Posted by John Sobert Sylvest on January 05, 1999 at 17:31:19:
truth, beauty and goodness and the four loves
an exploration of value-laden existential processes with an aim toward facilitating interideological dialogue
an exploration of implicit faith processes with an aim toward facilitating interreligious dialogue
dialogue with exclusivistic ecclesiocentrism, inclusivistic christocentrism and pluralistic theocentrism
in every cultural milieu, for as long as our species has been extant, humanity has approached truth, beauty and goodness/justice as if drawn toward them as rewards in and of themselves
the pursuits of truth, of beauty, of goodness/justice are their own rewards
thus there is a nature of unconditionality, of "just-because-ishness"about humanity's existential orientation toward these values
as a preamble to any ecclesiocentrisms, christocentrisms or any other theocentrisms there is an anthropocentrism which might be explored
prior to a dialogue between the religions of explicit faith and their doctrines and rituals and laws and prior to a consideration of their dogmatisms, ritualisms and legalisms, we might explore the pathways of those to whom we have imputed implicit faith and we might do so in a language not encumbered by explicit faith references
at one level, humanity's approach to truth, beauty and goodness/justice has been driven by an erotic quest for these values, a pursuit undertaken in response to the question "what's in it for me?", an enlightened question and by no means ignoble. to not ask this question and not launch this quest would, in fact, be heretical for some religions
at another level, humanity's pursuit of these eternal values has been agapic and undertaken in response to the question of "what's in it for you?"and make no mistake, the "you" in those instances has been truth himself, beauty herself and goodness itself
at still another level, humanity has pursued relationship to truth, beauty and goodness as friends, a relationship characterized by mutuality and reciprocity, by the friendship and love known as philia which we've all experienced as quite distinct from eros and agape
and there are moments when "what's in it for me?" and "what's in it for you?" yield to the profound intuition that "you ARE me", the kinship gifted by storge, the recognition that "we" are made of the very same stuff, i.e our fellow humans, truth, beauty and goodness
in every cultural milieu, for as long as our species has been extant, humanity has approached truth, beauty and goodness/justice as if drawn toward them as rewards in and of themselves, whether driven by the more conditional elements of eros and storge, the mutuality and reciprocity of philia or the unconditional agape
these affinities are manifest in an individual by the very fact that one chooses to go on living, that one continues to ask questions presupposing answers, that one hopes against all hope
anthropologically, in these pusuits, we have already moved beyond primal instinct
psychologically, we are beyond any discussion of mere human emotions and motivations
these affinities, these four loves of the eternal values, prior to being either implicit or explicit existential movements or faith expressions, are already both immanent and transcendent, kataphatic and apophatic, ontological and teleological
before being metaphysical or theological, impersonal or personal, these affinities simply "are"
there can be no talk here of syncretism or of arrogance or of other interreligious dialogic epiphenomena for we have not, in this musing, left the "merely" anthropocentric realm yet
in exploring the "i am" and the "I am" and the "I AM" and the "i AM"and these profound intuitions of being, there need be no talk of pantheisms for we have not entered the theocentric realm yet either
this storge we have spoken of might reveal the raw epistemological datum that sets essence apart from existence as we consider "that" we are as distinct from "what" we are as we experience a "kinship" with truth, beauty and goodness, but a kinship with "limits" and perhaps it is here that the "true self" flourishes in its immanent being, in its relationship to the mystery of its very thatness
this philia we have lived in our mutual exchanges with truth, beauty and justice might suggest an "ego" thriving in relationship nurtured by healthy images of self and of all that comprises "other"
this eros that attracts us to truth and beauty and goodness perhaps reflects a type of therapeutic recognition of our partial fulfillment by others, leading to our total fullfillment in the completely other and hints at a properly aligned true self and ego which can yield authentic ontological ecstasy
and with the four loves in perfect harmony and crowned by an agapic, unconditional yielding to truth, beauty and goodness the true self and ego and Truth, Beauty & Goodness drown in the mystery of it all
and stage theories and growth paradigms and transformation metaphors collapse in this ineffable experience of being human and alive
but "effable" we must, sing we will ... as we articulate doctrines in response to "preserve" our encounters with truth, as we elaborate rituals to celebrate our encounters with beauty and codify laws to ensure the established the discovered order
and now, exclusivists, inclusivists, pluralists, ecclesiocentrists, christocentrists and theocentrists, where shall we begin?
shalom,
johnboy