Secular Christ with Sean J. McGrath

In the final episode of this season of searching for the seeds of Secular Christianity, we travel to the 20th century to learn from the German Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer.We explore his concept of religionless Christianity which developed as he sat imprisoned in Berlin by the Nazi regime for his resistance, and before his execution. McGrath continues to link back to Augustines idea of the invisible church and coins the term invisible Christianity. 

What Meister Eckhart learnt, and we can learn, from The Beguines.

S3E5 Secular Christ | Meister Eckhart & Beguine Mysticism.

In this episode we travel back in time to the city of Alexandria, the cultural Mecca of the Roman Empire to learn from the Christian theologian and philosopher Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD), about how to build resilience in our present age. The music played in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org: XYLO - ZIK - SUBMERSIBLE

We need to reclaim the future for Christian consciousness, and to recognize that the first Christians were looking towards the future, looking towards the fruition of something. They were not commemorating something that was past. They were actually witnessing something that is coming to be. - Sean J McGrath and Jakob Lusensky go seeking for the seeds of Secular Christianity.The music played in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org: XYLO - ZIK - SUBMERSIBLE

The Christian teaching is that we are not yet human. We are on the way towards humanity. Humanity is still to come. - Sean J McGrath and Jakob Lusensky go seeking for the seeds of Secular Christianity.The music played in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org: XYLO - ZIK - RAINBOW

Sean J McGrath together with Jungian Analyst Jakob Lusensky go seeking for the seeds of Secular Christianity.For the next episodes, follow the Psychology & The Cross podcast instead.The music played in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org: XYLO - ZIK - RAINBOW

In our third season of Secular Christ with Sean J. McGrath we go searching for the seeds of Secular Christianity. The series will go live in early 2024.

Live Q&A and summary of season 2 of Secular Christ. Recorded 13th of November 2022.

We would like to invite you to an online meetup and Q&A with Sean J. McGrath where we will wrap up the second season of Secular Christ. We will be meeting on Zoon on Sunday the 13th of November at 5:00 PM CET. We will start with a short lecture by McGrath and a summary of the second season. We then invite you all to converse, ask your questions and also share ideas for future seasons. The session will be recorded.Please RSVP to feedback@cross.center

What's the point of a Christian community? Why is community important for a contemporary contemplative Christian? In the final episode of the second season of Secular Christ, Sean McGrath turns to the question of community. We discuss its importance in the contemplative tradition and its absence within psychoanalysis and Analytical Psychology. We discuss the necessity also for a communal symbolic life, Christian eschatology, reaching the razor's edge of contemplative Christianity with the question: what is our attitude to be in a world that is passing away?For those of you who enjoyed this season, we would like to invite you to a live Q&A and summary with McGrath. The date is set to Sunday 13th of November at 5 pm CET and we will meet on Zoom first for a lecture and then for questions and discussions. Please RSVP to j.lusensky@gmail.comMusic in this episode by Xylo-Ziko - Eventide & Peril. Licensed by Creative Commons.

Sean McGrath received an email from a young person who has been listening to Secular Christ asking: How can I keep growing spiritually through the Christ image, any words of wisdom that has helped you along your path of living the contemplative life? Here's Sean's reply.

In the third episode, McGrath takes on the self-help industry and how its ideological spokespersons such as Jordan B. Peterson misses the point of grace and self-transformation through self-surrendering. He discusses how to understand the Lord's Prayer (previously discussed with Donald Carveth) and how contemplative Christianity offers a different path of shadow integration and individuation through the kenotic and Buddhistic orientation of self-emptying. Share your feedback and subscribe on YoutubeContact: feedback@cross.centerMusic in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org. Artist. Ketsa - Brook.

In this episode, McGrath explores the symbolic structures that underlie our search for truth and meaning. He contrasts the "going east" with a return to the "western symbolic" in order to connect with our spiritual and religious mother tongue. He examines how 2000 years of Christianity is a part of the problem and is accelerating a perversion as well as the possible political and personal remedy, by finding back to a more authentic and contemplative Christianity.  Share your comments and subscribe on YoutubeMusic in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org. Artist. Ketsa - Brook.

In the second season of Secular Christ, Dr. Sean J. McGrath continues his conversation with Jungian Analyst Jakob Lusensky about the contemplative life in a Secular Age. In this episode McGrath introduces the concept of "Christ nature" and contrasts it with Buddha Nature before he turns to Paul and the Colossians and the Gospel of John to ground it in scripture.Share your comments and subscribe on YoutubeMusic in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org. Artist. Ketsa - Brook.

In this last episode of this season, Sean McGrath continues his conversation with Jungian Analyst Jakob Lusensky, in seeking the secular Christ. A conversation that leads back to the question of antichrist and how social media and consumerism feed a life of the imaginary at the cost of the real. McGrath discusses climate change, 'Friday's for future' and Greta Thunberg and the question of saving not our planet but our civilization.Share your comments and subscribe on YoutubeMusic in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org. Artist. Xylo-Ziko - First light, Songbird and Light.

