The Absolute Truth [God - Transcendental Intelligence] is beyond human comprehension Early Christian Mystics, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Augustine - Humility &Wisdom without Arrogance \
"According to the true words of the Lord [Mt 5.8], the pure of heart will see God. They will receive as much as their minds can comprehend. However, the unbounded, incomprehensible divinity remains beyond all comprehension." (St Gregory of Nyssa p.161 Song of songs)
Preamble: St Gregory of Nyssa (335-395)
Gregory of Nyssa (c. AD 335 – 395) – Along with his older brother, Basil of Caesarea, and Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory was one the three great Cappadocian Fathers of the 4th century. Besides, emphasizing that God is beyond words, St Gregory also made the very crucial point that - at times - abstractions can confound and confuse people from a certain perspective
"Gregory's theology [St Gregory of Nyssa], as expressed in his work, is dynamic and progressive, it is set on an endless journey. We will always be traveling towards the infinite towards the vision of the divine [the drive to touch the divine as part of envisioning] .....The soul's love of divine beauty is an eternally perfective and creative power." (p.3 Gregory of Nyssa: Song of Songs by McAmbley) A critical passage to understand St Gregory’s theology is from the Song of Songs, “According to the true words of the Lord (Mt 5:8), the pure in heart will see God. They will receive as their minds can comprehend! However the unbounded incomprehensible divinity remains beyond comprehension. (p.161 St Gregory of Nyssa Song of Songs) After 40 years it is crystal clear that my personal mindset-filter definitely has some limitations].
St. Gregory of Nyssa: “Making an idol of God”
In the book, Life of Moses, St. Gregory emphatically points out that “…every concept formed by our understanding which attempts to attain and to them in the divine nature serves only to make an idol of God, not to make God known”. ~ from “The Life of Moses”. St Augustine says something remarkably similar! "God is not what you imagine or what you think you understand." St. Augustine is clearly stating it isn't possible to conceptualize God- or absolute truth!
From the Song of Songs
St Gregory of Nyssa observes that God’s manifestation to the great Moses began with light [Ex 19.18], after which he spoke through a cloud [Ex 20.21] Having risen higher and having become more perfect, Moses saw God in darkness [Ex 24. 15-18]. By this example we learn that our withdrawal from false, deceptive ideas of God is a transition from darkness into light. Next, a more careful understanding of hidden things leads the soul through appearances to God’s hidden nature which is symbolized by a cloud over-shadowing all appearances and which little by little accustoms the soul to behold what is hidden. Finally, the soul is led on high. Forsaking what human nature can attain, the soul enters within the sanctuary of divine knowledge where she is hemmed in on all sides by the divine darkness. The soul forsakes everything without, that is appearances and ideas; the only thing left for her contemplation is the unseen and unattainable in which God dwells. Scripture says of the Lawgiver, “Moses entered into the darkness where God was!” [Exodus 20.21]. (p.202 SoS)
"God is not what you imagine or what you think you understand.
If you understand you have failed!" -St. Augustine
When one wants to begin with the question of what human consciousness can truly grasp or even imagine, the best illustrations could probably be pulled from Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Entanglement. Even the brilliant genius Albert Einstein simply could grasp or even imagine quantum entanglement. To Einstein quantum entanglement was an impossibility – something which just couldn’t happen. Quantum entanglement was a complete and baffling mystery. An “entangled pair” of subatomic particles react immediately and directly to the spin of the other subatomic particle - in spite of the fact that happens when the subatomic particles are separated by arbitrarily large distances. That was bad enough. Worse, the direct and immediate reactions to a change in the spin of the other entangled particle occurred at speeds faster than the speed of light. As most people know the speed of light was an absolute in Einstein's theory of relativity, so quantum entanglement violated every law of classical physics as Einstein understood it. Albert Einstein named the aberrant physics of quantum entanglement, "Spukhafte Fernwirkung" - which means, in German, "spooky action at a distance." So, being from the State of Maryland that fits in perfectly with the Maryland State Motto which proudly proclaims, "More than you can Imagine!"
