tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472139466585018053.post5488478576512503731..comments2024-03-11T04:11:06.487-04:00Comments on The Smithy: Hermetic EsotericismLee Faberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00476833516234522602noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472139466585018053.post-13712031108369991512008-09-30T22:02:00.000-04:002008-09-30T22:02:00.000-04:00As I've started to learn from these debates, sayin...As I've started to learn from these debates, saying so makes it so.Lee Faberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00476833516234522602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472139466585018053.post-9372818091371177502008-09-30T18:02:00.000-04:002008-09-30T18:02:00.000-04:00Actually Mr. Jones and company think that Scholast...Actually Mr. Jones and company think that Scholastics are heretics, virtually by definition.<BR/><BR/>It's a cliche held by many Orthodox theologians.<BR/><BR/>The "proof" for many is the dispute Barlaam the Calabrian had with Gregory Palamas. Meyendorf, the first modern theological historian in the "west" to write about the hesychast controversy, held that the dispute was between scolasticism and hesychasm. He was wrong since evidence now shows that Barlaam was anti-scholastic, specifically anti-Thomist, even before the controversy.<BR/><BR/>Still, it's an argument that's repeated quite often especially by those who've never really read any scholastic philosophy/theology.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472139466585018053.post-16568795250905944222008-09-29T21:07:00.000-04:002008-09-29T21:07:00.000-04:00We are not Thomists. Perhaps my collaborator Faber...We are not Thomists. Perhaps my collaborator Faber is a true Scotist; I would call myself, perhaps, a Bonaventurian-Scotist, or rather an "independent" with leanings towards the Franciscan tradition.<BR/><BR/>My point in debating with the E.P.'s was never to assert Thomism, but to defend it against the charge of <I>heresy</I>. I don't think Thomas is the best philosopher there ever was nor the gold standard of Catholic thought, but he is an eminent Doctor of the Church, a truly great theologian, and should not be slandered.<BR/><BR/>Also, judging by their comments over the course of years, I'm pretty sure that Thomas is the only scholastic these guys have ever read at any significant length. I didn't bring Thomas into this discussion at all, but Mr Jones said that, even if some Catholics thought other and better than Thomas, still a Thomist is a heretic and I'm in communion with heretics. A defense of Thomas on his own terms was called for.Michael Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11191322302191384384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472139466585018053.post-101344583233592232008-09-29T17:50:00.000-04:002008-09-29T17:50:00.000-04:00"and Aquinas can resist it only by abandoning his ..."and Aquinas can resist it only by abandoning his own logic at the last moment in order to presrve the Trinity in name"<BR/><BR/>Wait, you guys are actually Thomists?<BR/><BR/>I thought you were Scotists?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472139466585018053.post-27018412442604976852008-09-27T10:24:00.000-04:002008-09-27T10:24:00.000-04:00"If we oppose him with a parallel speech about the..."If we oppose him with a parallel speech about the blessing of the just life, and then he replies, and then we do, we'd have to count and measure the good things mentioned on each side, and we'd need a jury to decide the case. But if, on the other hand, we investigate the question, as we've been doing, by seeking agreement with each other, we ourselves can be both jury and advocate at once."<BR/>(Rep. 454a)<BR/><BR/><BR/>"...if my questioner was one of those clever and disputatious debaters, I would say to him: 'I have given my answer, if it is wrong, it is your job to refute it.' Then, if they are friends as you and I are, and want to discuss with each other, they must answer in a manner more gentle and more proper to discussion. By this I mean that the answers must not only be true, but in terms admittedly known to the questioner..."<BR/>(Meno, 75c-d)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472139466585018053.post-32867184074635155062008-09-26T16:51:00.000-04:002008-09-26T16:51:00.000-04:00awesome. The second bit is Eco, right. it looks li...awesome. The second bit is Eco, right. it looks like its still Mr. Jones.Lee Faberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00476833516234522602noreply@blogger.com