How do we articulate more accurately, and give meaning to, the reality of God without creating idols? A number of models of understanding will be explored. Specifically, we’ll examine relational aspects of God and whether there can be a synergy between orthodox views of Trinity and Process Theology.

An introduction to Mimetic Theory in three categories, namely: Mimesis, Scapegoating, and Conversion

This course will explore the formation of self. Learning Objectives: To gain a preliminary understanding of mimetic desire and the role narrative plays in the formation of Self.

An in-depth re-reading of the Genesis text in the context of mimetic desire, to shed new light on what makes us human.

Understanding the origin of culture according to mimetic realism. Deconstructing origin myths and rituals to understand the function of sacrifice and the birth of the gods.

To understand the relationship between scripture and myth and why that is relevant to us today. What are the underlying messages contained in these stories? What do ancient myths have in common with the Bible and, very significantly, where do they differ?

Exposing the structure of evil and the development of its symbolism. Moving beyond mythical and abstract descriptions of evil.

What makes Jesus Christ uniquely significant in history, relevant in our present world and a living hope for the future of humanity. Jesus’ story summarizes the human story and offers a conclusion that we were unable to reach ourselves.

This course will explore the formation of self. Learning Objectives: To gain a preliminary understanding of mimetic desire and the role narrative plays in the formation of Self.

An in-depth re-reading of the Genesis text in the context of mimetic desire, to shed new light on what makes us human.

Understanding the origin of culture according to mimetic realism. Deconstructing origin myths and rituals to understand the function of sacrifice and the birth of the gods.

To understand the relationship between scripture and myth and why that is relevant to us today. What are the underlying messages contained in these stories? What do ancient myths have in common with the Bible and, very significantly, where do they differ?

Exposing the structure of evil and the development of its symbolism. Moving beyond mythical and abstract descriptions of evil.

What makes Jesus Christ uniquely significant in history, relevant in our present world and a living hope for the future of humanity. Jesus’ story summarizes the human story and offers a conclusion that we were unable to reach ourselves.

In Practicing Presence, we dive into the depths of what we can know cognitively while expanding our hearts to take in the immeasurable beauty of this knowing. What a fitting way to start this year of study, with a practical exploration into a kind of seeing that penetrates the surface of things as we cultivate the habit of daily awareness in the form of a contemplative practice.

Having established a habit of practicing God’s presence, and having looked deeply into the model of Jesus’ imitation of the Father, we now tap into the creative unconscious. There is a source of meaning and beauty in each of us, beyond the logic of reason. In the environment of love, the symbols of the unconscious can take on new, life-giving form.

How do we articulate more accurately, and give meaning to, the reality of God without creating idols? A number of models of understanding will be explored. Specifically, we’ll examine relational aspects of God and whether there can be a synergy between orthodox views of Trinity and Process Theology.

In this course we will explore the exciting theme of evolution from a theological point of view. Evolution is a profound affirmation that you belong to a cosmos and a world that has been loved and nurtured by God with unimaginable patience because he believes in the goodness and beauty it can produce.

In Desire and Self-Formation, both the nature of desire and the formation of self are illuminated by Girard’s understanding of mimetic desire. Understanding how desires are formed is an essential first step towards transforming them.

Understanding the origin of culture according to mimetic realism. Deconstructing origin myths and rituals to understand the function of sacrifice and the birth of the gods. Peering into our prehistoric past, attempting to understand the problems our ancestors faced and how they went about solving them, is obviously a very complicated task. Significantly, human sacrifice seems to be a universal phenomenon and the first sign of a new civilization. Archaeological evidence shows that most of these early communities were religious or at least ritualistic. Some form of sacrificial system was at the heart of primitive communities. Why? In this course, we will trace the processes of desire from its personal mimetic origins to its social implications.

An in-depth re-reading of the Genesis text in the context of mimetic desire, to shed new light on what makes us human. The Genesis narrative is filled with mimetic symbolism. Likeness and otherness, God and man, male and female, differentiation, desire, paradise, romance, whispering voices and the confusion of good and evil are all present in the first three chapters. We are about to unfold Genesis 1 to 3 and a few selected pieces beyond, within this mimetic context, exploring both the life-giving and destructive possibilities of our reflective nature. The way in which we’ll read these texts is not the one-dimensional approach in which it is assumed that there is only one right interpretation. Rather, we’ll follow the more ancient tradition which perceives many layers of meaning and consequently many true interpretations.