The famous religious scholar, Karen Armstrong’s writing about religious beliefs, highlights that theme in Christianity, especially in light of the writing of early Christian mystics, including St. Augustine (354 - 430), one of the Latin Fathers of the Church who adapted platonic philosophy to Christian ideology. St. Augustine was perhaps the most significant Christian thinker, after St Paul. While acknowledging that most Christians actually do think of God in terms of being a “Being” in human terms and with a human body, as it were, St Augustine says that this type of thinking would be ‘wrong thinking,” as it were. As St. Augustine observed, “God is best known in not knowing him.” Karen Armstrong as a general observation observes, “We could not speak about God rationally, as we speak about ordinary beings….” St. Augustine states unequivocally, "God is not what you imagine or what you think you understand. If you understand you have failed."
That is, the human mind simply is not capable of comprehending absolutes, including Absolute Truth [God] or the Ultimate Reality. As such, to envision God as a being or even “Being” puts serious limits on God, and distorts a person’s understanding and comprehension of God. What would seem very salient about St. Augustine's way of thinking is that St. Augustine by all appearances had the capability of integrating rational and mystic ways of thought processes - which some I have met seem to think unlikely or impossible. Neuroscience has identified 360 distinct regions of the brain and most humans do seem to be able to keep their balance and integrate different processes within the human mind.
"[T]he unbounded, incomprehensible divinity remains
beyond all comprehension."
St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335 – c. 395), an early Christian mystic who is venerated as a saint in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism, emphasizes that God is beyond words and beyond comprehension, and to grasp God as a “Being” diminishes God. Armstrong quotes St. Gregory of Nyssa, who believed, “Any attempt to define God clearly “becomes an idol of God and does not make him known.” (p.113) Of course, Jewish Law (and Christ was actually a Jew) prohibits absolutely any symbolism or graven images of God and, by law, prohibit pronouncing the name of YHWH. St. Gregory argued that “You had to leave behind “all that can be grasped by sense or reason” so that “the only thing left for contemplation is the invisible and the incomprehensible.” (p.113) In the classic work, the Song of Songs, St. Gregory of Nyssa states unequivocally, "According to the true words of the Lord [Mt 5.8], the pure of heart will see God. They will receive as much as their minds can comprehend. However, the unbounded, incomprehensible divinity remains beyond all comprehension." (p.161 Song of songs)
A Denial of a Denial: "God is known by knowledge and by unknowing of
him[God]!
Denys the Areopagite, who, historically, is somewhat of a mystery, was ‘apparently’ a Greek theologian who “apparently” lived in the late 5th to early 6th century. Denys named himself after St. Paul’s Athenian convert from Acts 17:34. Denys focused on the ineffable and elusive nature of God, something the Jewish theologian Heschel also emphasizes. Denys starts out by emphasizing that God has 52 names in the Bible and is referred to as a “rock”, the “sky”, and so on, and so forth. Of course, Denys points out God cannot be, in truth, any single one those things. So, first, in the process of affirmation, there is a complementary and synchronous denial, and then finally, at the pinnacle of the argument, there is a denial of the denial.
In Denys the Areopagite, understanding and wisdom, when people ordinarily talk about God, they are in truth “babbling incoherently.” (p.125) (I can't help but add that is especially true when Christian leaders start dragging Jesus Christ into right wing politics like many Christian leaders are doing at the moment)! Armstrong goes on to quote Denys: “Therefore…. God is known by knowledge and by unknowing of him; there is understanding, reason, knowledge, touch, perception, opinion, imagination, name and many other things, but he is not understood, nothing can be said of him, he cannot be named. He is not one of the things that are, nor is he known in any of the things that are; he is all things in everything and nothing in anything.” (p.125)
Much - or most of - modern Christianity appears to have abandoned the mysticism and the wisdom of early Christian mystics as well as some of the mystic wisdom of that very bastion of logic and reason, St. Augustine. In fact it is not uncommon today to hear Christian leaders like the Evangelical preacher who wrote and article about how God put Trump on earth to exorcize the demons out of America. Parallel to what St. Augustine stated, the Zen master Seng-ts'an recommended that a person should "not seek the truth, only cease to cherish your opinions." Anais Nin spoke about the characteristic of subjectivity in regard to truth when he said, "The personal life deeply lived always expands into truths beyond itself." Perhaps the frosting on the subjective truth cake was stated by Suzuki Roshi observed that "To accept some idea of truth without experiencing it, is like a painting of a cake on paper which you cannot eat." That is, the 'Absolute Truth' is "not what you imagine" and are at the core, "truths beyond itself."
