Sunday, October 11, 2009
Prayer for Victory (Psalms 144)
"Blessed be the Lord my rock who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war, my safeguard and my fortress, my stronghold, and my deliverer. My shield in whom I trust who subdues people under me. Lord incline the heavens to come, touch the mountains and make them smoke, flash forth lightening and scatter my foes, shoot your arrows and root them. Reach out your hand from on high, and rescue me from the many waters, deliver me from the hands of my foreign foes."
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
More good information online (click the links)
The Bible Online
Bible in a Minute (fun)
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Augustine's Confessions (St. Augustine)
Summa Theologica (St. Thomas Aquinas)
Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
St. John of the Cross - Spiritual Canticle
St. John of the Cross - The Dark Night
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori- Uniformity With God's Will
Celtic Crosses (2 Sites)
http://www.thejukejoint.com/celhar.html
http://www.sunshinespirit.net/CelticHarmonies.htm
YOUTUBE: Augustine Confessions
St. John of the Cross: The Dark Night of the Soul
Bible in a Minute (fun)
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Augustine's Confessions (St. Augustine)
Summa Theologica (St. Thomas Aquinas)
Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
St. John of the Cross - Spiritual Canticle
St. John of the Cross - The Dark Night
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori- Uniformity With God's Will
Celtic Crosses (2 Sites)
http://www.thejukejoint.com/celhar.html
http://www.sunshinespirit.net/CelticHarmonies.htm
YOUTUBE: Augustine Confessions
St. John of the Cross: The Dark Night of the Soul
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
4 Necessary Classes to Become a Priest
Fr. Leo Hoar, of Springfield, MA, recently told me that before a priest enters the seminary he must take these 4 Philosophy classes (in no order):
(1) Logic- deals with patterns of thinking that lead from true premises to true conclusions, including two broad divisions: mathematical logic (formal symbolic logic) and philosophical logic.
(2) Metaphysics- investigates principles of reality transcending those of any particular science, and the nature of being and the world. Traditional branches are cosmology and ontology.
(3) Cosmology- the study of the universe in its totality, and by extension, humanity's place in it. Its long history involves science, philosophy, esotericism, and religion.
(4) Epistemology- is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, and whether knowledge is possible. Among its central concerns has been the challenge posed by skepticism and the relationships between truth, belief, and justification.
If you're looking for electives or a minor, these classes might be a good idea. If a priest needs to take them, why shouldn't you too?
(1) Logic- deals with patterns of thinking that lead from true premises to true conclusions, including two broad divisions: mathematical logic (formal symbolic logic) and philosophical logic.
(2) Metaphysics- investigates principles of reality transcending those of any particular science, and the nature of being and the world. Traditional branches are cosmology and ontology.
(3) Cosmology- the study of the universe in its totality, and by extension, humanity's place in it. Its long history involves science, philosophy, esotericism, and religion.
(4) Epistemology- is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, and whether knowledge is possible. Among its central concerns has been the challenge posed by skepticism and the relationships between truth, belief, and justification.
If you're looking for electives or a minor, these classes might be a good idea. If a priest needs to take them, why shouldn't you too?
World's Smartest Man's Proves God
The highest measured IQ was that of Christopher Langan (estimated between 195-210).
His theory the "Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe" (CTMU) provides a proof for the existence of God. This is how Langan explains parts of the theological aspects of his theory:
"Scientific theories are mental constructs that have objective reality as their content. According to the scientific method, science puts objective content first, letting theories be determined by observation. But the phrase "a theory of reality" contains two key nouns, theory and reality, and science is really about both. Because all theories have certain necessary logical properties that are abstract and mathematical, and therefore independent of observation - it is these very properties that let us recognize and understand our world in conceptual terms - we could just as well start with these properties and see what they might tell us about objective reality. Just as scientific observation makes demands on theories, the logic of theories makes demands on scientific observation, and these demands tell us in a general way what we may observe about the universe.
In other words, a comprehensive theory of reality is not just about observation, but about theories and their logical requirements. Since theories are mental constructs, and mental means "of the mind", this can be rephrased as follows: mind and reality are linked in mutual dependence at the most basic level of understanding. This linkage of mind and reality is what a TOE (Theory of Everything) is really about. The CTMU is such a theory; instead of being a mathematical description of specific observations (like all established scientific theories), it is a "metatheory" about the general relationship between theories and observations…i.e., about science or knowledge itself. Thus, it can credibly lay claim to the title of TOE.
