Monday 2 December 2013

Controversial - Servants of God


Dorothy Day




Peter Maurin




radical Christians
both brave and controversial
lights in the darkness

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for the intro to these two. I will read up on them both. Sounds interesting. There are ( I cannot speculate on how many)quiet unsung saints.If you are lucky enough to have known them you can pray to them instead of the more formal saints with halos and bouquets of flowers whom you have only read about but never have met.

    Which takes me to the nature of prayer. Prayer is not just a formal set of recitations from a prayer book. Every morning I sit quietly and play some Bach to begin my day.A Hindu holy man pointed out to me this is a form of meditation and praying because I am making a connection to God. I think he is right.

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  2. Hello Dodo - long time no chat. Hope you're doing well!

    I assume from your posts below that you are once more cast out from the Church Below the Line.

    Curious choice of saints - certainly "controversial". Still, nobody's perfect, and it's a good thing that God saves people on the left to remind us of that fact ;)

    Anyway, read something in one of my scurrilous Protestant journals that made me grin and think of you. The whole thing is pretty solid, but the really relevant bit's here:

    "One additional factor that gives me hope for the future of humbly engaged, gospel-focused Evangelicalism is Rome. By this, I don’t necessarily mean some form of Catholic-Evangelical co-belligerence. I mean instead that the Roman Catholic Church is unlikely, at least at the magisterial level, to shift with the tides of Western culture as the state gives the sword of Caesar to protect the orthodoxies of the sexual revolution. Rome’s witness to a Christian sexual ethic will keep the question alive, and entrepreneurial Evangelicalism will be unable to bargain away its birthright without being reminded by the Vatican of what we’ve become in the process."

    Thought you'd enjoy that, especially as it's written by a Southern Baptist!

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  3. Cressida

    I hoped you'd see this.

    Neither are recognised as Saints by the Church. Dorothy is having her case considered for beatification but needs a miracle attributed to her. There has been talk of Peter being put forward too. So, technically, it is only Dorothy who has the title 'Servant of God'. I say, pray to them. Why not?

    They are very interesting, colourful people with very different stories who met in America. I think you'll enjoy looking into them. Peter was a wandering French "vagabond" who like verse. Dorothy, once described as the "first hippy", is more politically controversial and her conversion and growth in faith is inspiring.

    Prayer is simply a communication with God. Just remember, for Christians, He is a personal God with whom we have a direct relationship. Hindu religions do not believe this.

    Enjoy ....

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  4. Belfast

    Yes, booted off again for being .... well ... a Catholic!

    Dorothy and Peter cannot be understood in modern 'left' or 'right' wing terms. Intriguing modern Christians with radical alternatives to both 'protestant capitalism' and materialist socialism.

    And of course the Catholic Church's sexual morality stands out - and always will. It's the only Church with a fully developed sexual theology that it holds to. And that's because it's the one, true Church. What else?

    (Forgive the 'Dodo moment'. It's been so long!)

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  5. Ha...love the Dodo moment.

    Nice of Belfast to pop in and throw a few wilted cabbages at the old bird in the stocks:)

    I feel bad about calling him an intractable obdurate nong all those years ago.He has proved not to be too bad as far as protestant medieval scholars go.


    At least you got booted off the farm for being a Catholic. I got booted off for making inappropriate remarks about His Grace's buttocks. I wonder if he could ever find it in his heart to forgive me if I promised never to mention his bottom again.

    I have not had time to read about these controversial Christians yet, but will soon and get back to you

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  6. Lol ... you should really use your literary talent to craft an apology and a firm purpose of amendment not to be rude to him. It was 'bad manners', as I recall, that led to him accepting your offer to depart. The record is below under 'Fantasy Pope'.

    Be prepared to be surprised reading on these two Catholics. They are controversial and people quote and comment on them differently.

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  7. Belfast

    I read that paper and, to me, it was all over the place but then I have a Catholic 'mindset' and am neither theologically nor philosophically trained.

    This bit was written by someone who does not understand Catholicism:

    "At the same time, Evangelical Christianity can remind Roman Catholicism that natural law is true enough so far as it goes but that the natural law points to a Judgment Seat (Rom. 2:15–16). Catholics will push Evangelicals to see beyond “Christian values” to the natural underpinnings of human life and flourishing, and Evangelicals will push Catholics to see that the universe is shaped around the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:10) and that losing our living sense of the ultimate telos leads to an unsustainable teleology."

    Catholics give weight to natural, moral law because we believe man is neither totally depraved nor unable to use reason to appreciate the Will of God written on our consciences even though it's not all laid out and neatly packaged in scripture.

    Catholics also hold that Christ established an authoritative Church to guide and lead this process.

    One fundamental premise of Catholic morality, for example, is that you can never justify an intentionally evil act to obtain a good outcome. That's the root of Catholicism objections to contraception, divorce, abortion, homosexuality and euthanasia not just isolated passages in scripture that can be reinterpreted by different generations.

    And of course the Catholic Church has an end telos - based on the three legs of scripture, tradition and reason - and the Church appreciates the universe is shaped around Christ!

    There, another 'Dodo moment'. I could get used to this again!

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  8. There is a movie called " Entertaining Angels" which I would like to see and also an autobiography. Thanks for the into.

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