Many Christian leaders talk ceaselessly about the "Transcendent God." However, that would seem rather presumptuous since as St. Augustine observed, in the end, God is “beyond words and beyond comprehension!” In that sense when people talk about God they are actually talking about their abstraction of God - reflecting from a certain perspective what Suzuki Roshi said "To accept some idea of truth without experiencing it, is like a painting of a cake on paper which you cannot eat." That being said, if you have experienced life then from a certain perspective you have experienced God. Personally when people start talking about absolutes I feel their judgment has been skewed. And there is a big difference between people praying to God for guidance and a preacher preaching God solely to manipulate people - which is how you end up with the politicization of Jesus Christ today - which is a hot topic among many Christians.
For perspective - from other sources: A universal prohibition among all religions is the prohibition of "playing God!", and the Ultimate arrogance of believing one has all the answers.
From the Quran:
…If the ocean were ink (wherewith to write out) the words of my Lord, sooner would the ocean be exhausted than would the words of my Lord, even if we added another ocean like it, for its aid. (Quran 18:109)
…If the ocean were ink (wherewith to write out) the words of my Lord, sooner would the ocean be exhausted than would the words of my Lord, even if we added another ocean like it, for its aid. (Quran 18:109)
According to Islamic theology, Allah [God] is neither a material nor a spiritual being. That is, according to Islamic teachings, beyond the Throne (al-ʾArsh) and according to the Quran, "No vision can grasp him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things."
Lao Tzu in his book Tao Te Ching, states:
The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The unnamable is the eternally real.
Modern Scientists and Quantum Physicists: 'Absolute Truth' is Beyond Comprehension.
Einstein observed, “Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible laws and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration of this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in fact, religious." This quote of Albert Einstein, taken from Walter Isaacson’s, Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007), reveals that Einstein perceived that the scope of scientific inquiry had definite and specific limits. In fact, Einstein concluded, as did Carl Sagan, Max Planck, Carl Jung, and other scholars and scientists, that imagination is more valuable and versatile than knowledge - especially in that imagination includes not only “what is” (knowledge) but also contains possibilities outside the prevailing scope of accepted knowledge and science. Similarly, Lev Tolstoy, the brilliant Russian novelist, great thinker, and radical Christian, in Confessions (1988), observed, “The problem facing speculative science is acknowledgement of the fact that life that lies beyond cause and effect.” In a more practical vein, Tolstoy observed that any one person or individual, who, without question, has limited brain capacity, can’t be expected to know “the infinite complexities and mutations of an infinite number of particles in the infinity of space and time,” or to understand “the life of the whole of humanity, of which neither the beginning nor the end is known,” (p. 37) - simply to have and hold a world view, or way of looking at the world.
In addressing the 'Absolute Truth' of the 'Science of Psychology,' the prominent neuroscientist and prolific author, Antonio Damasio states, in Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain (2005), “I am skeptical of science’s presumption of objectivity and definitiveness. I have difficulty in seeing scientific results, especially in neurobiology, as anything but provisional approximations.” That is, the 'science of psychology,' due in part to the myriad intangible concepts, especially when it comes to concepts such as freedom, love, justice, and equality could not be, properly, considered a “hard” science like chemistry or physics. Chemistry and physics both appear, on the face of it, to possess the capacity to accurately measure and observe all the variables involved (though quantum mechanics may bring physics into question, as well). However, when it comes to human consciousness, there is much of consciousness, that simply cannot be put under a microscope. A critical question would be: How does one measure ideals such as freedom or emotional concepts like love? Most people likely have very different ideas of what freedom is, not to mention love!
