Category Archives: Theology

A Good Friday/Easter reflection on the promise of paradise

Posted on April 10, 2020 by theoutwardquest

On this Good Friday, and with a quarantined Easter coming, I offer some thoughts about the so-called “thief on the cross” and Jesus’ statement to him “Today you shall be with me in paradise.” This story comes from Luke 23:39-43. … Continue reading →

Posted in Paul, Seasonal, Spirituality, Theology | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sacrifice and debt in a time of plague

Posted on April 7, 2020 by theoutwardquest

When I read The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son by Jon Levenson, I saw that the ancient Hebrews probably felt that human sacrifice as practiced in other cultures in the Ancient Near East was religiously appropriate, but never … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Israel, Theology | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Karl Barth on salvation beyond death

Posted on November 7, 2019 by theoutwardquest

My mother’s end-of-life process (I know, it’s a euphemism) goes on. She is 98 and in hospice care. She has long been ready to make the transition (another euphemism). She is definitely, as Bob Dylan sang, knockin’ on heaven’s door. … Continue reading →

Posted in Theology | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Savary-wrap up

Posted on September 23, 2019 by theoutwardquest

Teilhard de Chardin’s spirituality as expressed in Louis Savary’s Teilhard de Chardin-The Divine Milieu Explained has been my latest reading project. I need to wrap it up today. Teilhard is valuable for his spiritual vision. I react to it in … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirituality, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Savary-evolution, incarnation, and the cone

Posted on September 20, 2019 by theoutwardquest

I started out reading Savary’s explanation of The Divine Milieu while rereading the original alongside it. I have to admit that under the pressure of time, I have lately just been reading Savary’s explanation. So what I write below is … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirituality, Theology | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Savary-sur-animation the end of above/below theology

Posted on September 17, 2019 by theoutwardquest

Louis Savary’s title Teilhard de Chardin-The Divine Milieu Explained: A Spirituality for the 21st Century is important. One of its values is that he really does explain some of Teilhard’s more obscure terms. An example is sur-animation. It is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirituality, Theology | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Savary-metaphorical evolution, attraction, and spiritual formation

Posted on August 29, 2019 by theoutwardquest

Louis Savary, in Teilhard de Chardin: The Divine Milieu Explained, sets forth two premises for Teilhard’s work. These are spelled out more in Teilhard’s book, The Phenomenon of Man, but they underlie The Divine Milieu. His first premise was that … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirituality, Theology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Savary-Teilhard de Chardin’s Total Christ

Posted on August 27, 2019 by theoutwardquest

I am reading Teilhard de Chardin The Divine Milieu Explained by Louis M. Savary at the same time as I am rereading The Divine Milieu itself. Savary’s book is aimed at people interested in spirituality. His idea is that Teilhard’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Paul, Spirituality, Theology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and the thinking particle

Posted on August 16, 2019 by theoutwardquest

Well, I have a late summer vacation to the State Fair and to Branson over the next week. Then I should be free to blog consistently for three or four weeks before family events in late September and early October … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirituality, Theology | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Inferring and affirming the world we can’t see

Posted on May 21, 2019 by theoutwardquest

The thing that has been on my mind is how to think about an unseen supernatural realm. Such a realm was certainly part of the worldview of biblical personalities and writers–the priest who wrote the Genesis 1 creation story, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Israel, Bible, Spirituality, Theology | Leave a comment