It has been my privilege to absorb the teachings of Aquinas in my training as a Dominican and in particular with two notable scholars, Father Athanasius Weisheipl, OP (who went from the Dominican House of Studies in River Forest, Illinois to the Institute of Medieval Studies in Toronto) and the esteemed Aquinas scholar, theologian and historian, Father M. D. Chenu, OP.
Scholars have debated for decades whether Jesus referred to himself as “the son of God.” I agree with those who conclude no. Jesus, as Walter Wink demonstrates, most likely understood and spoke of himself in the tradition of the prophet Ezekiel, as “the son of man,” or “the human one”.
Who is Donald Trump? As our nation prepares for another contentious presidential election seven months from now, the cult and menace of Donald Trump continue to loom large on the horizon. It would be hard to imagine a more dishonest, corrupt, and unfit candidate for President of the United States.
I doubt anyone who reads Progressing Spirit believes there is a supernatural god called God who hands out parcels of land to this people or that. Yet many continue to use the word “god” to name something they believe in, which is not a supernatural being who hands out parcels of land to this people or that.
The chronology of the week is where the difficulty originates. Most Christians believe that first Jesus was crucified, and then he rose from the dead. The reality is that first came the resurrection and then the crucifixion. This is crucial.
A dominant message, at least in Western media, is that we deserve better and we will get there. For the profanely privileged or perpetually oppressed, modernity and capitalism peddle fixes for all, if we just vote right.
When I studied the resurgence of life after the world’s five previous extinction events — the Ordovician-silurian, Devonian, Permian-triassic, Triassic-jurassic, and Cretaceous-tertiary — I felt like I was witnessing an Easter-morning resurrection.
“The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.” If you did not know already, it will not surprise you to know that quote is from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
This Valentine’s Day, I pay homage to W. E. B. Du Bois’s 1924 novel “Dark Princess” because it highlights the least talked about subject then and now: Black love.
This is an excerpt from my book Dry Bones and Holy Wars released by Orbis Books in 2021.