Saturday, June 03, 2006

3 Comments:

Blogger Cynthia R. Nielsen said...

I like the idea of appealing more to our theological sensibilities; however, regarding the following:

"Trey's argument is that men understand life in terms of being (ontology) and goals (teleology), while women understand it more in terms of existing relationships (existentialism and phenomenology)"-- I don't quite fit the bill--i.e., I am a woman and I happen to be extremely telos-oriented and my husband is relational-focused. Also, I quite enjoy Thomism (not that I agree with it in toto), while my husband would probably prefer not to read the Summa given a spare moment to contemplate.

I find these kinds of books (whether Christian or non-Christian) to be overly general and at times de-humanizing--as if all women or all men fit neatly into pre-packaged categorizes. It seems to me that there is far more mystery to both sexes than any a priori categorization can adequately capture.

Just a few thoughts...

Cheers,
Cynthia

7:49 PM  
Blogger Vicar Lisa said...

Cynthia,

Yes. You are absolutely right. I don't mean to endorse overgeneralizations about men & women.

About this, a distinction must be made: I read the article as purely a satire of pop-psychology and not an endorsement. Your comment rightly points out, though, that theological responses (however clever) are prone to the same pitfalls.

I certainly can affirm clear departures from the masculine / feminine typology endorsed in that article, too.

Exposing popular psychology's argumentative poverty by translating it into Thomistic language is still pretty funny, I think.

I appreciate your comments, and am honored that you keep up with my humble posts.

I'd be curious to know where you got your start with St. Thomas. As a Lutheran, I am definitely in the minority as an admirer of his thought (though there seems to be a growing surge in interest among evagelicals).

Peace,

Nate

5:44 PM  
Blogger Cynthia R. Nielsen said...

Hi Nate,

I would imagine given your other posts that you hold a very balanced view on men and women--I just can't resist posting counters to those kinds of things--probably a manifestation of my sinful nature.

As to my interest in St. Thomas, I am a PhD student at a Catholic university and we are required to a good deal of St. Thomas' works As I think you know, I am a Reformed believer in the Calvinist tradition; however, I believe that we have much to learn from St. Thomas.

Warm regards,
Cynthia

p.s. I enjoy the honesty of your posts and the way that you take your theology seriously and want to see it manifest existentially.

7:58 PM  

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