tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post1795712179159857600..comments2024-03-27T18:18:11.525-06:00Comments on American Creation: John Adams' Reasons For Theological UniversalismBrad Harthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17669677047039491864noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-82887380613357869072009-08-27T16:18:15.932-06:002009-08-27T16:18:15.932-06:00Howl, snarl, bite, ye Calvinistic.....ye will say ...<i>Howl, snarl, bite, ye Calvinistic.....ye will say I am no Christian; I say ye are no Christians</i><br /><br />I think that was the majority view of the central Framers--that Calvinist Trinitarianism was NOT "real Christianity." Not sure what replaces it, though even Adams has a Deistic aspect (as indicated in the above passage). <br /><br />The Framers were also champions of Liberty, and that doesn't seem overly compatible with calvinist determinism (or, dare we say, the judeo-christian God's supposed omnipotence itself). <br /><br />That said, the so-called Elect were certainly a force in early America (and remain so). The Framers themselves were concerned that fundamentalism (calvinist or otherwise) could overtake the people. Given the abiding power of the Hagee sorts, those fears were not unfounded.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567400697675996283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-66967725384784072092009-08-27T14:45:36.135-06:002009-08-27T14:45:36.135-06:00Ms. VDM, whether or not the "transcendent&quo...Ms. VDM, whether or not the "transcendent" exists is not the subject of this blog. The belief in the transcendent and its effect on the Founding is.<br /><br />"For the normative self-understanding of modernity, Christianity has functioned as more than just a precursor or catalyst. Universalistic egalitarianism, from which sprang the ideals of freedom and a collective life in solidarity, the autonomous conduct of life and emancipation, the individual morality of conscience, human rights and democracy, is the direct legacy of the Judaic ethic of justice and the Christian ethic of love. This legacy, substantially unchanged, has been the object of a continual critical reappropriation and reinterpretation. Up to this very day there is no alternative to it. And in light of the current challenges of a post-national constellation, we must draw sustenance now, as in the past, from this substance. Everything else is idle postmodern talk."<br /><br />---Jürgen Habermas, Religion and Rationality: Essays on Reason, God, and Modernity, edited by Eduardo Mendieta, MIT Press, 2002, p149Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-6153564000611459502009-08-27T08:13:22.905-06:002009-08-27T08:13:22.905-06:00How can anyone argue the "transcendent" ...How can anyone argue the "transcendent" realm? That becomes an argument of "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin". Does it matter? <br /><br />The world accepts evolution as truth, and it seems to me that that is where the argument is. What is man? What is to be society's gauge? The basis of evolution is that God is irrelavant, when it comes to understanding science. And this is where we live and move and have our being.Angie Van De Merwehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12617299120618867829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-21597605016730625532009-08-26T18:16:57.691-06:002009-08-26T18:16:57.691-06:00unitarian universalism
...which as we see, in ma...<i>unitarian universalism </i><br /><br />...which as we see, in many cases was a uniquely <i>Christian</i> unitarianism and/or universalism, not by any means what we find in 2009's Unitarian Universalist Church.<br /><br />I am quite anxious to see how Carlton Pearson's stay at a UU church with his<br /><br /><i>He heard God answer, “...We redeemed and reconciled all of humanity at Calvary.”</i> <br /><br />plays out. That at least makes Jesus the Messiah, and Pearson's use of "We" makes one suspect Trinitarianism...Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-27926929862629952982009-08-26T16:59:08.433-06:002009-08-26T16:59:08.433-06:00That's true. There is the Trinitarian univers...That's true. There is the Trinitarian universalism that Rush, Murray, and Winchester believed in. And the unitarian universalism that believe good people merit Heaven the bad are temporarily punished according to the level of bad they do.<br /><br />Accordingly, for the unitarians who believe in the doctrine (Adams and Priestley did, Jefferson did not) Jesus was resurrected because he was the most perfectly moral man. And it served as an example of what God the Father will one day do for all GOOD men.Jonathan Rowehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04079637406589278386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-49347012274014468722009-08-26T16:30:02.249-06:002009-08-26T16:30:02.249-06:00Sounds like Hosea
Ballou's exposition of &quo...Sounds like Hosea<br /><br /><i>Ballou's exposition of "Ultra Universalism" [which] led [William Ellery Channing, the leading Unitarian preacher] to attack him in a sermon in 1832, saying that he had never seen a "more irrational doctrine." Ever the controversialist, Ballou refuted Channing's arguments with vigor...</i><br /><br />I think we should take a closer theological look at this stuff and not lump it all together. For instance, Carlton Pearson's "classic" universalism is rooted in "Christ's Blood," the Atonement for man's sins.<br /><br />These unitarian and universalist unorthodoxies are getting thrown into a stew, but some are uniquely rooted in Christianity and argued via the Bible, others are not, and there is a mighty difference.Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com