Science is going thru a major paradigm shift
from seeing nature as mechanical and inanimate/dead
to seeing it as organic and alive
The physical sciences noted
the dissolution of energy in entropy
but ignored increasing complexity/consciousness
which is building energy up and up – it is this increase
that gives the whole cosmos its purpose and direction
Believers claim the resurrection of Christ integrates
the whole cosmos and all people into God
which is God’s purpose/direction/flow for everything:
union and transformation in God
It is good to include all religions and thus integrate everything
in a new way not the old way –
Buddhism can be part of cosmic integration
since it will not block the flow of God’s plan –
doing no harm to ourselves or others
is basic Buddhist teaching on nonaggression
which includes not killing/stealing/lying and the Christian commandments
of not doing harm in our heart/thoughts/speech/actions
However, Rosemary Radford Ruether, a great feminist theologian
pointed out that in traditional Judeo-Christianity there exists
a sacralised assumption of a divinely ordered patriarchy/hierarchy
from God to angels to men to women to animals –
this Great Chain of Being invented by men –
was the primary metaphysics for all cultures East and West
before science – and it placed women somewhere
between men and animals
No matter how we integrate everything – whether thru science
or religion or science and religion working together –
what people want most of all is to live in peace
Peace is all around us – in the world/nature/ourselves
when we live in the present moment – when mindfulness
whether Buddhist or Christian – is in us
the Holy Spirit and peace are in us –
this is not a matter of faith but of practice
and others will sense it and be transformed –
world peace begins in everyone’s heart.
Intelligent Christian Spirituality 