Posted: 9/3/2026 3:45:50 PM EDT
[Last Edit: doubleplusgood][Edited]
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This is interesting: Theurgy is a religious or magical practice intended to invoke, influence, or cooperate with a deity or divine power.Core ConceptsGod-Work: The word comes from the Greek words theos (god) and ergon (work). It literally means "the work of the gods".Henosis: The main goal is achieving henosis, which means mystical union or oneness with the divine.Turning the Tables: Unlike standard prayer or petition, where a human asks a god for a favor, theurgy aims to make the human a pure vessel or partner to act alongside divine forces.History and PracticeNeoplatonism: Ancient philosophers like Iamblichus and Proclus developed theurgy in late antiquity. They combined deep philosophical thought with practical rituals.Methods: Practitioners used sacred objects, chants, purification, meditation, and ritual actions to elevate the soul.Comparison: Users on Reddit note that the structured, mystical ascent found in theurgy shares conceptual similarities with traditional liturgical acts like the Catholic Mass. Anybody heard of this? Discuss |
Lately overheard in Mayfair
| Neoplatonism is a school of religious and mystical philosophy founded in the 3rd century AD by the philosopher Plotinus, building upon the classical ideas of Plato.Core Beliefs and EmanationThe One: Reality originates from a single, transcendent, and indescribable first principle called "the One" or "the Good".Emanation: Everything in the universe flows outward from the One in a descending hierarchy, moving from the divine intellect (Nous) to the world soul (Psyche), and finally to physical matter.The Return: The spiritual goal of humans is to reverse this path through moral discipline, intellectual contemplation, and turning inward to reunite the soul with the One.Historical ImpactLate Antiquity: It served as the dominant philosophy of the late Roman Empire before the closing of the Athenian Academy in 529 AD.Global Influence: Medieval Christian, Islamic, and Jewish thinkers heavily integrated Neoplatonic concepts into their religious theologies.Most users on Reddit r/Hellenism agree that Neoplatonists redefined traditional ancient views of gods, seeing them not as emotional or physical beings, but as perfect, unchanging entities of eternal bliss. |
Lately overheard in Mayfair
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Originally Posted By doubleplusgood: Users on Reddit note that the structured, mystical ascent found in theurgy shares conceptual similarities with traditional liturgical acts like the Catholic Mass. Anybody heard of this? Discuss Yes. It is called satanism, and there is a reason why satanism models its ceremonies after the Mass of the Catholic Church. |
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Neoplatonism deeply shaped early and medieval Christian theology by providing a sophisticated philosophical framework to articulate doctrines like the Trinity The Trinity: The Neoplatonic triad of the One, the Divine Mind (Nous), and the Soul provided conceptual language that helped theologians discuss the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit |
Lately overheard in Mayfair
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Originally Posted By 11boomboom: It's another thread from the OP trying to deconstruct Christianity. Originally Posted By 11boomboom: Originally Posted By wswartzendruber: This thread is bonkers. Aquinas was mainly Aristotelian. It's another thread from the OP trying to deconstruct Christianity. I’m mainly interested in early Christian thought and how it shaped the early church and where the ideas came from |
Lately overheard in Mayfair
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Originally Posted By doubleplusgood: I’m mainly interested in early Christian thought and how it shaped the early church and where the ideas came from Originally Posted By doubleplusgood: Originally Posted By 11boomboom: Originally Posted By wswartzendruber: This thread is bonkers. Aquinas was mainly Aristotelian. It's another thread from the OP trying to deconstruct Christianity. I’m mainly interested in early Christian thought and how it shaped the early church and where the ideas came from If this is true you should probably stop asking ChatGPT and start reading books. Retrieving Nicaea: The Development and Meaning of Trinitarian Doctrine By Khaled Anatolios should relieve you of your most recent error. |
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Originally Posted By doubleplusgood: Did I mention Aquinas? Yes, because you mentioned medieval Christianity. Originally Posted By doubleplusgood: Thanks! Does anyone want to discuss theurgy and Neoplatonism? Or are we limited to arguing about whether Catholics or Protestants are right? Those other threads haven't been so much Catholic vs. Protestant as they've been something else entirely. I'm a Protestant (well, technically, at least) and sided with the Catholics here in almost every one of those threads. |
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Originally Posted By wswartzendruber: Yes, because you mentioned medieval Christianity. Those other threads haven't been so much Catholic vs. Protestant as they've been something else entirely. I'm a Protestant (well, technically, at least) and sided with the Catholics here in almost every one of those threads. Originally Posted By wswartzendruber: Originally Posted By doubleplusgood: Did I mention Aquinas? Yes, because you mentioned medieval Christianity. Originally Posted By doubleplusgood: Thanks! Does anyone want to discuss theurgy and Neoplatonism? Or are we limited to arguing about whether Catholics or Protestants are right? Those other threads haven't been so much Catholic vs. Protestant as they've been something else entirely. I'm a Protestant (well, technically, at least) and sided with the Catholics here in almost every one of those threads. This thread is the same as those other threads. Attacking Christian beliefs using arguments that are not reflective of those beliefs because the OP doesn't care to understand what we believe. |
Why is the sky blue?
What makes the green grass grow?
What makes the green grass grow?
