Theosophical Gnosis and Astral Hermeneutics

2021 ◽  
pp. 116-136
Author(s):  
Simon Cox

This chapter traces the subtle body concept through the writings of Blavatsky’s heirs, the major figures in the second generation of theosophy, zeroing in specifically on their reformulations of a mystical form of Christianity informed by the yoga of the subtle body. First, it examines the life and works of Annie Besant and her mythological subtle body interpretations of the Bible. Next, it moves on to Charles Leadbeater, his Kundalini experiences, and how these informed his own subtle body ideas drawn from Kabbalah, Hindu philosophy, and his own personal experience. Lastly, the chapter examines Blavatsky’s former secretary, G. R. S. Mead, and how the subtle body concept is formulated in his numerous books. It ends by looking at Mead’s prognostications about a future wherein the sciences, parapsychology, and humanities are brought together to answer questions about the nature and function of the subtle body.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Judith Hildebrandt ◽  
Jack Barentsen ◽  
Jos de Kock

Abstract History shows that the use of the Bible by Christians has changed over the centuries. With the digitization and the ubiquitous accessibility of the Internet, the handling of texts and reading itself has changed. Research has also shown that young people’s faith adapts to the characteristics of the ‘age of authenticity’, which changes the role of normative institutions and texts in general. With regard to these developments this article deals with the question: How relevant is personal Bible reading for the faith formation of highly religious Protestant German teenagers? Answers to this question are provided from previous empirical surveys and from two qualitative studies among highly religious teenagers in Germany. The findings indicate, that other spiritual practices for young people today are more important as a source of faith than reading the Bible. The teenagers interviewed tend to seek an individual affective experience when reading the Bible, so that the importance of cognitive grasp of the content takes a back seat to personal experience.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Grace Purnamasari Christian ◽  
Wahyu Irawati

<p>The post-harvest fungi is one of the greatest cause of various diseases. Particularly, in fungus that infects seeds, the toxic substance called aflatoxin is found. This has caused us to wonder: Has fungi been pathogenic fungi since the beginning of creation? The purpose of this research is to study: 1) The Place of Fungi in God’s Original Creation and the Origin of Pathogenic Fungi, 2) Characterization of post-harvest fungus on corn seeds, 3) Aspergillus sp.’s Structure as Proof of God’s Wonderful Original Creation and Providence, and 4) The factors that contribute to the growth of fungi in post-harvest corn seeds and our responsibility. We conclude that in the beginning, fungi were a part of God’s originally good and perfect creation. These fungi were created by God with the structure and function to support its operation in fulfilling God’s creative purpose. The complex structure of Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus that infected the corn seeds showed God’s providence after the Fall. Pathogenic fungi were the result of the Fall of man into sin. Their growth is caused by the failure to give proper care to the crops. But this should not discourage us since the Bible tells us that God is continually working to restore His creation. Therefore, we are called to be stewards of His creation, to develop and preserve whatever is entrusted in our hands, including the crops for God’s glory and under His authority until He has fully renewed and restored everything.</p><p><strong>BAHASA INDONESIA ABSTRACT:</strong> Jamur pasca panen merupakan salah satu penyebab terbesar timbulnya berbagai penyakit, khususnya disebabkan oleh jamur yang menginfeksi biji-bijian dan menghasilkan substansi beracun disebut dengan aflatoksin. Keadaan ini menimbulkan pertanyaan apakah jamur patogenik ada sejak awal penciptaan? Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mempelajari: 1) Posisi jamur patogenik di awal penciptaan dan asal mula jamur patogenik, 2) karakteristik jamur pasca panen pada biji jagung, 3) struktur <em>Aspergillus</em> sp sebagai bukti dari providensi Allah akan ciptaanNya yang sangat luar biasa, 4) faktor-faktor yang berkontribusi terhadap pertumbuhan jamur pasca panen biji jagung dan Tanggung jawab kita. Dari hasil penelitian ini disimpulkan bahwa pada mulanya, jamur merupakan bagian ciptaan Allah yang sungguh amat baik dan sempurna. Struktur yang kompleks dari <em>Aspergillus niger</em> dan <em>Aspergillus flavus </em>yang menginfeksi biji jagung menunjukkan providensi Allah setelah kejatuhan dosa. Pertumbuhan jamur patogenik merupakan gambaran kejatuhan manusia ke dalam dosa yaitu kegagalan manusia untuk memberikan pemeliharaan yang memadahi pada biji-bijian pasca panen. Namun demikian, keadaan ini tidak mematahkan semangat kita karena Alkitab mengatakan bahwa Allah masih terus bekerja untuk memulihkan ciptaanNya. Oleh karena itu, diharapkan kita semua menjadi pelayan atas ciptaanNya untuk mengembangkan dan menjaga apa yang dipercayakan kepada kita di bawah otoritasNya termasuk biji-bijian untuk memuliakan Allah hingga Dia secara penuh memperbaharui dan memulihkan segala sesuatu</p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 164-191
Author(s):  
Simon Cox

This chapter traces the subtle body concept through the work of Carl Jung, who is introduced to the idea by G. R. S. Mead’s theosophical books. After tracing Jung’s early engagement with the Orient, the chapter moves to an analysis of the subtle body concept in his work, specifically in his engagements with Eastern traditions: Daoism, Kundalini Yoga, and Tibetan Bardo Yoga. After examining Jung’s use of the subtle body concept in his translation-commentaries on Eastern texts, the chapter turns to how Jung incorporates the concept into his own psychology of individuation based on the techniques of active imagination and dream analysis. The chapter turns to Jung’s seminars on Nietzsche, where he presents the subtle body concept with a unique dose of critical reflexivity and Kantian rigor. It ends with Jung’s late-life speculation about a future where, following the quantum revolution and spitting of the atom, humans evolve into subtle body–dwelling creatures who occupy a world of psychical substance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 1155-1169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarek Younis ◽  
Ghayda Hassan

