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Angel's avatar

I have a question on the definition of what the christian marriage actually is, is there a way to comunicate with you?

God be with you.

Sincerely,Angel

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Applied Virtue's avatar

You can come onto my Telegram, the link to which is on my YouTube channel.

The definition of marriage is twofold.

First, as a natural institution, it is the lasting union of a man and a woman who agree to give and receive rights over each other for the performance of the act of generation and for the fostering of their mutual love.

Second, as a divine institution, it is this natural institution raised to the level of a Sacrament by the New Law whereby Christian spouses signify and partake of the mystery of that unity and fruitful love which exists between Christ and his Church, helping each other attain to holiness in their married life and in the rearing and education of their children.

I hope this helps.

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Henry Solospiritus's avatar

My authority is my experience. My experiences are the essence of my meditation. My experiences are my connection to the Divine. Understanding my experiences liturgically sanctifies my path. The chalice I drink from is the Grail of imagination. New realms in the imaginal Cosmos await my awareness. History is not going to repeat itself. I ride the chaos of the Cosmos. Amen!

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Applied Virtue's avatar

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already."

- 1 John 4:1-3

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Henry Solospiritus's avatar

When I was in seminary, a good one, every professor, including the dean, was an atheist. Attending a second seminary, also of high regard, primarily for Old Testament studies, every professor was an atheist. The best scholars on the planet, they collect their stipends and went woke. The best pastors, run prep schools for the Ivies. So, fine Sir, is my course hard to fathom?

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Applied Virtue's avatar

Do you think that atheists are able to communicate to you the true spirit of the Christian faith?

Would they be able to communicate to you any deeper spiritual truth?

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Henry Solospiritus's avatar

I think you lost the thread here. I’m unchurched.

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Applied Virtue's avatar

No, I assumed that that would be the case from your post.

My question still stands: do you think that your atheist teachers were able to communicate to you the true spirit of the Christian faith? Would they be able to communicate to you any deeper spiritual truth?

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basedologist's avatar

I would be curious of your thoughts on the Neo-Platonic pagans. I dislike those who would take up a faith for essentially political reasons. Neo-Platonism though actually has a schools of thought, an actual metaphysic, and philosophies.

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Applied Virtue's avatar

I'd have to study more of their thought, as their interpretation of Platonic philosophy differs from how Christian Neoplatonists interpret it. From what I can tell, however, their main critique of Christianity is that it is moralizing and demands assent to structures that they believe are unnecessary for salvation. To them, spiritual truths come from universal archetypes found in all religions that the more esoterically minded can access, and only the plebs need to follow some public dogma. They would also claim that the God of the Bible couldn't possibly be identified with the One that they worship on account of the former acting like a tribal deity for the ancient Hebrews, something I addressed in the article as having been necessary for the Incarnation.

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Michael's avatar

Small correction- Jesus was anointed by Mary of Bethany, not Mary Magdalene. Different person.

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Applied Virtue's avatar

There's a mix of opinions on this. While Eastern Orthodox and some Protestants claim that Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene are different people, Catholics have traditionally identified Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalene.

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