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There is a big problem in the religion forum getting people to actually talk about the "what is" of Christianity. You are wanting to talk about the "what if" side of things, and you are getting the same reception that the Blues Brothers got when they played their first song in Bob's Country Bunker. Do you know the words to "Rawhide"? |
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Originally Posted By monadh: There is a big problem in the religion forum getting people to actually talk about the "what is" of Christianity. You are wanting to talk about the "what if" side of things, and you are getting the same reception that the Blues Brothers got when they played their first song in Bob's Country Bunker. Do you know the words to "Rawhide"? Gotcha. Most here just want to argue about a very narrow band of religious beliefs and aren’t interested in any of the other schools of thought and belief And that’s cool, they can have at it. 
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Lately overheard in Mayfair
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Originally Posted By doubleplusgood: Gotcha. Most here just want to argue about a very narrow band of religious beliefs and aren’t interested in any of the other schools of thought and belief And that’s cool, they can have at it. https://media1.giphy.com/media/l3Ucgb4BMPQLK0hWM/200.webp?cid=8dc8958cf8hv3dqkhiki3e9ttvsgjb9k58ibu380z1zzcelm&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200.webp&ct=g Originally Posted By doubleplusgood: Originally Posted By monadh: There is a big problem in the religion forum getting people to actually talk about the "what is" of Christianity. You are wanting to talk about the "what if" side of things, and you are getting the same reception that the Blues Brothers got when they played their first song in Bob's Country Bunker. Do you know the words to "Rawhide"? Gotcha. Most here just want to argue about a very narrow band of religious beliefs and aren’t interested in any of the other schools of thought and belief And that’s cool, they can have at it. https://media1.giphy.com/media/l3Ucgb4BMPQLK0hWM/200.webp?cid=8dc8958cf8hv3dqkhiki3e9ttvsgjb9k58ibu380z1zzcelm&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200.webp&ct=g I'm sure there are people here who know more about the topics you have brought up than you do. Nothing you have said is new. If you want to talk about these things, start studying from early Church history on, and you will see what was said already. If these are things that you have accepted as more true than orthodox Christian belief, say so, advocate for your beliefs and where you believe Christianity is wrong. This is a religion forum, and I *think* it is open to all stripes of belief or non-belief. You might get more play. |
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Originally Posted By doubleplusgood: I’m mainly interested in early Christian thought and how it shaped the early church and where the ideas came from Peter warned about this early on. 2 Peter 2:1 King James Version 2 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. |
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
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Originally Posted By doubleplusgood: Gotcha. Most here just want to argue about a very narrow band of religious beliefs and aren’t interested in any of the other schools of thought and belief And that’s cool, they can have at it. https://media1.giphy.com/media/l3Ucgb4BMPQLK0hWM/200.webp?cid=8dc8958cf8hv3dqkhiki3e9ttvsgjb9k58ibu380z1zzcelm&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200.webp&ct=g Dude. Chill. Lets give credit where credit is due. You're right that there's not a lot of technical talk in this forum. Its mostly the same handful of guys repeating the same talking points that they heard in Sunday School or Confirmation over and over. That's why every thread sounds like every other thread. But that seems to be how every tech forum has gone so what are you going to do? That said, your threads are not an improvement. Take this thread. Your first two posts are lazy copy/pastes of whatever you generated in AI. I mean, you didn't even bother to remove the subheadings or edit them for readability here. Then you just gave the command, "discuss". What exactly are we supposed to do with that? Is that how you start conversations in real life? Listen, I've studied Platonism and Neoplatonism in both secular and religious contexts. I find it interesting, but if I wanted to talk to a chatbot about Neoplatonism I'd cut out the middleman and just go straight to the chatbot. At least then I know that the prompts are sound. If you're really interested in the subject, let me reiterate my previous post - read books and grow wise. Ronald Nash is probably a good place for you to start. He was the chair of the philosophy department at Western KY University for the bulk of his career. After he retired from there he taught at several religious schools and seminaries, so he has both the philosophical and theological chops to think through this. He also loved Platonism and Neoplatonism. For you, I'd start with Life’s Ultimate Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy, for a foundation and then move on to The Gospel and the Greeks: Did the New Testament Borrow from Pagan Thought? |
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JAD762 you cause me to remember what Paul asked Timothy for: 2 Timothy 4:13 NASB1995 [13] When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments. https://bible.com/bible/100/2ti.4.13.NASB1995 The books! Ecclesiastes 12:12 NASB1995 [12] But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. https://bible.com/bible/100/ecc.12.12.NASB1995 John 21:25 NASB1995 [25] And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they *were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself *would not contain the books that *would be written. https://bible.com/bible/100/jhn.21.25.NASB1995 Acts 26:24-25 NASB1995 [24] While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you mad.” [25] But Paul *said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth. https://bible.com/bible/100/act.26.24-25.NASB1995 I need Truth, to know Him ...more. John 17:3 NASB1995 [3] This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. https://bible.com/bible/100/jhn.17.3.NASB1995 God bless you! |
USMC 85-'93 Amphibious YAT-YAS
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Originally Posted By doubleplusgood: Neoplatonism deeply shaped early and medieval Christian theology by providing a sophisticated philosophical framework to articulate doctrines like the Trinity The Trinity: The Neoplatonic triad of the One, the Divine Mind (Nous), and the Soul provided conceptual language that helped theologians discuss the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit You've got your historical precedences reversed. |