otherbrother
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My recent theological leanings, emerging during and after writing the book Getting to Know One's Connected Self, lead me to believe that physical reality is an accident that is in the process of being corrected.
Perhaps this view is not much different than the traditional metaphysical belief that Satan broke away from God, but God's love reaches across the divide to overcome or transcend Satan's influence. Simply replace Satan with matter and a material world requiring constant specific acts that distract us from a sense of oneness and wholeness.
A few of my assumptions are:
God is not all powerful even though most powerful. To maintain a trust in a loving God, I cannot be blaming an all powerful god that created a world that includes horrible things. It's not God's fault that boulders fall on people and crush them. The physical reality that includes falling boulders, lethal diseases, deadly earthquakes and hurricanes and wars is a cosmic accident or disease. God can’t be blamed for “bad” shit like that.
And the argument that God allows free will so we can freely choose love is flimsy on two counts. First, it doesn’t cover the natural disasters and accidents.
Second, it forces the participants in physical reality to take the free will test or game. The game all but guarantees a great deal of failure and suffering for those who choose poorly. Why would a loving God torture some losers in order to prove that the winners love God or each other. It wreaks of Munchauser (sp?) disorder in which the care giver sets up a situation of making patients sick so they can depend on the “care”giver. Why would a loving all-powerful God choose anything other than blissful harmony for any part of total reality?
A loving God would not choose to put anyone through the suffering inherent in physical existence. It was an unfortunate accident or disease that we cannot blame God for.
God is the victim of it also. A loving God suffers when love and harmony is blocked or interrupted.
But even as the accident or disease persists for eons, the Stronger Force (albeit not ALL powerful force) exerts a correcting or healing influence.
Also, despite the accident or disease, God remains vital, good, beautiful, not totally affected by the accident or disease. God's divine nature rubs off on the flawed nature of physical reality that is replete with high resistance and brokenness. Because of Divine Being (verb form of being) there is enough beauty in the world to make it a happy accident that does in fact reveal good and whole things despite its flaws.
Considering these beliefs, I considered calling my current theology (admitting that it could change with additional insights) "positive Gnosticism."
When I looked up the phrase, this (below) is what Open A.I. told me. It doesn't seem a perfect fit but very close. Perhaps Opportunistic Gnosticism better fits my metaphysical notions and the theological implications, including switching thanking God to "God, You're beautiful " when appreciating good things in my life. This, because my focus is on what God IS (Being) instead of transactional actions (doing). In my view, God was not the Maker or Creator of our reality. God's divine nature simply had the effect of making the accident somewhat beautiful and good, as though it was an artist's intentional work of art.
Here's the definition of positive Gnosticism that aI found online:
Positive gnosticism (often discussed in esoteric history and religious studies) refers to a specific, optimistic strain of mysticism that embraces the material universe as a divine revelation. It contrasts with "negative" or "pessimistic" gnosticism, which views the physical world as an inescapable trap created by a flawed, malevolent deity. [1 (
), 2 (https://www.enotes.com/topics/cyber...tory-and-cyberpunk/erik-davis-essay-date-1993)]
While traditional Gnosticism is often characterized by its world-rejecting worldview, positive gnosticism—frequently found in Renaissance Hermeticism and specific branches of Islamic philosophy—emphasizes the following: [1 (
), 2 (Chapter 4: Ali And Positive Gnosticism (Irfan)), 3 (https://www.enotes.com/topics/cyber...tory-and-cyberpunk/erik-davis-essay-date-1993), 4 (Gnosticism | Modern Reformation)]
• Sacred Materialism: The visible cosmos is seen as a manifest map of divine light, where the physical plane reflects spiritual realities rather than impris
oning them. [
1 (https://www.enotes.com/topics/cyber...tory-and-cyberpunk/erik-davis-essay-date-1993)
,
2 (
)
]
•
Human Potential:
Humanity possesses divine, cosmic powers. Through the pursuit of
gnosis
(mystical enlightenment), individuals can awaken, ascend, and unite with the divine source while recognizing their spiritual autonomy.[
1 (Gnosticism | Religion and Philosophy | Research Starters | EBSCO Research)
,
2 (Techgnosis: Seed-Crystal - Techgnosis)
,
3 (
)
,
4 (https://www.enotes.com/topics/cyber...tory-and-cyberpunk/erik-davis-essay-date-1993)
]
•
Proto-Scientific Impulse:
The positive view of reality historically fueled alchemy and esoteric sciences, as practitioners believed the material universe was alive with sentient stellar forces that could be understood and communed with. [
1 (https://www.enotes.com/topics/cyber...tory-and-cyberpunk/erik-davis-essay-date-1993)
]
--------
Note that I included A.I.'s sources of information, in case anyone wants to look them up.