Reflections: The Dimensions of Consciousness in Spiritual and Religious Beliefs
Clifford Geertz, the anthropologist, said there is a will to understand and a need for meaning “as real and urgent as the more familiar biological needs! The scope of what human consciousness envelops and embraces is an important factor to bear in mind. As Lev Tolstoy, the brilliant Russian novelist and radical Christian, observed, "The mind of man cannot grasp the causes of events in their entirety, but the desire to find those causes is implanted in the soul of man” (p.777 WP). In an intriguing observation, Dr. Toula Gordillo, a psychologist with a Jungian bias, observed, "yes, we have to live in 'the real world' (which I think is more perception than reality anyway) , but the unseen world, the world of energy and dark matter and all kinds of things that we don't fully understand yet, that's what makes the world exciting Not knowing the unknowable... c really is magic!" Gordillo's observation is that the human mind engages in "an unseen world, the world of energy and dark matter and all kinds of things that we don't yet fully understand".
However, I would add that human beings and human consciousness in themselves are also “unknowable” and therefore also need a simplified model to live and function day to day. Of course, people have to intellectually and emotionally simplify the real reality of the world, simply because the human mind has limits. As John Bargh observes, “mental categories are absolutely essential for simplifying and understanding the information-rich environment (e.g., Bruner, 1957; EE Smith and Medin, 1981), but stereotypes are maladaptive forms of categories because that their content does not correspond to what is actually present or happening in the environment” (The Unbearable Automaticity of Being, John A Bargh & Tanya L. Chartrand - p. 462 July 1999 American Psychologist). of religious beliefs requires an understanding that religious beliefs and ideologies are often largely simplified and stereotyped models or theories made up of symbols, symbolism and abstractions.As Clifford Geertz has observed, symbol systems are essential in religions that function as ways of looking at the world and ways of life.
Finally, group-related needs, desires and influences are essential in religions. The most important factor and influence in the life of a human being would of course be other human beings. It would seem rather obvious that religions are groups and since religions have been forming groups since prehistoric times, the purpose or function of religions would be to "form groups". Needless to say, religious beliefs would require some structure for relationships and collective action – mostly through rituals, it seems. In fact, at first glance, rituals in a social context would apparently aim to bring the individual into submission to the group. Moreover, as Roy Baumeister observes, “many of the strongest emotions people feel, both positive and negative, are related to belonging” (p.508 need). That is to say, the ideologies generated by the groups evoke very strong emotions clearly having the function of creating links by which the social structure could be generated and also of facilitating collective action.
So keeping all of this in mind can help the reader understand the necessity and benefits of the broader and more inclusive viewpoints of early Christian mystics who also tended to be less judgmental!
Link to website: https://www.spirittruthandmeaning.com/
Postscript: Academic Materialism is a Mindset - Not Science
[excerpt from academis.edu profile]
MY 'critique of the psychology of religion' - endorsed by Dr. Koenig, Dr Wong, Dr Farra (w/ over 5,000 views on academia & FB science groups) explains how Academic Materialism deviates from scientific materialism in part due to the Definist fallacy.
Here are the Norms of Academic-Materialism
a. "All spirituality is superstitious nonsense." Spirituality is “unreal”
b. "There is no spirituality.
There are No Facts and Not a Shred of Evidence to support these norms! My experience indicates that “Spirituality is unreal” is the most prevalent norm. Most college graduates I encounter seem to adhere to that in some form or another. Many state outright: “Spirituality is unreal” – which is blatantly false. Basically Academic Materialism is all smoke and mirrors.
