Sophia - Rethinking Philosophical Stuff

 

I've got some rethinks started for this category but they're not ready yet.  Here I am basically going to try to figure out my way through the maze of different ideas to arrive at "the Truth" and hopefully the secret of life.  Audacious, no?  Ha!  Wish me luck!

In the meantime I'll just say that my thinking is currently engaged in a battle between two books. . .

I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist - by thomistic theists Geisler and Turek

and

The God Theory - by panentheist Bernard Haisch

Both books try to come to terms with the ramifications of modern cosmology and teleology both conclude, contra the materialists, that the world does require a creator, designer, and sustainer.  The former argues for theism.  The latter tries to argue for panentheism (with occasional slips into theism and pantheism perhaps). Both wrangle with the moral problem in the positive sense of how we need some type of judge to help us deal with the problems of meaning and morality.  Interestingly, Haish is heavy on the moral sense in rejecting Christianity however.  Both deal with the need for mystical communication from the transcendent.  Geisler and Turek say that God communicated through the written word (the books of the Bible) and through the incarnate Word (the man Jesus Christ).  Haish argues for a more ineffable form of mysticism where individuals tap into the ultimate reality through mystical and esoteric means.  I'm fascinated to see how they deal with many of the same things and come to such different answers. 

Geisler's views have dominated my thinking for years but Haish is helping me to rethink things.  Although I'm still siding with Geisler, the Haish read was definitely mind expanding in a good way for me.

 

On another note, for you fans of What the Bleep do We Know, here is a new article which seems to allow some fresh air to leak into the over-blown world of quantum theory:

             http://www.newsweek.com/id/32847