RileyG said:

I should wear my miraculous medal more often, but religious items are not allowed at work

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I went to grade school at a school/church called St. Catherine Laboure’.
I remember our teacher giving all of us a Miraculous Medal. I loved it.

John Bauer said:

Does this “novel atonement theory” belong to Mats L. Winther (2025)? In other words, is your original post essentially a précis of Winther’s argument? (I did not finish reading Winther’s article because it was too long. As a family man, my time is limited.) Judging by your OP and my partial reading of Winther, it feels influenced by René Girard, particularly Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World (1978)—given the shared emphasis on the collapse of sacral order and the demystification of the powers—but he never cites Girard.

Nevertheless, the proposal carries a distinctly gnostic aroma—e.g., “opposing yet complementary cosmic forces”—not formally, perhaps, but substantively. It is fairly gnostic in structure, logic, and soteriology. That, of course, bothers me. Soteriologically, the fundamental problem is not guilt before God but rather oppression by a sacralized or enchanted order, with salvation being described as release, awakening, or escape—here, “disenchantment.” Metaphysical liberation is a gnostic framing, the cross becoming a cosmic maneuver altering the structure of reality, not an atoning sacrifice that reconciles God and man.

At this point, whatever its rhetorical appeal, the theory has departed from the basic grammar of Christian atonement.

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I am the author of that article, yes—thank you for your interest. On the same page, I develop a critique of Girard. He rejects all metaphysical assumptions about divinity, and his views therefore diverge from mine. However, he understands secularization not as Christianity's antagonist but as its natural development in modernity. While I agree with this assessment, I argue, contra Girard, that secularization causes the majority to succumb to corrupting forces. It is as though secularization opens the gates to both the Kingdom and Hell.

While there are, on the surface, certain parallels with pagan and Gnostic ideas, I maintain that life is fulfilled on earth—in the earthly Kingdom—through participation in the celestial drama, coinciding with the personal realization of disenchantment. (Remember that the word gnosis is often used positively in the New Testament.) My position therefore differs sharply from Gnosticism, which regards the material world as corrupt or imprisoning. Rather than viewing the world as flawed or evil, I propose, following the Buddhists, to understand it as "empty." This perspective aligns with traditional Christianity's emphasis on detachment from the world.

Emancipation from the enchanted order under Satan's dominion was the earliest atonement model, one to which virtually all of the Church Fathers subscribed. Luther frequently portrays Christ's work as a cosmic victory over hostile powers. This model later fell into relative oblivion. It is known as the Christus Victor theory of atonement—central to Paul and reactualized in Gustaf Aulén's 1930 book.

In this model, the cross is indeed a cosmic event that alters the structure of reality, making the world anew (2 Cor. 5:17: "If anyone is in Christ—new creation! The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."). It is, however, fully compatible with modern atonement models. They do not contradict one another but instead function as complementary perspectives.

GoldenBoy89 said:

Seems wasteful but, what do I know? Obama only managed to deport more people with fewer funds and much less backlash but I guess coming in second to Obama is pretty much the norm for our current president.

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Um... To be fair, what are you basing that on? Obama's eight years in office versus Trump's five? Or one? I think Trump may have the edge on numbers deported if you combine five years of Trump versus the first five years of Obama.

I have mixed feelings about assisted suicide. I know it’s a sin but after watching my dad die of pancreatic cancer….the fear of dying that way makes me think I’d rather get it over with painlessly if I got that illness. I don’t know if I’d actually do it but I do have mixed feelings.

A New Dawn said:

I don't watch him daily, but I watch him a couple times a week. He is very intelligent, but a little geeky.

I hope this is OK for a fellowship post.

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Yup! It’s all good!

Take care!

Looks like there may be some skullduggery going on at the newly named Kennedy Center.


-- A2SG, sorry, can't bring myself to use the name that's been added to the facade....

ChubbyCherub said:

Thanks so much! What is TAW, please? I just wanted to understand, really, how someone became a saint and under what authority, really. Also, what their role is in the church etc.

Thank you!

Thank you!

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TAW is an acronym. It means The Ancient Way- Eastern Orthodox. This sub forum.

Just like OBOB is an acronym for One Bread, One Body- Catholic. The Catholic sub forum.

Other common acronyms include PM- private message, OP- original post/poster, etc

Hope this helps!

I don't watch him daily, but I watch him a couple times a week. He is very intelligent, but a little geeky.

I hope this is OK for a fellowship post.

The Barbarian said:

"People are beginning to see this not as an immigration question anymore as much as it is a violation of rights, a violation of due process and militarizing neighborhoods extraconstitutionally," said Mike Madrid, a moderate Republican political strategist. "There is no question that is a problem for the president and Republicans."

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That's a bit of a dilemma when going after illegal immigrants. If you do it legally, it takes too much time to deport people, and it doesn't have much of an impact. If you want to make an impact, you have to break or change the law, and the law is going to be tough to change. I have no problem with going after illegal immigrants, but I do have a problem with suspending due process. I would rather put up with having some illegal aliens running around than denying their legal rights.

chevyontheriver said:

My old parish from before I moved was on that list.

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I’m surprised my parish isn’t on that list. We have incense almost every Sunday and the altar rail
Is always used.

FaithT said:

We don’t.

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Most parishes don’t. Unless it’s a Latin Mass parish. Just FYI.

RileyG said:

We have a communion rail in my parish and I love it!

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We don’t.

GoldenBoy89 said:

Fair enough.

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Again. I will criticize if I choose. Not saying I’m necessarily happy with him, and I have nothing else to add.

Take care

Peace

Never heard of her, but if she has believed in Jesus for God's free gift of Eternal Life. At some point in her life, then she is confused. Being baptized again makes no one more committed to God. It is like these people who again and again and again give their life to Jesus, thinking that God is magically going to snap His finger and everything will be fine.

Maturity as a believer comes by daily seeking God's guidance through accurate Bible teaching and seeking to fight the draw of the world and its sinful life choices.

Seems wasteful but, what do I know? Obama only managed to deport more people with fewer funds and much less public backlash but I guess coming in second to Obama is pretty much the norm for our current president.