Religious questions used to be “What do you believe?”
“What happens in the afterlife?”
Now they are “How is belief possible in our secular age?”
“Who do you believe?” that is “Who is your authority
on questions of religion?” – less and less it is
popes/priests/catechisms
and more and more it is
Google/friends/social media
but in medieval times, Bonaventure’s theological method
was based on spiritual searching – a quest for truth –
not ideological confirmation of my biases
but something far greater – something
that binds us together despite our differences
if Bonaventure were alive today
he would include eastern religions
in his quest for truth because
contrary to most peoples’ presuppositions/biases
the First Buddhist Precept is a celebration of life
a reverence for living life to the full
cultivating compassion and vowing
to never kill anything
whereas some secular people kill their own soul
although they have not died physically
they have died the “second death” mentioned in Revelation –
their soul has been lost and destroyed –
they have cast themselves into hell –
a hell of their own making
but in Buddhism the “noble heart,” the “bodhichitta”
is always present in us no matter how
selfish/depressed/fearful we are –
like an unblemished jewel the bodhichitta
can always be rediscovered
and heal us
similarly, according to Henri Nouwen
the soul can always be refound
in solitude –
the great furnace of transformation –
where constantly happens
a great struggle with the devil
and a great encounter with God.
Intelligent Christian Spirituality 