Have you noticed the way in which ‘divisiveness’ has become a completely negative word? If an idea, a statement, a strategy, a proposal is judged to be ‘divisive’ then it is unwelcome. For example in my part of the world, in the Anglican denomination, there is a proposal to authorise lay persons to administer the Lord’s Supper in church, just as lay persons may be authorized to preach God’s Word. This is opposed by some who have no fundamental objection to it, except that it would be ‘divisive’. Therefore it ought not to be pursued.
Tag Archives: Oneness
More than animals: what kind of creature are we?
Thought
What is man? Throughout history great minds have tried to define us as a species, but the essence of humanity has proved hard to pin down. “Man is a featherless biped”, Plato concluded, although he was somewhat dissatisfied with this as a definition. “Man is a reasoning animal”, wrote Seneca, echoing Aristotle. “Man is a tool using animal”, said Carlyle, anticipating modern anthropology. Man is “a poor, bare, forked animal”, wrote Shakespeare in his habitual pessimism about humanity.