The book chronicles exchanges between the author and bloggers on the NCR (National Catholic Reporter) blog site (now discontinued.) Exchanges are over upfront religious/ social issues. While strong and varied views are aired they are respectful-perhaps something of model how to reduce heat and increase light. Traditional religions define faith/ belief doctrinally, dogmatically, and exercise control over belief and behavior. As history shows, faith and politics intertwine and agitate differences hurtful to people and nature. Modern calamities can be redeemed only from within. Our times confront traditions more radically than ever before, namely, to awaken to sustainable perspectives of quantum physical/ psychical evolution. Remembrances from the past advance in genetic codes and are "prospective", open to hope. Leaves are genetic lexicons on the Tree of Life. We need to learn nature's economies of building on patterns of sustainable energy use. Evolution's learning lets us anticipate the future and avoid imprisonment of thought fixation. Evolution is symbiotic intelligence, nature's pattern, God's design. Evolution opens to symbiotic solutions only if culture, religion and politics are open to evolution. Evolution's outcome of processing interdependent life and consciousness doesn't have to be terminally wasteful rather it can uplift, enlighten and expose wrongdoing; and importantly, help end bad habits, choose right thinking and keep hope alive. In regards to thought-processing, latest thinking is a recapitulation (reformulation) of prior thinking. Thought-updating includes reformulations of faith, which is how faith remains vital and religion is redeemed. If one is of a mind to move beyond fixations of faith/ religion, one must admit the inadequacy of belief constrained by fixations and recognize the need for moving on to evolutionary consciousness. The important next step is to take action, not alone, but collaboratively by group study and action-the point of the Evolution Trilogies.

The Global THINKING Community

One Family, One FutureBy Sylvester L. Steffen

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Sylvester L. Steffen
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4520-5060-7

Contents

1. Faith!? Are we losing it?.......................................................32. Why Evolution Matters...........................................................53. THEISTIC EVOLUTION, Catholicism & Bruno's Acentric Universe.....................64. "Teaching the Faith in a Postmodern World"......................................95. "The Medicine of Mercy rather than Severity"....................................116. Truth and the Culture of Distrust...............................................137. Ideology, Worldview, Subjectivity...............................................148. "Axial" Age and "Postaxial" Age: New Search - New Name..........................159. Conscience is the Means/ End....................................................2210. HUMAN PERSONALITY:.............................................................2311. Women and Scholasticism's Unrepented Blunder...................................2412. The Other Face.................................................................2713. How does Scholasticism's Blunder disorder......................................2814. Bernard Lonergan speaks........................................................2915. To Think with the Church.......................................................3116. Energy and Reconciliation......................................................3317. Reflections on Faith and Frustration...........................................3518. How timely.....................................................................3619. The Oneness of Nature..........................................................3720. Einstein's Theory..............................................................3921. The universe is quantum-electric...............................................4022. Natural Polarity, Natural Ambiguity............................................4223. The Cultural Spectrum & Intrinsic Order........................................4324. The Sacrament of Natural Order.................................................4525. Inside the Cultural Spectrum...................................................4626. In the evolving ...............................................................4827. I mean resonance in two senses ................................................4928. TRUE Religion, TRUE Priesthood.................................................5029. ABOUT MY PERSONAL LIFE.........................................................5230. "SUFFERING", What Eucharist Is.................................................5431. "Suffer" means more than pain;.................................................5532. From the perspective of Evolution..............................................5733. We are also taught by omission.................................................5834. Now we get to the nub..........................................................5835. Immediately following Vatican II...............................................6036. The documentation of female/ male..............................................6137. The DIVINE FEMININE & Church Competency........................................6338. Evolution clarifies Original Sin...............................................6539. This is a non-conventional.....................................................6740. In the Book of Genesis.........................................................6941. To be fully human..............................................................7142. Faith, Reason and Dysfunctional Marriage.......................................7243. Virtual Reality and New Age Metaphysics........................................7444. Equal Opportunity Sin..........................................................7545. COGITANDO SIC, method of evolution.............................................7746. From William Madges,...........................................................7847. This strand (45 and 46) is important...........................................7848. The philosophical worry........................................................7849. David C. Korten's..............................................................7950. American Corporate Feudalism...................................................8051. RELIGIOUS PARALYSIS SYNDROME...................................................8352. Odious Stereotyping............................................................8453. What Do You Expect?............................................................8654. Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI..............................................8655. Exclusionism vs. Inclusionism..................................................8856. Tithing Nature, Restoring Faith................................................8957. Living in the person of Jesus..................................................9158. TRUST issues: Faith, Ecology, Natural Law......................................9159. Yes! Natural Law, cosmic law...................................................9260. The HOLY TRINITY Triduum (Retreat Exercise)....................................9461. Evolution and Intelligent Design...............................................9662. Faith - Eucharist..............................................................9763. THEOSIS and the Pursuit of Godlikeness.........................................9864. Earth's Ecozoic Crisis.........................................................10165. Pursuing Truth.................................................................10266. The Fraudulent Prerogation of Male Primacy.....................................10567. Eucharistic Evolution & Resurrection Consciousness.............................10768. A UNIVERSAL SYLLABUS...........................................................1081. Living Truthfully and Openly....................................................1152. Cover-up and Breach of Trust....................................................1153. Original Sin....................................................................1164. The Sacrament of Natural Order..................................................118Afterword..........................................................................121

Chapter One

ESSAYS for REFLECTION and DISCUSSION

The essays that follow are from postings that were made at www. ncrcafe.org(2006-2008) The NCR website is operated by the National Catholic Reporter for the public exchange of ideas; unedited postings and discussions can be found at the NCR website. The reprinting of postings here is done with the permission of the National Catholic Reporter.

1. Faith!? Are we losing it?

Submitted by Sylvester L. Steffen on October 11, 2006 - 3:29pm. - Diocesan Life

What is faith anyway? Because faith is intuitionally natural and transmitted from generation to generation, we recognize it when we see it. But do we recognize that it is missing when we don't see it?

For example, as parents we better pay closer attention to the feedback we get from our children because it tells us about ourselves, about our faithlessness. Are we missing the message? Oh sure, I know that religions, preoccupied at their preferred polarities, give a bad name to religion and faith by association; and that it isn't a lot better with middle religion. But if we are honest with ourselves we should be asking "how much is religion about faith anyway?" Don't get me wrong, I...