1 page thoughts on new testament John 8:12 and 1 page thougths on book The Way of the Heart-Prologue & Solitude Chapter 1, 2 - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... The Pharisees questioned Jesus’ self-proclamation and did not realize His enormity and so they stayed silent with a charge of blasphemy (verse 13). Instead they challenged his self-proclamation as they still believed in the religion of the pedantic rules and external tests. Jesus then responded to them that even if he testifies to himself, the testimony is true considering where he is from and where he is going. The Christian values rely upon what lay before and after the human life. He embraced both entities in his inward self-consciousness with solemnity giving evidence to his own claim to be the Light of the world (verse 14). The Pharisees used appearances to judge people, which is condemnatory, but Jesus did not judge them but merely by pointing out the truth (verse 15). The Pharisees did not want to accept the glory of Christ who is the light because they had lived and blinded by the darkness of the god of age who blinded their thoughts.
What struck me in the reading is the recommendations Nouwen explains about how Christians should organize their living ways around three disciplines; Solitude, Silence and Prayer according to the unique wisdom and experience of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. The three disciplines are vital to ways of a disciple but this suggestion shows Nouwen assumed Christian spirituality is very individualistic. Something else that struck me is how the Desert Fathers and Mothers were Christians fled to live in the desert in solitude and prayer so as to resist temptations (Nouwen, 2009). I saw this not to be realistic as people should have self control, which plays a vital role in resisting tempataions. Desert Fathers and Mothers lived in silence which Nouwen says is solitude practiced in action and a way to practice transformation. The Desert Fathers and Mothers lived in solitude and silence to bring them closer to God by ...Download file to see next pagesRead More