Liturgy · Laughter · Camaraderie · Contemplation
In my last two posts I have discussed the lack, or void, that seems to be intrinsic to the human experience. As I have suggested, the way we often deal with this sense of emptiness is to insist that it is an unnatural intruder that must be overcome, and further, the Christian solution is to […]
In our last article we considered the fact that we as humans feel within ourselves a lack or a void that we want to overcome. We often look to some “sacred object” that, if attained, will give us the sense of fulfillment we crave. We desperately want to avoid the void. Consider the words of […]
Those who have been following my work will know that I have been highlighting the concept of “Exile” as a kind of catch-all category to describe ideas like divine weakness, folly, and (what Luther called) the theology of the cross. Further, I am placing Exile in contradistinction from “Empire,” which is the source of ideas […]
When most people hear the phrase “religious trauma” or “spiritual abuse,” they immediately jump to the conclusion that it denotes some form of sexual molestation. It may, but that doesn’t mean it must. Spiritual abuse certainly (and unfortunately) can take the form of sexual violence or assault. Whether it’s a pastor, priest, Sunday school teacher, […]
Various definitions have been suggested for the concept of religious trauma; I’ll offer my own: Religious trauma involves the lingering ill-effects of any type of spiritual abuse, whether physical or emotional. This may sound too broad, but that’s exactly the challenge that faces the sufferers of religious trauma, namely, that the abuse can be subtle […]
I concluded my last post by asking some questions that I’d like to unpack here: So given this overarching rubric of Exile and Empire, what familiar terms belong where? Where does church belong? What about kingdom? Into which category should we place ideas like dogma, heresy, canon, and essentials/non-essentials? And what about grace, weakness, and the folly of the cross? Where do they fit? And […]