11/16/15

Man and Sin by Piet Schoonenberg (1964) 2.1CE

Summary of text [comment] page 67

[Finally, let me consider the sinner.

The sinner’s statement, “I recognize myself (irrespective of God)”, locates the normal context (the sinner ‘himself’) outside of thinkdivine.

The sinner simultaneously refuses and usurps the statement that represents acceptance and openness.

“I recognize God, as the only way to recognize myself.”, is fundamentally transformed into something like “I recognize some mediator (perhaps, me, my gender, my race, my lover, my social role, my family, my tribe, my ethnicity, my nation, my ideology, my society) as the only way to recognize myself.”

This mediator is no different than an idol.

Sin replaces God with an idol.

Also, I cannot love myself as myself. I can only idolize that aspect of me that resonates with the limited normal context.

Consequently, as a sinner, I am always alienated from my true self. I can never be myself.

Plus, I cannot figure out why.]

11/13/15

Man and Sin by Piet Schoonenberg (1964) 2.1CD

Summary of text [comment] page 67

[Let me consider the person.

When someone says, “I recognize God, as the only way to recognize myself.”, that person accepts and is open to the formative designs that we encounter in the Holy Spirit.

I want The Father to recognize, in myself, the same character that He Sees in The Son.

In this way, I find myself desiring what the Creator loves.

The Son brings us into relation with our selves, our fellow humans and our God. The Son brings us into relation with all creation.]

11/12/15

Man and Sin by Piet Schoonenberg (1964) 2.1CC

Summary of text [comment] page 67

[What does “the One Who Recognizes” see in “The One Who Is Recognized”?

Christians view this Object as one of the designs of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love.

But that view is not exhaustive. Christians also view the Object as Speak. Here, actuality is depicted as “The One Who Speaks” and “The One Who Is Spoken, that is, the Word”.

Christians also view the Object as Life. Here, the actuality is depicted as The Father and The Son.

There are many ways to depict the designs of the Holy Spirit, but there is only one of each of them. Each one excludes all competing alternatives. There is only one recognition. There is only one love. There is only one word. There is only one life.]

11/11/15

Man and Sin by Piet Schoonenberg (1964) 2.1CB

Summary of text [comment] page 67

[“What does “the One Who Recognizes” see in “The One Who Is Recognized”?

Let me start by positing this: “The Recognizer sees some Object in the Recognized”.

Technically, for the Triune God, this Object must be the formal cause or “formal design” of the Holy Spirit.

The formal design answers the question: Why Recognition?

(And that question echoes through the dyad as: Why Existence?)]

11/10/15

Man and Sin by Piet Schoonenberg (1964) 2.1CA

Summary of text [comment] page 67

[The statement, “I recognize myself”, may unwittingly represent refusal and usurpation.

Theoretically, I should say, “I recognize God, as the only way to recognize myself.” This statement represents acceptance and openness.

This relation is not exactly the same as the preceding relations.

“The Holy Spirit3” brings “I (the created one who recognizes) and myself (the created one who is recognized)2” into relation with “His Omnipotent Oneness1” (which is contiguous with “the potential of creation to exist1“).

We acknowledge this relation because our creation (as actual relation) is contiguous with the Father and the Son (as actual relation), in the context of Assume!.]

11/9/15

Man and Sin by Piet Schoonenberg (1964) 2.1BZ

Summary of text [comment] page 67

[Now, let me consider the notion of God creating “the image of God”.

I suspect that, in the previous blog, “the image of God” would go in the place of creation.

The Story of the Fall comes in at this point, because the Story of the 6 Days of Creation was not the final statement.

The Story of Adam and Eve marks the moment when “humans, in the image of God,” realized that “they were persons”.

“A person” is culturally open to recognizing herself as “an image of God”.

This was not the case before the first singularity. In “the Lebenswelt that we evolved in” our ancestors were created in the image of God. However, they did not recognize this. Why not? Their way of talking was truly representational. It consisted of linguistic icons (images) and indexes (pointings). As language, it operated according to the structures of symbols orders. But hand speech talk was not fully symbolic.

The term “image of God” is purely symbolic, as is the term used to name Eve: Mother of all Living.

After the first singularity, persons could recognize “who they were” through symbols, into which they project reference.]

11/3/15

Man and Sin by Piet Schoonenberg (1964) 2.1BV

[Assume brings everything into relation, including every one of us, past, present and future. Assume brings all creation into relation. “All creation” includes the entire universe.

Creation, however, is not mentioned in the nested relation that portrays the One True Triune God.

Therefore, creation must belong to the other element in the dyad that we assume in order to bring all into relation.

The next blog portrays a way to picture how creation2 fits the dyadic actuality that “assume3” contextualizes.]