Reading the Bible has often been like paging through a travel magazine for many of us. Pictures of exotic places and larger-than-life characters are painted with such vibrant colors in these pages. But these stories can become pale and lifeless if we do not discover our involvement in them. My desire with this course is to show you a way of reading the scriptures that will pull you out of spectator-mode into participator-mode.

Exposing the structure of evil and the development of its symbolism. Moving beyond mythical and abstract descriptions of evil. What is evil? Answers to this question have often been very abstract and theoretical. In reality, though, we encounter evil not as some abstract theory but as a very real experience. In this course we will also look at the concept of Satan – how this idea developed in response to the paradox of evil.

What makes Jesus Christ uniquely significant in history, relevant in our present world and a living hope for the future of humanity. Jesus’ story summarizes the human story and offers a conclusion that we were unable to reach ourselves. The circular events in which chaos gives way to order and order succumbs to chaos, the never ending cycle of victors and victims would finally be interrupted by a truly new event. Jesus is the embodiment of a message, the creative word that confronts the meaningless chaos of our own stories. Time would be compressed and the futility of its rivalistic activity would be revealed; simultaneously a new time of true meaning would come about in the self-giving love of this man Jesus Christ.

In Practicing Presence, we dive into the depths of what we can know cognitively while expanding our hearts to take in the immeasurable beauty of this knowing. What a fitting way to start this program of study, with a practical exploration into a kind of seeing that penetrates the surface of things as we cultivate the habit of daily awareness in the form of a contemplative practice.

Having established a habit of practicing God’s presence, and having looked deeply into the model of Jesus’ imitation of the Father, we now tap into the creative unconscious. There is a source of meaning and beauty in each of us, beyond the logic of reason. In the environment of love, the symbols of the unconscious can take on new, life-giving form.

How do we articulate more accurately, and give meaning to, the reality of God without creating idols? A number of models of understanding will be explored. Specifically, we’ll examine relational aspects of God and whether there can be a synergy between orthodox views of Trinity and Process Theology.

In this course we will explore the exciting theme of evolution from a theological point of view. Evolution is a profound affirmation that you belong to a cosmos and a world that has been loved and nurtured by God with unimaginable patience because he believes in the goodness and beauty it can produce.

In Desire and Self-Formation, both the nature of desire and the formation of self are illuminated by Girard’s understanding of mimetic desire. Understanding how desires are formed is an essential first step towards transforming them.

Understanding the origin of culture according to mimetic realism. Deconstructing origin myths and rituals to understand the function of sacrifice and the birth of the gods. Exploring how the Bible engage these myths. Peering into our prehistoric past, attempting to understand the problems our ancestors faced and how they went about solving them, is obviously a very complicated task. Significantly, human sacrifice seems to be a universal phenomenon and the first sign of a new civilization. Archaeological evidence shows that most of these early communities were religious or at least ritualistic. Some form of sacrificial system was at the heart of primitive communities. Why? In this course, we will trace the processes of desire from its personal mimetic origins to its social implications.

Reading the Bible has often been like paging through a travel magazine for many of us. Pictures of exotic places and larger-than-life characters are painted with such vibrant colors in these pages. But these stories can become pale and lifeless if we do not discover our involvement in them. My desire with this course is to show you a way of reading the scriptures that will pull you out of spectator-mode into participator-mode.

Exposing the structure of evil and the development of its symbolism. Moving beyond mythical and abstract descriptions of evil. What is evil? Answers to this question have often been very abstract and theoretical. In reality, though, we encounter evil not as some abstract theory but as a very real experience. In this course we will also look at the concept of Satan – how this idea developed in response to the paradox of evil.

What makes Jesus Christ uniquely significant in history, relevant in our present world and a living hope for the future of humanity. Jesus’ story summarizes the human story and offers a conclusion that we were unable to reach ourselves. The circular events in which chaos gives way to order and order succumbs to chaos, the never ending cycle of victors and victims would finally be interrupted by a truly new event. Jesus is the embodiment of a message, the creative word that confronts the meaningless chaos of our own stories. Time would be compressed and the futility of its rivalistic activity would be revealed; simultaneously a new time of true meaning would come about in the self-giving love of this man Jesus Christ.