Thanks for considering these theological notions.
Perhaps this view is not much different than the traditional metaphysical belief that Satan broke away from God, but God's love reaches across the divide to overcome or transcend Satan's influence. Simply replace Satan with matter and a material world requiring constant specific acts that distract us from a sense of oneness and wholeness.
A few of my assumptions are:
God is not all powerful even though most powerful. To maintain a trust in a loving God, I cannot be blaming an all powerful god that created a world that includes horrible things. It's not God's fault that boulders fall on people and crush them. The physical reality that includes falling boulders, lethal diseases, deadly earthquakes and hurricanes and wars is a cosmic accident or disease. God can’t be blamed for “bad” shit like that.
And the argument that God allows free will so we can freely choose love is flimsy on two counts. First, it doesn’t cover the natural disasters and accidents.
Second, it forces the participants in physical reality to take the free will test or game. The game all but guarantees a great deal of failure and suffering for those who choose poorly. Why would a loving God torture some losers in order to prove that the winners love God or each other. It wreaks of Munchauser (sp?) disorder in which the care giver sets up a situation of making patients sick so they can depend on the “care”giver. Why would a loving all-powerful God choose anything other than blissful harmony for any part of total reality?
A loving God would not choose to put anyone through the suffering inherent in physical existence. It was an unfortunate accident or disease that we cannot blame God for.
God is the victim of it also. A loving God suffers when love and harmony is blocked or interrupted.
But even as the accident or disease persists for eons, the Stronger Force (albeit not ALL powerful force) exerts a correcting or healing influence.
Also, despite the accident or disease, God remains vital, good, beautiful, not totally affected by the accident or disease. God's divine nature rubs off on the flawed nature of physical reality that is replete with high resistance and brokenness. Because of Divine Being (verb form of being) there is enough beauty in the world to make it a happy accident that does in fact reveal good and whole things despite its flaws.
Considering these beliefs, I considered calling my current theology (admitting that it could change with additional insights) "positive Gnosticism."
When I looked up the phrase, this (below) is what Open A.I. told me. It doesn't seem a perfect fit but very close. Perhaps Opportunistic Gnosticism better fits my metaphysical notions and the theological implications, including switching thanking God to "God, You're beautiful " when appreciating good things in my life. This, because my focus is on what God IS (Being) instead of transactional actions (doing). In my view, God was not the Maker or Creator of our reality. God's divine nature simply had the effect of making the accident somewhat beautiful and good, as though it was an artist's intentional work of art.
Here's the definition of positive Gnosticism that aI found online:
Positive gnosticism (often discussed in esoteric history and religious studies) refers to a specific, optimistic strain of mysticism that embraces the material universe as a divine revelation. It contrasts with "negative" or "pessimistic" gnosticism, which views the physical world as an inescapable trap created by a flawed, malevolent deity. [1 (
While traditional Gnosticism is often characterized by its world-rejecting worldview, positive gnosticism—frequently found in Renaissance Hermeticism and specific branches of Islamic philosophy—emphasizes the following: [1 (
• Sacred Materialism: The visible cosmos is seen as a manifest map of divine light, where the physical plane reflects spiritual realities rather than impris
oning them. [
1 (https://www.enotes.com/topics/cyber...tory-and-cyberpunk/erik-davis-essay-date-1993)
,
2 (
]
•
Human Potential:
Humanity possesses divine, cosmic powers. Through the pursuit of
gnosis
(mystical enlightenment), individuals can awaken, ascend, and unite with the divine source while recognizing their spiritual autonomy.[
1 (Gnosticism | Religion and Philosophy | Research Starters | EBSCO Research)
,
2 (Techgnosis: Seed-Crystal - Techgnosis)
,
3 (
,
4 (https://www.enotes.com/topics/cyber...tory-and-cyberpunk/erik-davis-essay-date-1993)
]
•
Proto-Scientific Impulse:
The positive view of reality historically fueled alchemy and esoteric sciences, as practitioners believed the material universe was alive with sentient stellar forces that could be understood and communed with. [
1 (https://www.enotes.com/topics/cyber...tory-and-cyberpunk/erik-davis-essay-date-1993)
]
--------
Note that I included A.I.'s sources of information, in case anyone wants to look them up.
Thanks for considering these theological notions.