The Depth of Unknowing

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-118
Author(s):  
Nindyo Sasongko
Keyword(s):  
First Century ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Human Knowledge ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
Apophatic Theology ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Pseudo Dionysius ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

What is the relevance of the sixth-century writings attributed to Dionysius of Areopagite or Pseudo-Dionysius for twenty-first-century Christianity? This article is an inquiry into the notion of divine unknowability within the Pseudo-Dionysian corpus. As a thinker who lived in an era in which great disputations over cardinal doctrines of the church had become passé, Pseudo-Dionysius seemed to have creatively used different concepts and phrases than those great thinkers before him. For Dionysius, the way to know God is to unknow (agnōsia) God, for God cannot be the object of human knowledge—God is beyond being. To posit God as being or to be existent means, therefore, idolatry, since God is that which cannot be grasped by words or human concepts. To assess this apophatic theology of Pseudo-Dionysius, I shall make use of the thinking of Raimon Panikkar who struggles against Western “strict monotheism.” Finally, I shall demonstrate the implications of the doctrine of the unknowability of God vis-à-vis modern debates on the existence of God and on atheism.

The Church as the Community of the Shared Story

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-16
Author(s):  
Eddy Van der Borght
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ethnic Churches ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

AbstractWithin this article, three ecumenical documents that discuss reconciliation and healing memories and that were published in the twenty first century are analyzed. The focus is on the way they deal with the past link between church and ethnicity, and how this has contributed to the inability of actual national or ethnic churches to be an expression of the one, catholic church of the ancient creeds. The result of the analysis is disappointing. The texts avoid dealing with this issue.

Defining the Center—Finding the Boundaries: The Challenge of Re-Visioning the Church in North America for the Twenty-First Century

1994 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-337
Author(s):  
Craig Van Gelder
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
American Culture ◽  
First Century ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Mission Field ◽  
The Church

It is becoming increasingly clear that we are experiencing a shift in North American culture that requires the church to think of North America as mission field. The thesis of this article is that the church will need to develop a new paradigm of mission to accomplish this. This article identifies 18 issues which such a paradigm of mission will need to address. These issues are discussed in terms of three aspects: (1) the context in which we live, (2) the gospel we seek to proclaim, and (3) the church which seeks to proclaim this gospel.

A short ethnography of twenty-first century consumers: On retail rage and one-dimensionality

2021 ◽  
pp. 146954052110396
Author(s):  
Kevin P. Bingham
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Retail Trade ◽  
First Century ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Unique Position ◽  
Material Goods ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Sociological Interpretation ◽  
The Way

This article begins with two central ideas – that feelings of rage appear to be on the increase in present modernity and that one of the main sources of rage is directly linked to consumer culture and the retail experience it fosters. Although retail trade allows twenty-first century individuals to spend their money on material goods and experiences which provide structure and a sense of meaning and belonging, what it also causes is ambivalence, insecurity and anxiety. These are formidable feelings that cause irritation, frustration and anger to gradually fester until it accumulates into something violent that distorts the way an individual thinks, acts and treats other people. With these points in mind, what this article provides is a thorough sociological interpretation of twenty-first century retail rage. Veering away from existing interpretations of rage by drawing on Herbert Marcuse’s analysis and image of a one-dimensional society, what this article explores is the idea that retail experiences turn people into individuals who are bound and controlled by a consumer duty. As I contend, based on my unique position as a researcher turned retail worker, it is this administered, one-dimensional kind of lifestyle that cultivates rage. To support my argument and understand more comprehensively how and why retail breeds frustration and anger, I use a selection of narrative episodes to unpack three key sources of consumer rage in the twenty-first century. These sources have been labelled instantaneity, performativity and unfulfillment.

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