An introduction to Mimetic Theory in three categories, namely: Mimesis, Scapegoating, and Conversion

In Desire and Self-Formation, both the nature of desire and the formation of self are illuminated by Girard’s understanding of mimetic desire. Understanding how desires are formed is an essential first step towards transforming them.

Understanding the origin of culture according to mimetic realism. Deconstructing origin myths and rituals to understand the function of sacrifice and the birth of the gods. Exploring how the Bible engage these myths. Peering into our prehistoric past, attempting to understand the problems our ancestors faced and how they went about solving them, is obviously a very complicated task. Significantly, human sacrifice seems to be a universal phenomenon and the first sign of a new civilization. Archaeological evidence shows that most of these early communities were religious or at least ritualistic. Some form of sacrificial system was at the heart of primitive communities. Why? In this course, we will trace the processes of desire from its personal mimetic origins to its social implications.

An in-depth re-reading of the Genesis text in the context of mimetic desire, to shed new light on what makes us human. The Genesis narrative is filled with mimetic symbolism. Likeness and otherness, God and man, male and female, differentiation, desire, paradise, romance, whispering voices and the confusion of good and evil are all present in the first three chapters. We are about to unfold Genesis 1 to 3 and a few selected pieces beyond, within this mimetic context, exploring both the life-giving and destructive possibilities of our reflective nature. The way in which we’ll read these texts is not the one-dimensional approach in which it is assumed that there is only one right interpretation. Rather, we’ll follow the more ancient tradition which perceives many layers of meaning and consequently many true interpretations.

Reading the Bible has often been like paging through a travel magazine for many of us. Pictures of exotic places and larger-than-life characters are painted with such vibrant colors in these pages. But these stories can become pale and lifeless if we do not discover our involvement in them. My desire with this course is to show you a way of reading the scriptures that will pull you out of spectator-mode into participator-mode.

Exposing the structure of evil and the development of its symbolism. Moving beyond mythical and abstract descriptions of evil. What is evil? Answers to this question have often been very abstract and theoretical. In reality, though, we encounter evil not as some abstract theory but as a very real experience. In this course we will also look at the concept of Satan – how this idea developed in response to the paradox of evil.

What makes Jesus Christ uniquely significant in history, relevant in our present world and a living hope for the future of humanity. Jesus’ story summarizes the human story and offers a conclusion that we were unable to reach ourselves. The circular events in which chaos gives way to order and order succumbs to chaos, the never ending cycle of victors and victims would finally be interrupted by a truly new event. Jesus is the embodiment of a message, the creative word that confronts the meaningless chaos of our own stories. Time would be compressed and the futility of its rivalistic activity would be revealed; simultaneously a new time of true meaning would come about in the self-giving love of this man Jesus Christ.

No one has ever, or will ever, have your unique perspective. Our perspective of the world is a relationship with mutual influence. Not only does our world influence us, but how we attend influences our world. This course explores the art of creating meaning.

An in-depth re-reading of the Genesis text in the context of mimetic desire, to shed new light on what makes us human. The Genesis narrative is filled with mimetic symbolism. Likeness and otherness, God and man, male and female, differentiation, desire, paradise, romance, whispering voices and the confusion of good and evil are all present in the first three chapters. We are about to unfold Genesis 1 to 3 and a few selected pieces beyond, within this mimetic context, exploring both the life-giving and destructive possibilities of our reflective nature. The way in which we’ll read these texts is not the one-dimensional approach in which it is assumed that there is only one right interpretation. Rather, we’ll follow the more ancient tradition which perceives many layers of meaning and consequently many true interpretations.

No one has ever, or will ever, have your unique perspective. Our perspective of the world is a relationship with mutual influence. Not only does our world influence us, but how we attend influences our world. This course explores the art of creating meaning.

In Practicing Presence, we dive into the depths of what we can know cognitively while expanding our hearts to take in the immeasurable beauty of this knowing. What a fitting way to start this program of study, with a practical exploration into a kind of seeing that penetrates the surface of things as we cultivate the habit of daily awareness in the form of a contemplative practice.