"What we're talking about in the Christ is something that actually doesn't naturally belong in this world. It is experienced as infection in a certain way, but it's the infection that brings life and hope and new forms of community."In this episode, Sean McGrath returns to some of the questions we initially asked in this podcast. In what way is Christ a secular figure? What is the Church in the secular age? What can anti-Christ teach us when seeking Christ in the secular world? This leads us to a closer look at how consumerism is twisting our longings for faith, hope, and love into its opposite. Share your comments and subscribe on YoutubeMcGrath discusses these themes together with Berlin-based psychoanalyst Jakob Lusensky.Music in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org. Artist. Xylo-Ziko - Unguja.

How to practice contemplative Christianity? In this episode of Secular Christ, McGrath makes it clear that there are no (Jordan B Peterson) rules for life needed, but what's necessary is to carve out a space in our everyday life for contemplation, meditation, and prayer. He discusses further the importance of coming to terms with our own psychological impotence and the move from the necessary solitude to a different way of being together. For extra material subscribe on Youtube.Music in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org. Artist. Xylo-Ziko, 'Eventide, First Light'.Send in a voice message.

In the fifth episode of Secular Christ, Philosophy and Theology professor, Sean J McGrath continues his seeking for Christ in the Secular Age. His starting point this time is the work of the American Franciscan priest and writer Richard Rohr, who through his many books and public lectures has led to a rediscovery of the cosmic christ and contemplative Christianity.McGrath aligns with Rohr in arguing that contemplative Christianity is the answer to the spiritual “movement east”, and to a rediscovery of the sacredness of our secular lives. As a former Catholic monk himself, McGrath shares a definition of what contemplative Christianity is and how it can be practiced in everyday life. McGrath discusses these themes together with Berlin-based psychoanalyst Jakob Lusensky.Music in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org. Artist.Xylo-Ziko, 'First light', 'Dark water' and 'Songbird'. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/secular-christ/message

“Why has somebody like Slavoj Žižek with his Lacanian atheism and cynicism a better purchase on the essence of Pauline Christianity? It's because there is a tragic ground to Christianity. Tragedy and hopelessness is the prolegomena, it's the port of entry into Christianity.”In this episode of the Secular Christ, Philosophy and Theology professor, Sean J McGrath continues his seeking for Christ in the Secular Age. This time his "case study" is the Slovenian philosopher and Lacanian, Slavoj Žižek.McGrath views Žižek as one of today's intellectuals who best understands Christianity but also as a representative of the philosophy of (unredeemed) human poverty. A tragic philosophy without hope or redemption and which he also contrasts with the philosophy of human potentiality (See e03 Jordan B Peterson). McGrath discusses these themes together with Berlin-based psychoanalyst Jakob Lusensky.Music in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org. Artist. Xylo-Ziko Titles: Rainbow, Brook, First Light. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/secular-christ/message

In this episode Philosophy and Theology professor, Sean J McGrath offers a critique of the phenomenon Jordan B Peterson's archetypal take on Christianity. McGrath sees his fellow Canadian as a representative of the philosophy of human potentiality which he contrasts with a philosophy of human poverty. McGrath discusses these themes together with Berlin-based psychoanalyst Jakob Lusensky.Music in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org. Artist. Xylo-Ziko Titles: Dark Water, Perile, Locomotive and First Light. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/secular-christ/message

In the second episode of Secular Christ Sean J McGrath helps us to make a necessary distinction between naive versus mature secularism. He follows Charles Taylor's description of what happens to religion in the secular age and how religious belief has turned into a consumer product. McGrath goes on to describe how Christianity in instances has become an absolute reversal of itself, the antichrist, and has brought with it a new form of evil into this world. McGrath discusses these themes together with Berlin-based psychoanalyst Jakob Lusensky.Recommended reading: Charles Taylor - A secular AgeMusic in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org. Artist. Xylo-Ziko Titles: Dark Water, First light, Submersible & Brook. Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/secular-christ/message

In our first episode, Philosophy and Theology professor and former Catholic monk Sean J McGrath lays the foundation for our search for Christ in the secular world. Questions we will address in this podcast: * What's the value of individuation and Christian faith in a socio-political order which is apparently falling apart? * How are we to understand the emptying of the western churches, while the waiting lines to therapy rooms are growing longer and longer?* How can a cultural phenomenon such as Jordan B. Peterson best be understood today and what does it have to do with secular christ. *Lastly, Sean also will share insights from contemplative Christianity and his years as a Catholic monk in establishing a practice that can be integrated into our secular lives of today. McGrath discusses these themes together with Berlin based psychoanalyst Jakob Lusensky.Music in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org: 'Xylo-Ziko - Dark Water', 'Xylo-Ziko - First light.'---Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/secular-christ/message

A trailer to the podcast Secular Christ with Sean J McGrathSend in a voice message with your questions or thoughts: https://anchor.fm/secular-christ/message