Mind and reality - the abstract and the concrete, the subjective and the objective, the internal and the external - are linked together in a certain way, and this linkage is the real substance of "reality theory". Just as scientific observation determines theories, the logical requirements of theories to some extent determine scientific observation. Since reality always has the ability to surprise us, the task of scientific observation can never be completed with absolute certainty, and this means that a comprehensive theory of reality cannot be based on scientific observation alone. Instead, it must be based on the process of making scientific observations in general, and this process is based on the relationship of mind and reality. So the CTMU is essentially a theory of the relationship between mind and reality.
In explaining this relationship, the CTMU shows that reality possesses a complex property akin to self-awareness. That is, just as the mind is real, reality is in some respects like a mind. But when we attempt to answer the obvious question "whose mind?", the answer turns out to be a mathematical and scientific definition of God. [Reality is self-distributed, self-reading, coherently self-configuring, and self-processing. This corresponds to the properties of God: omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence]. This implies that we all exist in what can be called "the Mind of God", and that our individual minds are parts of God's Mind. They are not as powerful as God's Mind, for they are only parts thereof; yet, they are directly connected to the greatest source of knowledge and power that exists. This connection of our minds to the Mind of God, which is like the connection of parts to a whole, is what we sometimes call the soul or spirit, and it is the most crucial and essential part of being human.
Thus, the attempt to formulate a comprehensive theory of reality, the CTMU, finally leads to spiritual understanding, producing a basis for the unification of science and theology. The traditional Cartesian divider between body and mind, science and spirituality, is penetrated by logical reasoning of a higher order than ordinary scientific reasoning, but no less scientific than any other kind of mathematical truth. Accordingly, it serves as the long-awaited gateway between science and humanism, a bridge of reason over what has long seemed an impassable gulf."
Click the link below to see Christopher Langan's Paper on the CTMU:
Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe (CTMU)
His theory the "Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe" (CTMU) provides a proof for the existence of God. This is how Langan explains parts of the theological aspects of his theory:
"Scientific theories are mental constructs that have objective reality as their content. According to the scientific method, science puts objective content first, letting theories be determined by observation. But the phrase "a theory of reality" contains two key nouns, theory and reality, and science is really about both. Because all theories have certain necessary logical properties that are abstract and mathematical, and therefore independent of observation - it is these very properties that let us recognize and understand our world in conceptual terms - we could just as well start with these properties and see what they might tell us about objective reality. Just as scientific observation makes demands on theories, the logic of theories makes demands on scientific observation, and these demands tell us in a general way what we may observe about the universe.
In other words, a comprehensive theory of reality is not just about observation, but about theories and their logical requirements. Since theories are mental constructs, and mental means "of the mind", this can be rephrased as follows: mind and reality are linked in mutual dependence at the most basic level of understanding. This linkage of mind and reality is what a TOE (Theory of Everything) is really about. The CTMU is such a theory; instead of being a mathematical description of specific observations (like all established scientific theories), it is a "metatheory" about the general relationship between theories and observations…i.e., about science or knowledge itself. Thus, it can credibly lay claim to the title of TOE.
Mind and reality - the abstract and the concrete, the subjective and the objective, the internal and the external - are linked together in a certain way, and this linkage is the real substance of "reality theory". Just as scientific observation determines theories, the logical requirements of theories to some extent determine scientific observation. Since reality always has the ability to surprise us, the task of scientific observation can never be completed with absolute certainty, and this means that a comprehensive theory of reality cannot be based on scientific observation alone. Instead, it must be based on the process of making scientific observations in general, and this process is based on the relationship of mind and reality. So the CTMU is essentially a theory of the relationship between mind and reality.
In explaining this relationship, the CTMU shows that reality possesses a complex property akin to self-awareness. That is, just as the mind is real, reality is in some respects like a mind. But when we attempt to answer the obvious question "whose mind?", the answer turns out to be a mathematical and scientific definition of God. [Reality is self-distributed, self-reading, coherently self-configuring, and self-processing. This corresponds to the properties of God: omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence]. This implies that we all exist in what can be called "the Mind of God", and that our individual minds are parts of God's Mind. They are not as powerful as God's Mind, for they are only parts thereof; yet, they are directly connected to the greatest source of knowledge and power that exists. This connection of our minds to the Mind of God, which is like the connection of parts to a whole, is what we sometimes call the soul or spirit, and it is the most crucial and essential part of being human.
