this post the thoughts came to me: What do you mean dead? By dead do I mean the soul? If I mean the soul is not that the Divine nature of me? If it is the Divine nature of me, then it never  dies. So, salvation must be for the living. Which living? Well, I don't think the Divine nature needs saving.It is of God now and ever will be. What is left is my human living being right here and right now. So, what saves me right here and right now? What do I need to be saved from? Do I miss the mark? yes. Does missing the mark mean you are separate from God? What can ever separate us from God? God is always present. Does God turn away from us if we screw up? I think not. I feel that Divine urge within urging me back to center time and time again. What saves me? God urging me back to center. Or, God urging me back to live out of God. So, I might be leading towards the reconciling theory or the process theology point of view. Well, at least for this moment.

What to do with Jesus

I find it interesting that Unity is a Christian denomination and yet there is the question posed What do we do with Jesus? I suppose some of this comes from the fact that most of us in Unity are coming from other denominations or religions. I think some of it comes from seeing the Bible as myth and then what does that do to our Jesus. Seeing the Bible as myth does not negate that Jesus existed. It does not negate that he shifted the way to look at things at his time. It does not negate that he touched and affected people. We seem to grasp the Christ and let go of the human Jesus. Why is it hard to believe and claim that he really did do the miracles? Who is to say when you are vibrating at a higher level that you can't walk on water or heal people. Why is it that we have the SEE course Teachings of Jesus and the only thing said was that he taught by principle, precept, miracles and action. We never really touched on the actual teachings. Unity says that Jesus is our wayshower. If Jesus is our wayshower we have to embrace the stories we have of Jesus  and make sense of them in our time and in our context.

Is Panentheism trinitarian?

How does one define trinitarian? Does that mean that there are three facets of God that make up God in totality? I don't know if this is the proper definition but it will be the one I use. Given the definition of monistic panentheism as: God includes all the principles and laws of existence, as well as physcial matter and energy and any spiritual realms which may exist. So, we have principles, physcial and spiritual. If you look at it in this basic framework it would seem that  monistic panentheism leans toward being trinitarian. It could be the embedded theology of the writer of the definition of monistic panentheism coming through. I also realize the basic framework is lumping together things that may or may not fit together in order to get to three "facets." I also realize when talking about God we are dealing with mystery which can not be defined.  Maybe God can only be experienced.

My Buttons were pushed

I must admit my buttons were pushed today in class. Red flags were waving for me. When I read in the summary :
A society which functions harmoniously (with a minimum of maladaptive behavior) displays Cultural Integration, which is another way to say its practices are adaptive to the circumstances and provide for the health, well being and competitive success of the larger group.
I ask the following questions:
From what perspective are you judging the amount of maladaptive behavior?
Is it from the large group that is in power?
What about the oppressed minorities that don't fit the norm? What about the community that has 66% unemployment rate  and a large % living in poverty.  I am talking about the community of people with disabilities. This community deals with inaccessibility to society; whose quality of life is  called into judgement in matters of who gets health care and euthanasia.  Is our society functioning harmoniously? By the way, the Chuch lobbied and succeded to be exempt from the ADA. Businesses only need to prove undue financial hardship to not meet reasonable accommodation requests.  What happenned to: If one person is oppressed all are oppressed?