The #scandal rocking #BethelChurch and the world of #charismatic #Christians

In a nearly six-hour video, a #Christian #theologian exposed one of the most influential #churches in the country

https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/the-scandal-rocking-bethel-church

#ReformUK hires academic with links to #Trump as #Farage senior adviser

Cambridge's James #Orr described as “a brilliant academic, #theologian, thinker” by #Reform’s head of #policy #Yusuf

Yusuf said the associate professor of the history of religion at Cambridge had joined Reform

Though not well-known public figure, Orr has been influential upon philosophy of Trump administration.

VP #Vance described him as his British sherpa

https://www.thenational.scot/news/25554809.reform-hires-academic-links-trump-farage-senior-adviser/

#fascist #antidemocratic #UK #Indy2

St. Theophan the Recluse

He is also known as Theophanes the Recluse or the Enlightener Theophan the Recluse of Vysha. He was a Russian Orthodox bishop & theologian. He was born January 10, 1815 & passed away on January 6, 1894. He was 78 years old when he passed away. He was canonized as a saint in 1988. He was born as Georgy Vasilievich Govorov. He became a monk in 1841, taking the name Theophan.

He’s best known by the books & letters he wrote concerning spiritual life & the training of youth in the faith. He also played an important role in translating the Philokalia from Church Slavonic into Russian. The Philokalia is a classic of Orthodox spiritually, composed of the collected works of a number of Church Fathers. This was edited & placed in a 4 volume set in the 17th & 18th centuries.

In his works, a persistent theme was developing an interior life of continuous prayer & learning to “pray without ceasing.” This is what St. Paul teaches in his 1st letter to the Thessalonians.

Theophan was canonized by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church of 1988. His canonization was declared because of his “deep theological understanding of the Christian theology…” His feast day is celebrated on January 6th or 10th.

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#17thCentury #1841 #18thCentury #1988 #Bishop #Canonized #ChurchFathers #ChurchSlavonic #EnlightenerTheophanTheRecluseOfVysha #GeorgyVasilievichGovorov #January10 #January6 #LocalCouncilOfTheRussianOrthodoxChurch #monk #Philokalia #Russian #RussianOrthodox #Saint #StPaul #StTheophanTheRecluse #Theologian #Thessalonians

Ologies and Nouns of Agency

The other day I was wondering, for no particular reason, why it is that a person who does astrology is called an astrologer, whereas a person (such as myself) who specializes in cosmology is a cosmologist.

Before proceeding to bore you further I will point out: (i) that words such as astrologer or cosmologist are examples of “noun of agency” or “agentive nouns” as they denote the agent or doer of an action; and (ii) that the suffix “-ology” signifies the study of a particular subject of thing. The word “ology” itself has come to mean “a branch of study” (at least informally).

Most ologies have an agentive noun that ends in “ologist”. As well as cosmologist, we have biologist, geologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and so on. There’s even “apologist” although I don’t think “apology” is an ology in the usual sense. Astrology is an ology, but we don’t usually talk about astrologists. In fact I rarely talk about astrologers either, but that’s not the point.

Looking in various dictionaries, however, I do see that the “-ologer” ending is given for some of the ologies listed above, including “geologer” but in all cases that I’ve found these are marked as archaic. Perhaps “astrologer” has lingered because astrology is a subject that likes to present itself as having ancient credentials.

There is another exception to the “ology-ologist” rule. At least in English English, a person who studies theology is not a theologist, nor even a theologer, but a theologian. I don’t know how that came about. There are quite a few people who can’t resist mixing religion with science when they talk about the field of cosmology, so perhaps cosmologian might be an appropriate term for them?

#agentiveNouns #astrologer #astrology #cosmologist #Cosmology #NounsOfAgency #theologian #theology

The Bible Was All Written by Men With #DaddyIssues | Francesca Stavrakopoulou

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeA-Nf5eYqk

#Theologian and scholar Francesca Stavrakopoulou challenges conventional views on the authorship of the Bible, exploring the idea that many of its texts were written by men grappling with complex relationships with authority figures—particularly father figures.

#atheist #atheism #christianity #podcast #science #bible #scientist

#RichardHays, 76, #Dies; #Theologian Who Had Stunning #ChangeofHeart

He released a #thunderclap into the #evangelical #world by asserting that a deeper #reading of the #Bible revealed that #samesexrelationships are not #sinful.

#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Religion #Hate #Bigotry #Homophobia #Progress

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/12/us/richard-hays-dead.html