Thus, the attempt to formulate a comprehensive theory of reality, the CTMU, finally leads to spiritual understanding, producing a basis for the unification of science and theology. The traditional Cartesian divider between body and mind, science and spirituality, is penetrated by logical reasoning of a higher order than ordinary scientific reasoning, but no less scientific than any other kind of mathematical truth. Accordingly, it serves as the long-awaited gateway between science and humanism, a bridge of reason over what has long seemed an impassable gulf."
Click the link below to see Christopher Langan's Paper on the CTMU:
Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe (CTMU)
The Existence of God according to a Rutgers Philosophy Professor
I took a Philosophy class at Rutgers University- Logic, Reason, and Persuasions.
The Professor, Jeff Buechner, had an interesting take on proving God:
"God exists and made us with certain limitations; in particular, 1 limitation is that we can never correctly prove God exists or does not exist. Faith is an important part of religious life. If you could prove or disprove His existence, then there's no reason to have faith."
The Professor, Jeff Buechner, had an interesting take on proving God:
"God exists and made us with certain limitations; in particular, 1 limitation is that we can never correctly prove God exists or does not exist. Faith is an important part of religious life. If you could prove or disprove His existence, then there's no reason to have faith."
Monday, April 6, 2009
Pascal's Wager
Analysis with decision theory
The possibilities defined by Pascal's Wager can be thought of as a decision under uncertainty.
So, we look at the four possibilities:
(1) If GOD EXISTS & WE BELIEVE, then there's eternal reward.
(2) If GOD EXISTS & WE DON'T BELIEVE, then there's eternal punishment.
(3) If GOD DOESN'T EXIST & WE BELIEVE, then nothing happens.
(4) If GOD DOESN'T EXIST & WE DON'T BELIEVE, then nothing happens.
Conclusion: Belief in God is the safe bet since you have everything to gain and nothing to lose by believing in Him.
Note: This is fun. But this is not what faith is about. You believe with your heart, not your mind.
The possibilities defined by Pascal's Wager can be thought of as a decision under uncertainty.
So, we look at the four possibilities:
(1) If GOD EXISTS & WE BELIEVE, then there's eternal reward.
(2) If GOD EXISTS & WE DON'T BELIEVE, then there's eternal punishment.
(3) If GOD DOESN'T EXIST & WE BELIEVE, then nothing happens.
(4) If GOD DOESN'T EXIST & WE DON'T BELIEVE, then nothing happens.
Conclusion: Belief in God is the safe bet since you have everything to gain and nothing to lose by believing in Him.
Note: This is fun. But this is not what faith is about. You believe with your heart, not your mind.
Forgiving God?! Taken from the Theories of Gil-White
An interesting take on things by my former Evolutionary Psychologist professor at the University of Pennsylvania...
Love One Another
"Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord." (Lev. 19.18)
"And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them." (Gen. 1.27) Which of these is the Torah's most important verse?
Two prominent rabbis of antiquity had a friendly debate over this. Each defended one. They were very wise and learned rabbis. But they were both wrong. You need both verses, because together they make it possible for you to forgive God. And Human Salvation begins with that step. I shall explain. If God made Man in his image, this does not settle what the essence of God is. Perhaps God is a Devil. We do not know. We do know that Humans are devils, often.
We kill, we rape, we burn…, And so if we are made in God's image, God could be a Devil.
Now look at the other verse. It resolves the question. God commands that we love our brother like our own self. We do that sometimes, don't we? We do know that Humans are angels, often.
We also hug, and feast, and love…, Don't we? God commands that: hugs, and feasts, and love.
So that's the Human side that is in His image. God is good. And if God is good, then we can forgive Him. Forgive Him for what? For all the killing, and raping, and burning.
After all, He created a world in which those things are possible. He did it.
And it is very tempting to hate Him for it. A lot of people do. I know exactly how they feel.
