• Theology & Religion

    Intention’s import in Rumi’s ‘Moses Rebukes the Shepherd, God Rebukes Moses’

    by  • May 6, 2011 • Theology & Religion • 0 Comments

    Rumi’s Masnavi story of Moses and the shepherd can best be described as an ode to intention. It questions the authenticity of not this or that particular action, but of action itself in relation to God. It is the mystic’s affirmation that there is something that is both responsible for causing action and is simultaneously superior to it, as resonates in the following line from the Qur’an: “There are signs in the earth for those who are firm in their faith, And within yourselves. Can you not perceive?” (51:20-21)

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    Reason and Revelation: From Plato’s Good to Rumi’s God

    by  • April 23, 2011 • Philosophy, Theology & Religion • 0 Comments

    At age 37, Muslim philosopher and jurist Abu Hamid al-Ghazali fell into a heavy spiritual crisis, one that caused him to abruptly abandon his well-respected position as the head of the Nizamayah College in Baghdad and roam the regions of Syria and Palestine seeking revelation. After spending years in Jerusalem and Damascus, as well as making Hajj to Mecca, he returned to his hometown of Tus, where it was discovered that he had disposed his wealth, renounced philosophy, and now totally embraced the humble life of a poor Sufi mystic. Why the sudden change?

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    On the Islamic synthesis of freedom and predestination in the Qur’an

    by  • February 23, 2011 • Theology & Religion • 1 Comment

    There is a strange interplay written throughout the Qur’an between the ostensibly conflicting notions of freedom and predestination. It is often an even self-conscious friction, portraying in one line an image of a humanity moved by its Creator and in the next, one that moves itself. The individual lines in the Qur’an are called ayahs [...]

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    Humanism as Worship

    by  • July 26, 2010 • Philosophy, Theology & Religion • 4 Comments

    Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was [...]

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    The Human Nature of God

    by  • February 17, 2010 • Philosophy, Theology & Religion • 5 Comments

    When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion. — Abraham Lincoln Faith is the conclusion we draw from the understanding that man is not something that merely is, but is instead something constantly becoming. To become requires faith, because why would we try to do more [...]

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    A first analysis of Job

    by  • December 2, 2009 • Philosophy, Theology & Religion • 1 Comment

    I just had a thought this morning: What if Job and not Adam had been the common natural father of humanity? In the Book of Job, Job loses everything but faith in God’s will. His wife even tempts him at one point to curse God, but he instead retreats to prayer to apologize to God [...]

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    Job (A Primer)

    by  • November 18, 2009 • Fiction, Theology & Religion • 2 Comments

    Winter comes ‘round every once in a while to remind you that you got no one to keep you warm. All that cold breath gives you a cover for your shiverin’ and keepin’ to yourself and holdin’ your books real tight and stayin’ inside. These nights the black chill comes on real quick—and darker than [...]

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