II Mannheim’s Model
Recently, I have added the Mannheim argument that academics and ideologies are a reflection of political-social ideology – supported by Nietzsche and Voltaire. Christina Maimone observes, “Ideology is, as Mannheim uses the term, a mode of thought that obscures the real condition of society to the group holding the thought, thereby stabilizing the shared social reality of the mode of thought. Groups are simply unable to see particular facts that would undermine their conception of the world!
Link to profile which went viral w/ roughly 80,000 views in just short of 4 months if interested; https://independentscholar.academia.edu/CharlesPeckJr [you can join academia.edu for free]
Reflections and commentary: The New Scientifically Sanctioned Materialism-Nihilism.
Psychology - and therefore - the Mind: Devoid of "Psyche" or even "Meaning"
As the psychologist, Raya a Jones' 2013 article cites Jung’s 1933 observation: The “modern belief in the primacy of physical explanations has led…. To a psychology without the psyche." I would add that, in a sense, psychology has minimalized and marginalized not only spirit and spirituality, but many of the integrative concepts that help people make sense of the world and cope with the world - as well as concepts like the "Need for Meaning" advocated by greats from Aristotle, to Jung, Baumeister, Wong, Frankl, Geertz, and others. And in a sense a major driver of this would seem that "materialists" only too readily refuse to realize that much of the world is not quantifiable, and actually, perhaps more to the point, beyond their control. We are what we teach!
Addendum
Why is St Gregory of Nyssa (and St Augustine) relevant
Preface: The question of whether one can prove God is actually an ongoing debate in social sciences - believe it or not. The Materialist "Prove God" norm is a critical question - making Early Christian leaders, like St Augustine, St Gregory of Nyssa, and other spiritual leaders very salient in this question. Incredible as it may sound, that is an ongoing methodology used by the “science of psychology.” In an article recently published on the Pubmed site on the NIH website discussed at some length the materialism issue because it is ongoing and continuing!
The psychologists, William R. Miller and Carl E. Thoresen, unequivocally state in their article, “Spirituality, religion and health: an emerging field of research,” that “A philosophical basis for this perspective is materialism, the belief that there is no is nothing to study because spirituality is intangible and beyond the senses.” A reformulation of this argument would be Materialist "Prove God" Maxim (Fallacy). In scientific FB groups I encounter frequently the argument that one needs to prove God or Spirit for your spiritual or religious beliefs to be valid - with the end result that spiritual and religious beliefs are excluded from scientific consideration and have no validity because they are defined by academics as “intangible [unreal] and beyond the senses.” That is, it is impossible to prove “Intangible” since it cannot be measured!
That is the same as stating one needs to "Prove God - which is ludicrous. The first time I encountered that particular argument that one has to "Prove God" - I was thinking - "What?? Prove god? Are you crazy? - You can't prove God! That si absurd - ludicrous! It is horrifically degrading since what the message in those norms are is that "Your spiritual beliefs are so unreal and such utter nonsense that your beliefs are not even worthy of scientific or objective consideration."
The Materialist “Prove God” Maxim is an artificial, and false, academic argument that “attempts” to force a spiritual or religious person to “Prove God or Spirit” – in their view to show that their spiritual beliefs or religious beliefs have any worth or validity. Almost every religious or spiritual person, of course, will likely tell you, flat out, that it is impossible to prove God! Teh materialist idea and argument is an "abstraction" and unfortunately that abstraction carries more weight with academia than human beings - which is not only wrong - but way wrong! This particular fallacy is termed the Definist fallacy because the materialist argument uses a "loaded term" which makes any real or intelligent discussion impossible.