The relationships between social identities are important when discussing the national and religious identities of Muslims in Western contexts. This study explored the identity narratives of second-generation Muslim young adults to consider the relevance of bicultural identity and acculturation theories commonly employed in research with this group. The sample comprised 20 Muslim young adults of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds from Montreal, Berlin, and Copenhagen who participated in semi-structured interviews that explored how they negotiate their social identities in light of their unique life course trajectories. This article focuses on two major themes underlying second-generation identity development: the importance of personal experience in the development of social identities; and the enmeshment of multiple social identities. We then discuss the results of our findings in light of the complex nature of social identity, group membership, and political categorization.


1965 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 237-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Peters

The purpose of this paper is to raise a problem of more than antiquarian interest in Reformation literary history. The Unio Dissidentium is a collection of passages from the Bible together with nearly 550 quotations, many of them quite lengthy, from the Fathers. This latter feature gives to the book much of its interest, as well as a place in the patristic revival begun by the classical humanists and brought to a high level of development by the work of such men as Erasmus and Beatus Rhenanus.So far as can with certainty be stated, the first part of Unio Dissidentium was published by the Antwerp printer, Martin de Keyser, in March 1527. The ten sections into which it is divided contain passages supporting the compiler’s theology on such current theological issues as original sin, infant baptism, predestination, the nature and function of law, grace and merit, faith and works, and human ordinances. Later that same year the same printer published the second part, dealing with the value of the Word of God, penitence, brotherly correction, fasting, prayer, indulgences, the Eucharist, ecclesiastical constitutions, the vocation of all Christians to be priests, kings, and prophets, and antichrist. To the editions printed in and after 1531 a further three sections were added, the first two of which are on expensive funerals and the flight and persecution of Christians, respectively, while the third is the tract of Pseudo-Augustine, De Essentia Divinitatis.


2009 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 421-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
DEBORAH SCHIFFRIN

ABSTRACTRecent research on narrative has widened the scope of analysis, suggesting the value of reexamining the canonical Labovian view of the structure and function of personal-experience narrative. This article suggests that narrative is not simply a way of evoking and shaping experience in time. Rather, narrative can evoke and shape cultural “chronotopes” (Bakhtin 1981) or nexuses of time, space, and identity. To illustrate this, I analyze a narrative from an oral history related in 1972 by a young woman whose volunteer work in the mid-1960s led to the rehabilitation of a small African American enclave in a middle-class White suburb. Analysis of clause types, constructed dialogue, existential there, deixis, verb chains, and referring expressions shows that the narrative is a blend of genres evoking place as well as personal identity linked to complex coordinates of time and space, and dependent intertextually on other parts of a larger story. (Narrative, oral history, chronotope, space, place, identity, genre)*


2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devyani Sharma ◽  
Lavanya Sankaran

AbstractThis study examines the retention of a non-native dialect feature by British Asians in London. We examine the use of one Punjabi feature (t-retroflexion) and one British feature (t-glottaling) across three groups: first-generation non-native immigrants and two age groups of second-generation British Asians. Cognitively oriented models predict that non-native features will either be innately blocked (Chambers, 2002) or reallocated by native generations. A socially oriented model allows for more gradual change. Contrary to the cognitive view, the older second generation neither blocks nor clearly reallocates use of t-retroflexion; they closely mirror the first generation's non-native use. However, they simultaneously control nativelike t-glottaling, reflecting a robust bidialectal ability. It is the younger second generation who exhibit focused reallocation in the form and function of t-retroflexion. This 20-year lag corresponds to major changes in demographics and race relations in the community over 5 decades. The study shows that acquisition of the local dialect and retention of exogenous features should be seen as independently constrained rather than as mutually exclusive.


Author(s):  
Jeremy Punt

Queer readings of the Bible are indebted to feminist interpretation but work with a broader and more fluid notion of sex and gender than feminism. Not exhausted by them, queer biblical interpretations typically revolve around two distinct emphases, “queering” or investigations into the social construction of sex and gender, and “queerying” which traces the theoretical and political interests of such constructions, and their involvement in social dynamics and power. This essay explains queer biblical interpretation by showing that queer theory (de)constructs sex and gender; unravels established notions of fixed identity; contests heteronormativity; becomes indecent; outwits or goes beyond ascribed sex and gender; and queers biblical reception. Queer theory exposes sex and gender as powerful systems of convention that require, define, and even prescribe the form and function of sex and gender.


2021 ◽  
pp. 35-62
Author(s):  
Simon Cox

This chapter engages with the first Anglophone attestations of the term “subtle body.” It appears first in the contentious correspondence between Thomas Hobbes and Rene Descartes between whom there was some disagreement over who plagiarized the idea from whom. Most of the chapter is taken up with the Cambridge Platonists who came in their wake, who formulated complex philosophical and mythological views of the Neoplatonic vehicles of the soul, now under the English name “subtle body.” It ends with Lady Anne Conway, who fuses the Platonism of the Cambridge group with Kabbalah to create a new form of spiritual monism. This chapter is significantly about how the subtle body concept was employed by Renaissance Platonists arguing against the reductive materialism of Cartesian mechanical philosophy.


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