Brief introductions to some unusual articles, book reviews, and websites.

THE DARK BOX: A SECRET HISTORY OF CONFESSION By John Cornwell

“John Cornwell may be our most gifted and persistent chronicler of Catholicism in the context of the modern world. In Hitler’s Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII, he raised essential questions about the Vatican’s response to the greatest evil of the 20th century. In Newman’s Unquiet Grave: The Reluctant Saint, he presents the great English cardinal as a flesh-and-blood person. Now, in The Dark Box: A Secret History of Confession, Cornwell uses his formidable talents to reveal the sacrament in a complete, compelling and original way.”

“Beginning with childhood recollections that are at once particular and universal, Cornwell recalls the ritual he was required to perform before first Communion, and the rote practice that followed through the rest of his childhood. He describes with real poignancy the boy who felt true sorrow over the idea that a 7-year-old could offend God and the distrust that arose when a priest propositioned him during a confession.” For the complate review go to: History of confession is a tale of sexual obsession, exploitation | National Catholic Reporter

Be What You Hope For

In the face of global challenges, Augustine offers a way between the despair of pessimism and the presumption of optimism

“Elisting Augustine as a teacher of hope might seem surprising. An influential African bishop, theologian and philosopher who lived in the Roman Empire at the turn of the 5th century, Augustine is often described as one of the West’s great ‘pessimists’. John Rawls called him one of ‘two dark minds in Western thought’, and countless others – from Hannah Arendt to Martha Nussbaum – have deemed his thought too pessimistic for contemporary politics.”

“One reason for Augustine’s reputation reflects his vigorous critique of evil and domination. Throughout his writings, Augustine is alert to the ways that pride and excessive self-love can motivate a ‘lust for glory’, which in turn fuels a ‘lust for domination’, a desire to dominate others to prove one’s superiority and sustain one’s power. Ultimately, the lust for domination can itself become dominating, consuming a person’s character, and motivating malicious acts of violence and vice.” For more of this very interesting article go to: What can Augustine of Hippo’s philosophy teach us about hope? | Aeon Essays

Warfare as mercy and love

“Crusaders, a term derived from crux, the Latin word for cross, were men who ‘took the cross’ or, rather, received the sign of the cross. In public view, and drawing on far older precedents, they voluntarily accepted a cloth cross, which they wore to publicise their vow to fight the armed enemies of the Christian faithful. Their acceptance of the cross also testified to their recognition of its spiritual power and their own sanctification. The symbol evoked the 4th-century Roman ruler and first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great. His biographer, Eusebius of Caesarea, claimed that Constantine had looked into the heavens before his decisive victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (28 October 312), which guaranteed the commander’s political ascendancy, and saw a shining cross accompanied by words, which Latin sources, incorporating versions of the story, rendered as ‘In hoc signo vinces’, ‘In this sign you will conquer.’ Crusaders, men signed with the cross, crucesignati, drew courage from their trust in God’s aid For the complete essay go to: What crusaders’ daggers reveal about medieval love and violence | Aeon Essays

GOD CREATED ME TO BE A TRANSGENDER MAN BY TAJ M. SMITH

This article is part of the series, The Joy of Being Queer and Christian; new articles will be added throughout the month of June.

“Speech is a powerful act. We encounter speech early in scripture when God creates the cosmos. Speech makes life possible; speech declares and bestows, categorizes and separates. In many cases, an act of speech is a declaration of truth, be it personal or universal.”

“Speech opens a door to previously unknown experiences. In a way, speech — or language — makes and unmakes the world as we know it. When I speak about myself, I tell you the truth of who I am.” For the complete article go to: Sojourners

Cardenal on Prayer, Body, and Gratitude BY MATTHEW FOX JUNE 24, 2023 BODY, ERNESTO CARDENAL, GRATITUDE, PRAYER

“About prayer, he writes: Prayer is nothing more than getting into intimate contact with God. It is communication with God, and as such it need not be expressed in words, nor even articulated mentally.“

“One can communicate with a glance of the eyes, with a smile, with a sigh, as well as by a human act. Even…the painting of a picture, or a look toward heaven on the taking of a drink of water [can be prayer].“

“All our acts, if from a deep and honest place, can be a kind of prayer.” For more go to: Cardenal on Prayer, Body, and Gratitude – Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox

Sacred Nature by Karen Armstrong

Richard Gault presents a book which urges us to radically rethink our relationship with the natural world

“With this book aimed at a general audience, subtitled How We Can Recover Our Bond with the Natural World, Karen Armstrong offers another approach. Her plea is for us to properly relate to nature. To summarise (and necessarily over-simplify), the position Armstrong takes is that relationship trumps knowledge.”

“So how are we to know what our relationship with nature should be? According to Armstrong, we can learn from our own poets and the wisdoms that the sages and religions of the world have long been transmitting to us. These wisdoms are conveyed in myths.” For more go to: Book Review: Sacred Nature by Karen Armstrong

Spiritual Science why science needs spirituality to make sense of the world’ by Steve Taylor

“Can science and spirituality be reconciled? Is there a way of looking at things that brings them into alignment? Of course, the answer is ‘yes’. In his book Spiritual Science, published 2018, Steve Taylor gives a convincing answer. His subtitle is ‘why science needs spirituality to make sense of the world’. Steve gives the reasons and, from my perspective, comprehensively demolishes the arguments for the recently dominant paradigms of materialism and scientism.”

“Steve then goes on to ask the simple question ‘What if the primary reality of the universe is not matter? What if there is another quality, which is so fundamental that it actually pervades matter, and matter is actually a manifestation of it? What if this othe quality also pervades living beings, and all non-living things, so that they are always interconnected?’” For more go to: Spiritual science

God’s Ongoing Story: On John Haught’s “God After Einstein” August 28, 2022   •   By Paul Allen
“Building on his earlier books, such as God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution, Haught focuses his sights on an even larger spatiotemporal horizon by asking in his new volume what the word “God” means after Albert Einstein: “I want to ask what the God of Jesus means to us if we think in depth about the [Einsteinian] Big Bang universe.” For more go to: God’s Ongoing Story: On John Haught’s “God After Einstein”

“Matter is Spirit Moving Slowly”: The Incarnation of Spirit-Energy into Matter by Bryce Haymond,

Is matter the incarnation of spirit? Is this what makes spirit visible, and even makes ourselves?

“What we think of as matter is in its essential nature massless energy which has been bound together in various ways so that it exhibits mass. As Einstein showed, E=mc² means that mass has an incredible amount of energy in it, because c is equal to the speed of light, so take any mass in kilograms and multiply it by 299,792,458 (meters per second) and then again by another 299,792,458 and you get its energy content in Joules.”

“We are energetic beings, running off the fuel of this energy, energy being that which gives us life and consciousness, which allows us to move and do. The Divine Spirit of the cosmos has metaphorically breathed into us this breath of Life, this energy which makes us living souls. The Spirit of Life is this energy from the sun cycling through the Earth’s biosphere.” For more go to: “Matter is Spirit Moving Slowly”: The Incarnation of Spirit-Energy into Matter