Christianity and Philosophy
Law of Love
• The fulfillment of law.
– Ritual, moral law.
• But legalism and love
conflict.
– Motive for obeying laws is
selfish; Motive of love is
selfless.
– Law commands external action;
Love, which is inner, cannot be
commanded.
• Rhetorical situation of Jesus
addressing people of law.
The World (Selfishness)
• The fall, the patriarchal
revolution, and repression.
• Sin=selfishness.
• The family.
– Original family.
– Family modified by civil
society and state.
• Civil society.
– Market place.
• The state.
– External state.
– Internal state.
The Temptation
Walking on Water
Eye of a Needle
Ethics of Jesus (in but Not of World)
• Critique of family
selfishness.
– Sinister sayings.
• Criticism of market place.
• Detachment from state
egoism.
• Catholic holy vows.
– Chastity, poverty, obedience.
• Protestant reconciliation
with worldly institutions.
– Marriage, capitalist work
ethic, democracy.
Salvation From Sin (Selfishness)
• By works.
– By the selfish individual’s own
effort.
• By rebirth in love, in Christ.
– Resurrection of Christ in his church
– Spiritual resurrection vs. Physical
resurrection.
– Pure imageless thought vs. Picture
thinking.
• Divine love is self-love.
– Inclusive divine self-love, not
exclusive self-love.
– Losing oneself to find oneself.
– Infinite Christ as spirit.
• Orthodoxy • Gnosticism
• God as father • God as spirit
• Hierarchical church • Non-hierarchical
church
• Invisible church
• Visible church • No miracles
• Miracles • Collective immortality
• Individual immortality • Salvation from
• Salvation from sin ignorance and error
• Literal kingdom of god – Plato
• Non-hierarchical
kingdom of god
Sermon on the Mount
Ancient Gnosticism
• Marcion.
– Creator is the devil.
• Old Testment is book of devil.
– Creation is illusory.
– Soul is encaged spark of
divine spirit.
• Plato.
– Jesus is messenger god.
• Valentinus.
– Inner chamber.
– Outer waiting room.
Joachim De Fiore (12 th Cent. A.D.)
• Three ages of history (the
trinity as the key to history.).
– Age of father.
• Under the law.
– Age of son.
• A personal relation to
Jesus.
– Age of spirit.
• Finding Christ within.
• Lessing (18th cent.).
– Autonomy.
– Enlightenment.
Hegel
• Natural religion.
• Rise of supernatural religion.
– Creation of dead matter as
result of patriarchical fall.
– Disincarnation of god as
condition of incarnation.
• Resurrection/reincarnation of
god in church as body of
Christ.
• Jesus as individual through
whom god consciousness
entered history to be
communicated to others.
• Descent of the kingdom of
spirit in 1789.