But you see, if God is good, which we have established, then all the killing and raping and burning offends Him. And if it offends Him, then the way in which all this killing and raping and burning offends you - and which perhaps makes you accuse God - is a laughable microcosm of the suffering that God experiences. He suffers for you, just as you suffer for yourself, but in addition He suffers for millions of other souls now alive, and for millions of other souls who lived in other times. Anything that happens anywhere, to anybody, at any time, is part of God's intimate experience - don't forget that. But that is not all. God also knows perfectly well, better than anybody else, that this is all His fault. Ponder that. Don't imagine the suffering, you can't.
I know you tried anyway. It's interesting, just trying to imagine it produces indescribable awe because you imagine something enormous, unthinkable, and you know that your effort to imagine is pathetic, no matter that you have just shocked yourself out of your wits.
But that is not all. Don't forget that God is Creator. This suffering that you cannot imagine and I cannot imagine…this suffering God inflicted on Himself. All by Himself. Nobody made Him do it.
And He knew exactly what He was doing. Why? Why did He do it?
How can any Being deliberately inflict on itself that kind of Pain?
Only a Being whose Love were even greater than this Pain, which we cannot imagine.
Please. It is pointless even to try to imagine this Love.
Best just to bracket it as this abstraction that is somehow, inexplicably, even bigger than this other thing which is so big it was already completely unthinkable.
Once so understood, it is clear that one can never reciprocate this Love.
It is simply impossible. And therefore, if God deserves to be Loved back, then no Human can ever Love Him enough. (So there is always room for growth.) But we haven't answered the question. Why did God do this to Himself? Why not create a world instead that would not make Him suffer? There must be a reason. And there is. In such a world there would be no Choice.
Your Life would have no Meaning. Your Existence would be pointless. There would be nothing for God to Love. So, unless Humans are good by Choice, there is no point in creating them.
At least there is no point in it for God, because God wants companions that are like Him.
(Yes, that means you.) And God can choose. And God has chosen. And God is good. And you can choose. You too can choose. You can be good. Here's what you do. First, try to imagine God's suffering. Let the feeling overwhelm you. But do no let yourself get too sad. You have to be strong for God. Imagine as much of the suffering of God as you can, and then allow this imagination to stir your Compassion for Him. Naturally, you have never felt this kind of Compassion before. All this time you were feeling anger at God because he allowed evil, not realizing that evil is more painful for Him than for you - infinitely more painful. The only way he could create a meaningful world, was by allowing Choice. Once He allowed Choice, He allowed evil. There was no other way to create you. So let yourself fill with Compassion for God.
Raise your arms up to Him and imagine that you hold one tiny end of His burden, shoulder to shoulder. Tell Him you forgive Him. You understand that this was the only way. How difficult this must be for Him. Be washed in his Gratitude. If you have really forgiven God, then you are experiencing something quite unlike anything else in your Life before. You are feeling His infinite multiplication of the Love you gave Him back when you forgave Him and felt Compassion for His suffering. Soak in this shower. It's what the mystics call Grace. Enjoy it as you would a warm bath. Sensitize yourself to it. Notice how it makes you Holy, and in doing so makes you good.
This is the gift of Your Compassion. This frustratingly indescribable and sublime experience occurs only because you have forgiven God. It occurs because you tried to share His burden by imagining a vanishing fraction of it that is nonetheless, for you, a Universe. You tried to see and think from God's point of view. And you did it not out of hubris but Compassion. And you were bathed in joy because the Universe has Meaning. And you deserve it. And you will be good.
Because having understood such things, you realize the urgency of Human Salvation. So long as we continue to kill and rape and burn…this Being whose Love is an unknowable of unknowables…who deserves to be Loved Back…will suffer The Torment. So Love One Another.
Be Good. For God's sake.
by Francisco Gil-White
Love One Another
"Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord." (Lev. 19.18)
"And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them." (Gen. 1.27) Which of these is the Torah's most important verse?
Two prominent rabbis of antiquity had a friendly debate over this. Each defended one. They were very wise and learned rabbis. But they were both wrong. You need both verses, because together they make it possible for you to forgive God. And Human Salvation begins with that step. I shall explain. If God made Man in his image, this does not settle what the essence of God is. Perhaps God is a Devil. We do not know. We do know that Humans are devils, often.
We kill, we rape, we burn…, And so if we are made in God's image, God could be a Devil.
