Ex Nihilo

All that is true, by whomever it has been said has its origin in the Spirit ~ St. Thomas Aquinas

I have a friend who's fond of saying: There is no god but God and Mohammed is his prophet.

LOL!! Very nice but I see you and raise you...(fair warning, I am a Tebow Fanatic so I am very proud that I have waited this long to find a way to work him into a post)...This guy should be president! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMK9FKMG3Nc

Now I know why your so grateful...Call me jealous. I moved from being 3 minutes from the beach to being about 3 states away from the nearest beach. ack!!

LOL...I've officially spent way too much time on TMZ. I thought, from the topic title, this post was going to go to a completely different place...a much darker place. Very cute indeed.

What about philosophy? To me philosophy is the root to all other bases of knowledge, moral or otherwise...It is the root of our worldviews. Because I have a theistic philosophical worldview, I am inclined to certain views about religion, property, fariness, and social harmony.

I don't really get your post Happy. I liked your quotes. I am very libertarian at heart and I support Ron Paul although I'll probably be pulling the lever for Gary Johnson since the Mitt has sown up the nomination...I like a good portion of what the Tea Party espouses but I think there needs to be a little more ideological unity within the organization before it can really exploit its interllectual and emotional power. Right now it seems like an uneasy alliance of libertarians, anti-taxers, social conservatives, militarists, and good old fashioned Obama haters who are united on what they oppose but far less so on what they support.

when I use the name God I refer to the god that is invoked every eucharist: "in the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" I am speaking of the triune god. Christianity has long adopted existing names and ideas that are not offensive to the faith in its missionary work. God in English, Jehovah's, Allah in Arabic...its all the Trinity to me.

Again proper titles are also capitalized. Judge, Chairman, Officer, Doctor.

It is a proper name used in the liturgy of the church for 2000 years

G is capital when referring to a proper name, g is small when referring to a general class of alleged entities rather than by their proper names. Ex: God is a god, or My god is God. It would be incorrect to say: thor is a God. This has nothing to do with respect, just grammar.

But God is already in control which makes the need for artificial GE moot.

I love the BCP and use it for my own devotions....my website provides a couple of free liturgical choices. One inspired by the 1549 matins and evensong orders, another by Lutheran daily prayers, and then a link to a historic universalist prayerbook. You might find the following website helpful: justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp it gives versions of both historic and current BCPs from around. One prayerbook you might want to look into, although it is not on that site, is the newest BCP version from new Zealand which tries to use inclusive themes and wording. Here is its version of the lord's prayer: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven: The hallowing of your name echo through the universe! The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world! Your heavenly will be done by all created beings! Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth. With the bread we need for today, feed us. In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us. In times of temptation and testing, strengthen us. From trials too great to endure, spare us. From the grip of all that is evil, free us. For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever. Amen.

SEA FEVER I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking, And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking. I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying. I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over. By John Masefield

Lol...not even the same phylum

very true...and what a frightfully boring and unpoetic world it would be if they were all merely water stains and tortillas and not SOSs from a much larger reality....wait a minute, is there any guacamole with all this? Perhaps holy guacamole

the enemy's playbook referred to in the earlier posts.

You can get the Hope book in print too...I just don't think its free.

I'll be your friend, but let's not talk about race. My choice in partner would not fit into the whole racial purity scheme if yours.

Recently read Hope beyond Hell available for free through the website of the same name or free on kindle. It's a book promoting Christian universalism...also getting re-acquainted with Chesterton and reading Heretics and Orthodoxy...al three are highly recommended.

I think he is referring to the mechanations of the devil kimmy....I tend to agree with him. I feel the same way when people try to ascribe purely materialistic explanations to miraculous/mystical experiences in any faith context.

If you go the orthodox route, the coptic church has some beautiful liturgies

I believe you might want to check out some of the gnostic liturgies available through a Google search...I love the BCP but it relies heavily on a somewhat Calvinisti/incarnational theology that is not typically indicative of gnostic dogmas I've rum across. Eastern orthodox liturgy with its bent toword the mystic and theosis might be a good alternative.

Interesting...I'm fascinated by this statement and how you square it with the rest of the bible: What about when Jesus said, in Mark 10, "But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.' For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh"? The story of Genesis bears this out, for when God sees that it is not right for man to be alone, he gives him one wife, rather than many. Also, by using this logic, I assume you have no problem with one woman taking multiple husbands. After all I know of nowhere in the NT where a woman is told to take only one.

Never said it did...I just point out the futility of trying give proof to one who will not see.