Monday, December 15, 2008

Spoiling The Term

Army of Martyrs has a post up about Community and the Individual, which, I believe shows the sort of damage that has been done since the revolutionaries started playing around with theology back in the 60s. Tim felt the community angle was a bit oversold:

I have no problem with mentioning the mystical presence of Christ in the community but I do when it competes with or marginalizes the real presence in the Eucharist.

Especially in the area of personal sin:

I think this convolution of sin and its consequence makes a perfect springboard for dissenting views of various kind. What is lacking here is clear expression that an individual is fully culpable in God's eyes for his sins (as opposed to being just another a weak link in a community of weak links).

So, we have another person who will be on guard should he hear the word 'community'.

I think it's worth noting that groups are by necessity passive. Anything done in a group's name is done by individuals. They may feel as if they are executing some collective will, but acts are done by individuals. Likewise, God acts, so any community is by default a product of the matrix of activity between God and individuals. In fact, when I read Tim's piece, I was wondering; what exactly did the nun and the person who did the video actually think community was? Did they have specific people that they knew in mind when they thought about community, or was it some pleasant feeling abstract notion that they could fill with anybody?

In any case, if we pay attention to God's action, we can keep balance.

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