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I like the story of the desperate father who says to Jesus, "I believe. Help my unbelief!"

You post reminds of Kierkegaaard's PURITY OF HEART IS TO WILL ONE THING, in which he shows that the one thing has to be God. (Otherwise, there's division in the will)

BTW, when God says to Moses "I am who am" or "I will be whom I will be" (either translation is correct), it COULD be a way of saying "Mind your own business." So maybe the Jewish tradition which refers to God as "the nameless one" is right!

In fact, I wonder if Christianity would have survived at all w/o Paul. Of course, God seems to work through humans WITHOUT changing a person's basic disposition and temperament (Look at crazy Ezekiel ;)) So Paul, a strong personality, gives Christainity a certain spin--a Pauline spin. We may...

I did not mean that the mystic OPPOSES dogma, let alone attacks it. I mean that he/she transcends it. In doing so, I believe that the mystic sees (or feels) the limitations of dogma. That is, dogma may be a starting point, but its severe limitations are seen in that it has to be expressed in...

I guess you had to be there, huh? I mean, to get the import of the "rock" passage. BTW, this is true of a lot of passages, which may be one reason Jesus never wrote a book. The printed word can be very deceptive, without the body language, tone of voice, facial expression, etc. A master's...

You and Flow make good points. I would say that faith is the same as trust, not mere consent to an intellectual propostion. And as Paul says, "If I have faith to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." There is even a kind of "as if," creative element in faith. That is, I don't...

Flow, I have that book, and have slogged through most of it. I found it pretty tough going, but still interesting. It's been a couple of years, but as I recall, Eisenman makes much of James' vegetarianism and general asceticism. It appears that he was held in high regard by the Pharisees...

The following should be relevant to this topic: SUFI: The Immediacy of God Karen Armstrong points out that the Kingdom of God "is not an experience for the elite or for monks only; the kingdom announced by Christ in the Gospels is a union with God that everybody can experience...

It's interesting that it's the Pharisee Gamaliel who defends them after this incident in Acts 5.

Do as they say but not as they do!

Maybe the problem is the very project of definition. To define is to set limits. How can you do that with God or Spirit--or for that matter, the ways to them? And people's attempts to do so are fraught with danger. There will always be some who say, You must agree with me or I will kill you...

But in Matt 23:1-3 he also told his disciples to listen to the scribes and Pharisees and follow their teaching.

Yes. Here's a meditation on that point: BY LOVE POSSESSED – Love and Faith In giving a "heart" to Tinman, the Wizard of Oz says, "Remember, my sentimental friend, that a heart is judged by, not how much it loves, but by how much it is loved." St Francis of Assissi, OTOH...

Did Paul "win" or did he prevail? I think the latter. Basically, tho, I think Paul and Jesus are in agreement on what counts--the "Duologue,"--First the Shema Yisrael; "Love the Lord with all your heart, etc, and your neighbor as yourself. Even in Romans, Paul says that he who loves his...

Once again, I agree. But note that in LUke 10, it is the scribe who quote the "Duologue." So this was probably a common formula in Pharasaic Judaism.

Good points. Here's something I've posted before, but it may be relevant here: MYSTICISM AND DOGMATISM: “Everything that Rises Must Converge” (Teilhard de Chardin) Jesus said, “I will draw all men to Me.” ALL men. Of course, such drawing is more obvious in some cases than in...

A valid view, I think.

"The disciples said to Jesus, 'We know you are going to leave us. Who will be our leader? "Jesus said to them, 'No matter where you are, your are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being." It is unlikely that this passage from the Gospel of Thomas...

SPIRIT: The Added Dimension We're told that we're composed of a body and a soul. Then we wonder if the soul is immortal. In personal terms, this becomes, "Will I live forever?" Maybe we're selling ourselves short. That may be the wrong question, wrong because it frames the...