Category Archives: My Reading

‘Symbol and Sacrament’ Chapter 7: Sacrament and Ethics

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Symbol and Sacrament Posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2:I, Chapter 2:II, Chapter 3, Chapter 4:I, Chapter 4:II, Chapter 5, Chapter 6 Chauvet frames his seventh chapter with the question: ‘How can we avoid the temptation to oppose ethical practice and ritual practice without yielding to the reverse temptation … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, My Reading, Reviews, The Sacraments, Theological, Worship | 10 Comments

‘Symbol and Sacrament’ Chapter 6: Scripture and Sacrament

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Symbol and Sacrament Posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2:I, Chapter 2:II, Chapter 3, Chapter 4:I, Chapter 4:II, Chapter 5, Chapter 7 Having established a model for the structure of Christian identity in the previous chapter, Chauvet proceeds to explore the interrelationships of the various elements of the … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews, The Church, The Sacraments, Theological, Worship | 11 Comments

‘Symbol and Sacrament’ Chapter 5: The Structure of Christian Identity

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Symbol and Sacrament Posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2:I, Chapter 2:II, Chapter 3, Chapter 4:I, Chapter 4:II, Chapter 6, Chapter 7 Chauvet has now established the philosophical foundation for his larger project. Now he will turn more directly to the sacraments themselves. The guiding questions will be: … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Experience, My Reading, Reviews, The Church, The Sacraments, Theological | 11 Comments

‘Symbol and Sacrament’ Chapter 4:II: Language and the Body

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Symbol and Sacrament Posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2:I, Chapter 2:II, Chapter 3, Chapter 4:I, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7 The Act of Symbolization To illustrate the act of symbolization, Chauvet gives the example of two secret agents who are given two irregular halves of a five-dollar … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews, The Sacraments, Theological | 11 Comments

‘Symbol and Sacrament’ Chapter 4:I: The Symbol and the Sign

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Symbol and Sacrament Posts: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2:I, Chapter 2:II, Chapter 3, Chapter 4:II, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7 Chauvet has now established the methodological foundation for an understanding of the sacraments as mediations, rather than instruments, ‘as expressive media in which the identification and thus … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews, The Sacraments, Theological | 10 Comments

Rémi Brague on European Identity and the Lessons of the Middle Ages

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

I read Rémi Brague’s The Legend of the Middle Ages several months ago and highly recommend it to any interested in the period. This particular section came to mind earlier this evening, and I thought that I would post it. … Continue reading →

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Edwin Friedman’s, ‘A Failure of Nerve’

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Part 1: How Societies Become Imaginatively Gridlocked and How This Can Be Overcome Part 2: Understanding the Chronically Anxious Society Part 3: The Data Addiction and How to Kick the Habit Part 4: Why Empathy Doesn’t Work Part 5: The … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews | 8 Comments

Summary of Edwin Friedman’s ‘A Failure of Nerve’: Part 6

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Other Posts in Series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 Emotional Triangles An ‘emotional triangle’ refers to ‘the manner in which the relationship between any two people, or a given individual and his or her symptoms, can be a function … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews | 11 Comments

Summary of Edwin Friedman’s ‘A Failure of Nerve’: Part 5

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Other Posts in Series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 6 The Importance of Self There is a constant struggle in life between the forces that seek to play it safe and merely reproduce the status quo, and the forces … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Summary of Edwin Friedman’s ‘A Failure of Nerve’: Part 4

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Alastair Roberts

Other Posts in Series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6 The Fallacy of Empathy Friedman now proceeds to take aim at the ‘fallacy of empathy’. He observes the way in which the political rhetoric of sensitivity can hijack … Continue reading →

Posted in My Reading, Reviews | 8 Comments