Now look at the other verse. It resolves the question. God commands that we love our brother like our own self. We do that sometimes, don't we? We do know that Humans are angels, often.
We also hug, and feast, and love…, Don't we? God commands that: hugs, and feasts, and love.
So that's the Human side that is in His image. God is good. And if God is good, then we can forgive Him. Forgive Him for what? For all the killing, and raping, and burning.
After all, He created a world in which those things are possible. He did it.
And it is very tempting to hate Him for it. A lot of people do. I know exactly how they feel.
But you see, if God is good, which we have established, then all the killing and raping and burning offends Him. And if it offends Him, then the way in which all this killing and raping and burning offends you - and which perhaps makes you accuse God - is a laughable microcosm of the suffering that God experiences. He suffers for you, just as you suffer for yourself, but in addition He suffers for millions of other souls now alive, and for millions of other souls who lived in other times. Anything that happens anywhere, to anybody, at any time, is part of God's intimate experience - don't forget that. But that is not all. God also knows perfectly well, better than anybody else, that this is all His fault. Ponder that. Don't imagine the suffering, you can't.
I know you tried anyway. It's interesting, just trying to imagine it produces indescribable awe because you imagine something enormous, unthinkable, and you know that your effort to imagine is pathetic, no matter that you have just shocked yourself out of your wits.
But that is not all. Don't forget that God is Creator. This suffering that you cannot imagine and I cannot imagine…this suffering God inflicted on Himself. All by Himself. Nobody made Him do it.
And He knew exactly what He was doing. Why? Why did He do it?
How can any Being deliberately inflict on itself that kind of Pain?
Only a Being whose Love were even greater than this Pain, which we cannot imagine.
Please. It is pointless even to try to imagine this Love.
Best just to bracket it as this abstraction that is somehow, inexplicably, even bigger than this other thing which is so big it was already completely unthinkable.
Once so understood, it is clear that one can never reciprocate this Love.
It is simply impossible. And therefore, if God deserves to be Loved back, then no Human can ever Love Him enough. (So there is always room for growth.) But we haven't answered the question. Why did God do this to Himself? Why not create a world instead that would not make Him suffer? There must be a reason. And there is. In such a world there would be no Choice.
Your Life would have no Meaning. Your Existence would be pointless. There would be nothing for God to Love. So, unless Humans are good by Choice, there is no point in creating them.
At least there is no point in it for God, because God wants companions that are like Him.
(Yes, that means you.) And God can choose. And God has chosen. And God is good. And you can choose. You too can choose. You can be good. Here's what you do. First, try to imagine God's suffering. Let the feeling overwhelm you. But do no let yourself get too sad. You have to be strong for God. Imagine as much of the suffering of God as you can, and then allow this imagination to stir your Compassion for Him. Naturally, you have never felt this kind of Compassion before. All this time you were feeling anger at God because he allowed evil, not realizing that evil is more painful for Him than for you - infinitely more painful. The only way he could create a meaningful world, was by allowing Choice. Once He allowed Choice, He allowed evil. There was no other way to create you. So let yourself fill with Compassion for God.
Raise your arms up to Him and imagine that you hold one tiny end of His burden, shoulder to shoulder. Tell Him you forgive Him. You understand that this was the only way. How difficult this must be for Him. Be washed in his Gratitude. If you have really forgiven God, then you are experiencing something quite unlike anything else in your Life before. You are feeling His infinite multiplication of the Love you gave Him back when you forgave Him and felt Compassion for His suffering. Soak in this shower. It's what the mystics call Grace. Enjoy it as you would a warm bath. Sensitize yourself to it. Notice how it makes you Holy, and in doing so makes you good.
This is the gift of Your Compassion. This frustratingly indescribable and sublime experience occurs only because you have forgiven God. It occurs because you tried to share His burden by imagining a vanishing fraction of it that is nonetheless, for you, a Universe. You tried to see and think from God's point of view. And you did it not out of hubris but Compassion. And you were bathed in joy because the Universe has Meaning. And you deserve it. And you will be good.
Because having understood such things, you realize the urgency of Human Salvation. So long as we continue to kill and rape and burn…this Being whose Love is an unknowable of unknowables…who deserves to be Loved Back…will suffer The Torment. So Love One Another.
Be Good. For God's sake.
by Francisco Gil-White
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