Tag Archives: Franciscan theology
A Nonviolent Atonement
Salvation as At-One-Ment A Nonviolent Atonement Monday, July 24, 2017 In the thirteenth century, the Franciscans and the Dominicans invariably took opposing positions in the great debates in the universities of Paris, Cologne, Bologna, and Oxford. Both opinions usually passed the tests of orthodoxy, although one was preferred. The Franciscans often ended up presenting the… Continue Reading A Nonviolent Atonement
Remain in Love
Franciscan Spirituality: Week 3 Remain in Love Monday, June 19, 2017 John Duns Scotus (c. 1266-1308) was a Franciscan philosopher and theologian who in many ways paralleled Bonaventure’s ideas. Duns Scotus helped develop the doctrine of the univocity of being. Previous philosophers said God was a Being, which is what most people still think today.… Continue Reading Remain in Love
A Fountain Fullness of Love
Franciscan Spirituality: Week 3 A Fountain Fullness of Love Sunday, June 18, 2017 For as a human being, Christ has something in common with all creatures. With the stone he shares existence; with plants he shares life; with animals he shares sensation; and with the angels he shares intelligence. Therefore, all things are said to… Continue Reading A Fountain Fullness of Love
The Union of Human and Divine
The Cosmic Christ: Week 2 The Union of Human and Divine Thursday, April 6, 2017 Please do not think me a heretic, but it is formally and theologically incorrect to say “Jesus is God,” as most Christians glibly do and then need to “prove.” Jesus is instead a third something—the perfect union of “very God”… Continue Reading The Union of Human and Divine
Christ in Evolution
The Cosmic Christ: Week 2 Christ in Evolution Tuesday, April 4, 2017 Ilia Delio, a Franciscan sister and scientist, describes the positive foundation we have in the cosmic Christ: Franciscan theology on the whole . . . emphasized the incarnation as the love of God made visible in the world. [Bonaventure] did not consider the… Continue Reading Christ in Evolution
God’s Fingerprints
The Cosmic Christ: Week 1 God’s Fingerprints Thursday, March 30, 3017 There is one God and Creator of all, who is over all, who works through all, and is within all. —Ephesians 4:6 Bonaventure took Francis of Assisi’s lay intuitive genius and spelled it out in an entire philosophy and theology. He wrote: “The magnitude… Continue Reading God’s Fingerprints
The Great Chain of Being
The Cosmic Christ: Week 1 The Great Chain of Being Wednesday, March 29, 2017 Francis called all creatures, no matter how small, by the name of brother and sister; because he knew they had the same source as himself. —Saint Bonaventure (1217-1274) [1] We must rebuild from the very bottom up, and that means restoring… Continue Reading The Great Chain of Being
The Blueprint of Creation
The Cosmic Christ: Week 1 The Bluprint of Creation Tuesday, March 28, 2017 To be proclaimed a “Doctor of the Church” one’s teaching must be considered entirely reliable and orthodox. In Bonaventure’s world, the frame of reality was always big, inclusive, and hopeful. First of all, Bonaventure was profoundly Trinitarian; he saw love always and… Continue Reading The Blueprint of Creation
Full Circle Salvation
The Cosmic Christ: Week 1 Full Circle Salvation Monday, March 27, 2017 Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (1217-1274), a Doctor of the Church, philosopher, and mystic, also brought Francis of Assisi’s intuitive vision to philosophical and theological heights. Bonaventure and John Duns Scotus (1265/66–1308) both had a cosmic, universal notion of the Christ. The key texts for… Continue Reading Full Circle Salvation
Divine DNA
From the Bottom Up: Introduction Divine DNA Thursday, January 5, 2017 [The] final end of the Incarnation is the realization of God’s union with the entire universe. —Alan Watts [1] What is emerging in our time is the desire for a faith for and of the earth, at long last capable of animating the fullness… Continue Reading Divine DNA
