Philosophy Archives - Page 2 of 6

Love and cosmic truth

September 6, 2019August 31, 2018 by Jeff

Here are examples that show how to join love and cosmic truth–the truths of science, philosophy, and spiritual experience.

The Easy Version

September 6, 2019April 21, 2017 by Jeff

Too busy to read the book? Here are one-page summaries of the three parts and the seven chapters, which enable you to participate with pleasure and progress.

Religion, by itself, is not adequate to the challenge, because religion can insist on unhelpful beliefs and act foolishly. And wisdom by itself lacks the power to transform a nation and a planet. But when religion is joined to wisdom, hope emerges anew.

Two phases of creation, two ways of relating

September 6, 2019November 25, 2016 by Jeff

Learning to love another person is so much easier when we conceive of our creation in two phases. On the one hand, the Creator God has designed an awesome, long drawn-out, gradual process of evolution. Our body and mind are products of this evolution. On the other hand, the Universal Father acts directly, bestowing on each mind-body system a unique personality with a spirit nucleus (“the spirit poured out upon all flesh,” “the kingdom of God within you”).

Wiser crisis decisions

September 6, 2019November 5, 2016 by Jeff

How can philosophy assist in decision-making in response to planetary crises—ecological, social, economic, and political? By helping to integrate scientific realism with spiritual idealism and helping to shape the debate: bringing high quality thinking to bear, well-informed and carefully reasoned; promoting the understanding of intellectual diversity; and pruning errors in reasoning.

Hope—between despair and radiant assurance

September 6, 2019October 26, 2016 by Jeff

Hope occupies a place on the spectrum of confidence ranging from despair to radiant assurance. Despair implies that hope has vanished. Radiant assurance is beyond hope, which implies a degree of uncertainty.

Spiritual Solidarity in the Gospel Movement

September 6, 2019September 21, 2016 by Jeff

In a workshop given in Budapest, Hungary, by Jeffrey Wattles on September 16, 2016, there emerged a new group of persons committed to the gospel movement.

From emotion through value to worship

September 6, 2019July 16, 2016 by Jeff

From sweets to saints, various attractions fill the mind. Diverse values activate emotional responses that are sometimes disordered. A lesson from psychology helps us order our value-responses gloriously. . . .

Ten truths of philosophy

September 6, 2019July 9, 2016 by Jeff

If we want to base our lives on truth, many of us think mainly of truth in the spiritual sense; but the truth of God is all encompassing. Cosmic truth includes also the truths of science,

Revisit Galilee (revised)

A dozen years ago I went with about twenty-five believers on a pilgrimage to Israel and beyond. I was greatly moved to discover how seeing places of Jesus’ ministry enabled me to remember, ponder, interpret, and commune. One thing that I brought back home was a placemat which I have on the dinner table. It […]

Jesus’ Scientific Knowledge: Scientific Living and Spiritual Living in the Teaching of Jesus

Jesus was not only an idealist. He was also a realist. He had his feet on the ground, and his knowledge of facts was excellent. And excellent knowledge includes some scientific knowledge. I believe that as the human Jesus grew up, he learned to be Watch the 3:50 video or listen to the podcast episode. […]

The Treasure in your Field

The kingdom of God is like treasure hidden in a field that a man found. He covered it up again, and in his joy he went out and sold everything he had and bought that field. What was this treasure in the field? I think it’s what Jesus was talking about when he said, “The […]

A man with a funnel in his head

A few years ago, on several occasions, when I looked out from the window in my study, I would see, across the street, my tall neighbor standing in the middle of his front yard. His little girl, about two years old, was running around in the yard, staying fairly close to him. Every few minutes, […]

A workshop, a reflection on truth and love, and a correction

There is some business that I want to mention at the end of this post, and it connects directly with some of the most important teachings of Jesus. Here is the question that I want to answer today. Jesus taught that we should love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—and our neighbor […]

With all our strength

I’ve been on a quest to live–and write about–loving God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Yesterday I sent to my editor friend a revised section on strength. She discovered weaknesses in it. It didn’t take long for me to realize (this is a pattern) that she had uncovered a fresh, hungry need […]

Faith child

The faith of a little child not only enables us to join the kingdom family of God, it also continues to guide us as we progress. Jesus’s teachings and interactions on this theme are marked by a wonderful simplicity. And the variety of these teachings touches on several concepts that are part of the whole […]

Sean finds God

A 21-year-old computer whiz embraced the concept of the wonderfulness within, but rejected the idea of the spirit of God within–until two weeks ago. How did philosophy help? Watch the 9-minute video or listen to the podcast episode. For the video, I simplified the philosophy so much it’s hardly recognizable. I have organized some ideas […]

Falling across the Pentecost finish line

After acknowledging the failure of an experiment in the last class meeting (falling across the finish line), I summarize a five-week class, "The Journey from Easter to Pentecost." Then I distinguish garden-variety spiritual experience from the taste-and-see variety. The post Falling across the Pentecost finish line appeared first on UNIVERSAL FAMILY.

The Journey from Easter to Pentecost

"Lazarus, come forth!" Imagine Jesus saying this to you, and you saying this to others. Here's class that has embarked on that venture. The post The Journey from Easter to Pentecost appeared first on UNIVERSAL FAMILY.