blook

This is a blook about Faith as a Commons. It is about rational faith in the twenty-first century, that is part of, and contributes to the Commons of the global and pluralistic world that we live in.

The outline will develop here and fill in with draft material and comments from anybody and everybody interested in the project. When it is complete, version 1 will be released, and work will continue to improve it until the time comes for another release.

Motivation. Where is motivation?

Several weeks ago I was motivated to write and lead the writing of an online book that would define Faith as a Commons open to all, subject to none, for the good of all. But now I feel like a faithless loser.

continue reading "Motivation. Where is Motivation?"

Prof Dr Colonel (Retired) K Prabhakar Rao

The moment the word Faith is talked about what comes to mind is the religion. The word Faith in general is closely associated to religious belief. Broadly Faith can be understood as ones conviction in what he believes. When it is associated to religion, it could be any religion. Religion and faith are generally used as synonymous terms. However many distinguished and well known scholars and philosophers and religious leaders have expressed that the idea that faith is the basis of all knowledge. One example is St. Augustine of Hippo. In his key contributions to philosophy, the idea of "faith seeking understanding" was set forth by St. Augustine in his statement "Crede, ut intelligas" ("Believe in order that you may understand"). This statement extends beyond the sphere of religion to encompass the totality of knowledge. In essence, faith must be present in order to know anything. In other words, one must assume, believe, or have faith in the credibility of a person, place, thing, or idea in order to have a basis for knowledge.

continue reading "Faith From the General to the Religious"

This list will contain some, maybe not all, of the previous discussions we've had here at Faith Commons that support the theme of the blook. Your suggestions and questions are always appreciated. Some of these may end up in the blook in some form.

On reason that all the local discussion can't be here is that some may already be dedicated to another "book." In this software package, this Content Management System (CMS), a content node can currently belong to only one "book" at a time. This little glitch will require us to create a new copy of a working draft in order to assign it to the release "book." But, maybe we'll figure out a solution before the time comes to worry about that.

continue reading "Past Discussions Potentially Pertinent"

On the greater question of the importance of faith in our lives; it seems that some people live without it who greatly need it, while others refuse to admit or recognize its importance in their lives, perhaps because of the bad reputation that faith has acquired in recent history.

The first answer needed is whether faith is indeed important in the lives of human beings. If that one is answered affirmatively, the next would ask how we could rescue faith's reputation for the sake of us all.

continue reading "On the Question of the Importance of Faith"

In these essays, Max Weber explains the historical, religious and social roots of Capitalism and its ties to Protestant pietism and work ethic. The purpose of this weblink is that these essays are, or will be, cited and quoted in the blook to be written here about Faith as a Commons.

It's important to establish developmental changes in ethics because they inform our faith. We are a product of the word in which we live, which is in turn, a product of our hopes and desires, as well as our mistakes and greed.

What Weber describes here was true and current at the time of his research in the very early twentieth century. But times were to quickly begin a change starting with World War I, the Great Depression followed by World War II and the shift of power out of Europe to the stand-off between the USSR and the USA. Communications and travel technologies have greatly changed our lives over the past 100 years since Max Weber wrote. While seemingly whole continents today strive to "industrialize," which in many ways includes taking on many of those same Protestant Ethics, other areas are moving into an Information Age that will have a new ethics.

This new ethics is easily seen in the Open Source software movement and in self publishing like this very site.

A contrast and comparison between Max Weber's Industrial strength Protestant Work Ethic and the Hacker Ethic and the overall Gift Economy that are growing out the late twentieth and into the twenty first centuries is an important part our Conjunctive Commons of Faith.

continue reading "Online eBook of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism"

This is the beginning of an outline for the blook about Faith as a Commons. Its main purpose is to help us begin to imagine what the proverbial elephant might look like. The following is a simple outline that will soon expand into separate essays, chapters or even sections.

• Moving towards Conjuctive Faith
• An increasingly faithless world
• Church Without Walls
• Faith as Meaningful Life, as Life in the Ages
• Commons and what it has to do with Faith
• The Hacker Ethic and the Open Source Software movement.
• Continuous Iconoclasm

Your comments, suggestions and questions are most appreciated. And there is certainly more to come. But I wanted to get some ideas flowing, so I'll throw out these outline items for your thoughts and critique.

continue reading "Faith Commons, The Outline"