Posted by Diana on September 24, 19100 at 17:51:54:
In Reply to: Re: Levels of consciousness (moral theology in renewal) posted by johnboy on September 22, 19100 at 10:27:48:
: Some notes on where Catholic Moral Theology is headed; Sorry, I lost the reference but it is clearly from Richard McCormick:
: 1. Christocentric, "anchored in charity vs. one-sidedly philosophical;"
: 2. universal in its appeal, as opposed to a narrow, parochial approach;
: 3. attempting to use subsidiarity -- "if it can be done at a lower level, don't let a higher level do it." Today, Father McCormick stated, "we turn to Rome for everything." He believes that parish problems should be solved at the parish level, diocesan problems at the diocesan level, and so on;
: 4. personalistic, in contrast to "biologistic," emphasizing the centrality of the human person;
: 5. more "modest and tentative," vs. infallible;
: 6. ecumenical, drawing on other sources outside Catholicism for ideas;
: 7. inductive, using the insight of laypersons, vs. deductive;
: 8. pluralistic, allowing for differences according to individual cases, rather than seeking universal conformism;
: 9. aspirational, rather than minimalistic -- "appealing to the spiritual hungers of people, vs. basic obligations;" and
: 10. a theology done by experts, using specialists in fields like international relations or bioethics to create moral standards.
jb,
I like all of these except #10. I have hesitations about a theology done by so-called "experts." I don't like that. Remember when the doctors used leaches on people? They were "experts" in their fields, too. I don't like
"experts" making decisions for me-ever-even in moral theology!
John, just because people are very intelligent or "experts" does not mean they are advanced in states of consciousness. This is a mistake many people make. Intelligence does not equal attainment in consciousness or spirtuality.
They could be operating out of their first chakras!
Diana