Sacred Web 4
Letters to the Editor
A response to William W. Quinn’s "Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Notes on the First Days after the End of Kali Yuga". Read more ...
Editorial: "What Thirst Is For"
By M. Ali Lakhani
"It is good knowing that glasses are to drink from. The bad thing is not knowing what thirst is for." At the heart of the ambiguity of spiritual expression "lies a choice given to all of mankind: to seek the fulfilment of one's desires in the beatific vision of the Sun’s heavenly Light or to seek it in the tumult of the shadows." A meditation on the purpose and meaning of desire. Read more ...
Faith and Modernity
By Karen Armstrong
The commitment to live a fully religious life, implicit for instance in St. Anselm’s prayer credo ut intelligam, is an attitude foreign to modernity. "Our western modernity has led us to an entirely different notion of truth, and, as a result, we can no longer be religious in quite the same way as our ancestors". In this brief historical sketch, the renowned author, Karen Armstrong, examines the traditional complementarity of mythos and logos and the demise of faith that has resulted from the jettisoning of mythos in the evolution of western modernity. Read more ...
Who or What is "Slouching Towards Bethlehem"?
By Alvin Moore, Jr.
In this provocative response to Quinn’s article in Sacred Web 3, the author surveys traditional teachings on eschatology and calls into question both the premises and motive of Quinn’s speculations about the end of Kali Yuga. Read more ...
The Alchemy of Traditional Foods
By Rod Blackhirst
Modern man’s rupture from the guiding patterns of tradition has brought about a loss of integral wisdom concerning food, diet and nutrition. The author examines this lost legacy and explores how man’s relationship to food is an aspect of his relation to the macrocosm and his place within the cosmos. Read more ...
Remarks on Esoterism in the works of Frithjof Schuon
By Patrick Laude
An overview of some fundamental teachings of the late Frithjof Schuon on a central feature of traditional doctrine and method, namely, the esoteric dimension of religion. Read more ...
The Egoic System and the Nurture of the Heart
By Cynthia Bourgeault
What is the ego and how is it to be dealt with in the process of spiritual transformation? The author argues in favor of a nurturing approach toward the ego that is based on the "lived reality that no inner knots disentangle without love". Read more ...
A DEBATE ON THE PRIMACY OF THEOLOGY OVER METAPHYSICS
Towards a Deeper Ecumenism: Catholicism and Tradition
By Stratford Caldecott
Inspired by the Pope’s encyclical, Fides et Ratio, as a call for the renewal of metaphysics, the author comments from a Catholic standpoint on the theological limits to the claims of traditional metaphysics. Read more ...
From Phenomenon to Foundation: A Response to Stratford Caldecott
By Lynn C. Bauman
Arguing from the perspective of religio perennis, this essay responds to Caldecott’s essay and reminds the reader of the compatibility of Christian theology and traditional metaphysics through their common roots expressed in the apophatic teachings of Patristic and Orthodox Christian theology. Read more ...
A DEBATE ON DUALISM
Dualism and the Philosophy of the Soul
By Robert Bolton
Revisiting an age-old debate, the author challenges traditionalist views on metaphysical monism and argues for the revival of dualism in ethics, religion, and the arts. Read more ...
A Traditionalist’s Response to Bolton’s Philosophical Dualism
By José Segura
Proceeding from the cautionary statement that "mere rational thinking does not facilitate the comprehension of traditional ideas", the author dismantles the argument of dualism by recourse to metaphysical hermeneutics and intuition. Read more ...
Notes on Contributors