Crooked Thinking and Supreme Court Justice Rehnquist
In a 104 page article on Justice Rehnquist's rulings on fallacies which si required reading for conventions, what the article emphasizes is that fallacies can be very "persuasive" and that fallacies generate "crooked thinking." The Definist Fallacy is one of the most persuasive fallacies in academia and is often accepted as a "norm!" In trying to understand the academic situation with spirituality I posted an essay to several FB philosophy and science groups asking if scientists should review studies of spirituality before rendering judgment. I was trying to make a point and I was pretty shocked when perhaps one or two dozen members of the philosophy groups (psychology FB groups tended to give different answers for some reason) actually answered, "No, you shouldn't look at studies. On "philosopher" stated outright that [all] spirituality is unreal. So, I asked, well what about "spiritual people"? I mean the people are real. and if people have beliefs you can measure them in some form or fashion - freedom, love, ideals, and even art. I was taken aback, when the philosopher answered, "Spiritual people have no physical reality" That is a major reason why I state that my theory of spirituality is that spiritual people are "people"!
I should mention that particular form of "crooked thinking" is a rather widespread form of distorted beliefs. I encountered a young man at a local bar in Easton who said the same thing! Basically he said the study needed to be "special" and prove the existence of God, and eh didn't need to review studies of spirituality before rendering judgment. That is without question "crooked thinking" as the article on Supreme Court Rehnquist's rulings on fallacies explains the problem of fallacies. I would say a large number of college graduates have a "knee jerk" "spirituality is unreal" reaction to some extent or another. The major problem in my view si that colleges and universities have sidelined and marginalized spirituality to the point that most college graduates know nothing about spiritual people. As Dr Neal, trained at Johns Hopkins observed, she had no training or education in people who have spiritual or spiritual - psychic experiences. I have confirmed that form other sources.
For the record - for what it is worth - I got into an argument with my former doctor-psychiatrist, Dr. Stacey Neal, (mood disorder and PTSD) at Kaiser Permanente - a nationwide medical (scientific) organization about the Definist Fallacy which they felt was just fine. I felt that as infuriating so I filed 4 internal complaints with KP with no acknowledgment that the problem even exists. The KP board of doctors blew it off too. So, finally I filed complaints with the DOJ - for what it is worth. The U.S. Department of Justice has accepted my complaints # 83404-WLP, 83404; 95500, 91650, 91569, and 90778! The complaints explained in detail how the Definist Fallacy causes serious misunderstandings and cause prejudices, as well as misunderstandings, and even outright ignorance at times. That as a very long tiem ago. I know why I filed the complaints. However, my guess would be that the reason the DOJ accepted the complaints and why I filed them may very well be very different understandings. (article: Logical Fallacies and the Supreme Court: A Critical Analysis of Justice Rehnquist's Decisions in Criminal Procedure Cases University of Colorado Law Review, Vol. 59, p. 741, 1988; University of Memphis Legal Studies Research Paper No. 41 104 Pages Posted: 2 Jul 2010 Last revised: 15 Oct 2012 Andrew Jay McClurg University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Date Written: July 2, 2010)
For Perspective: These are the Mayo clinic guidelines
Studies have shown that addressing the spiritual needs of the patient may enhance recovery from illness. Discerning, acknowledging, and supporting the spiritual needs of patients can be done in a straightforward and noncontroversial manner. Furthermore, many sources of spiritual care (eg, chaplains) are available to clinicians to address the spiritual needs of patients. Mayo Clin Proc. 2001; 76:1225-1235
Viktor Frankl:
http://www.viktorfrankl.org/
Dr. Harold Koenig: https://spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/index.php/harold-g-koenig-m-d
Dr. Paul Wong:
http://www.drpaulwong.com/
Clifford Geertz: https://www.biography.com/people/clifford-geertz-9308224
Carl Jung: https://www.psychologistworld.com/cognitive/carl-jung-analytical-psychology
Emile Durkheim:
http://faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Durkheim/index2.htm
William James: https://www.biography.com/people/william-james-9352726
Keith Karren – Body, Mind, Spirit:
http://pgrpdf.abhappybooks.com/mind-body-health-keith-j-karren-ph-d-pdf-5716009.pdf
St. Augustine (Catholic source):
https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=418
St. Augustine: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine
St. Gregory of Nyssa (Franciscan):
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-gregory-of-nyssa/
St. Gregory of Nyssa (wikiorg): https://orthodoxwiki.org/Gregory_of_Nyssa