Unknowing and the Everyday

Unknowing and the Everyday

Author: Seema Golestaneh

Publisher:

Published: 2022-12-23

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781478019534

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Seema Golestaneh examines how Sufi mystical experience in Iran and the idea of unknowing--the idea that it is ultimately impossible to fully understand the divine--shapes contemporary life.


Book Synopsis Unknowing and the Everyday by : Seema Golestaneh

Download or read book Unknowing and the Everyday written by Seema Golestaneh and published by . This book was released on 2022-12-23 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seema Golestaneh examines how Sufi mystical experience in Iran and the idea of unknowing--the idea that it is ultimately impossible to fully understand the divine--shapes contemporary life.


Unknowing and the Everyday

Unknowing and the Everyday

Author: Seema Golestaneh

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 2022-12-26

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 1478024178

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In Unknowing and the Everyday Seema Golestaneh examines how Sufi mystical experience in Iran shapes contemporary life. Central to this process is ma’rifat, or “unknowing”—the idea that, as it is ultimately impossible to fully understand the divine, humanity must operate from an engaged awareness that it knows nothing. Golestaneh shows that rather than considering ma’rifat an obstacle to intellectual engagement, Sufis embrace that there will always be that which they do not know. From this position, they affirm both the limits of human knowledge and the mysteries of the profane world. Through ethnographic case studies, Golestaneh traces the affective and sensory dimensions of ma’rifat in contexts such as the creation of collective Sufi spaces, the interpretation of Persian poetry, formulations of selfhood and non-selfhood, and the navigation of the socio-material realm. By outlining the relationship between ma’rifat and religious, aesthetic, and social life in Iran, Golestaneh demonstrates that for Sufis the outer bounds of human thought are the beginning rather than the limit.


Book Synopsis Unknowing and the Everyday by : Seema Golestaneh

Download or read book Unknowing and the Everyday written by Seema Golestaneh and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2022-12-26 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Unknowing and the Everyday Seema Golestaneh examines how Sufi mystical experience in Iran shapes contemporary life. Central to this process is ma’rifat, or “unknowing”—the idea that, as it is ultimately impossible to fully understand the divine, humanity must operate from an engaged awareness that it knows nothing. Golestaneh shows that rather than considering ma’rifat an obstacle to intellectual engagement, Sufis embrace that there will always be that which they do not know. From this position, they affirm both the limits of human knowledge and the mysteries of the profane world. Through ethnographic case studies, Golestaneh traces the affective and sensory dimensions of ma’rifat in contexts such as the creation of collective Sufi spaces, the interpretation of Persian poetry, formulations of selfhood and non-selfhood, and the navigation of the socio-material realm. By outlining the relationship between ma’rifat and religious, aesthetic, and social life in Iran, Golestaneh demonstrates that for Sufis the outer bounds of human thought are the beginning rather than the limit.


Mysticism in Iran

Mysticism in Iran

Author: Ata Anzali

Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press

Published: 2017-09-28

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1611178088

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An original study of the transformation of Safavid Persia from a majority Sunni country to a Twelver Shi'i realm "Mysticism" in Iran is an in-depth analysis of significant transformations in the religious landscape of Safavid Iran that led to the marginalization of Sufism and the eventual emergence of 'irfan as an alternative Shi'i model of spirituality. Ata Anzali draws on a treasure-trove of manuscripts from Iranian archives to offer an original study of the transformation of Safavid Persia from a majority Sunni country to a Twelver Shi'i realm. The work straddles social and intellectual history, beginning with an examination of late Safavid social and religious contexts in which Twelver religious scholars launched a successful campaign against Sufism with the tacit approval of the court. This led to the social, political, and economic marginalization of Sufism, which was stigmatized as an illegitimate mode of piety rooted in a Sunni past. Anzali directs the reader's attention to creative and successful attempts by other members of the ulama to incorporate the Sufi tradition into the new Twelver milieu. He argues that the category of 'irfan, or "mysticism," was invented at the end of the Safavid period by mystically minded scholars such as Shah Muhammad Darabi and Qutb al-Din Nayrizi in reference to this domesticated form of Sufism. Key aspects of Sufi thought and practice were revisited in the new environment, which Anzali demonstrates by examining the evolving role of the spiritual master. This traditional Sufi function was reimagined by Shi'i intellectuals to incorporate the guidance of the infallible imams and their deputies, the ulama. Anzali goes on to address the institutionalization of 'irfan in Shi'i madrasas and the role played by prominent religious scholars of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in this regard. The book closes with a chapter devoted to fascinating changes in the thought and practice of 'irfan in the twentieth century during the transformative processes of modernity. Focusing on the little-studied figure of Kayvan Qazvini and his writings, Anzali explains how 'irfan was embraced as a rational, science-friendly, nonsectarian, and anticlerical concept by secular Iranian intellectuals.


Book Synopsis Mysticism in Iran by : Ata Anzali

Download or read book Mysticism in Iran written by Ata Anzali and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 2017-09-28 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An original study of the transformation of Safavid Persia from a majority Sunni country to a Twelver Shi'i realm "Mysticism" in Iran is an in-depth analysis of significant transformations in the religious landscape of Safavid Iran that led to the marginalization of Sufism and the eventual emergence of 'irfan as an alternative Shi'i model of spirituality. Ata Anzali draws on a treasure-trove of manuscripts from Iranian archives to offer an original study of the transformation of Safavid Persia from a majority Sunni country to a Twelver Shi'i realm. The work straddles social and intellectual history, beginning with an examination of late Safavid social and religious contexts in which Twelver religious scholars launched a successful campaign against Sufism with the tacit approval of the court. This led to the social, political, and economic marginalization of Sufism, which was stigmatized as an illegitimate mode of piety rooted in a Sunni past. Anzali directs the reader's attention to creative and successful attempts by other members of the ulama to incorporate the Sufi tradition into the new Twelver milieu. He argues that the category of 'irfan, or "mysticism," was invented at the end of the Safavid period by mystically minded scholars such as Shah Muhammad Darabi and Qutb al-Din Nayrizi in reference to this domesticated form of Sufism. Key aspects of Sufi thought and practice were revisited in the new environment, which Anzali demonstrates by examining the evolving role of the spiritual master. This traditional Sufi function was reimagined by Shi'i intellectuals to incorporate the guidance of the infallible imams and their deputies, the ulama. Anzali goes on to address the institutionalization of 'irfan in Shi'i madrasas and the role played by prominent religious scholars of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in this regard. The book closes with a chapter devoted to fascinating changes in the thought and practice of 'irfan in the twentieth century during the transformative processes of modernity. Focusing on the little-studied figure of Kayvan Qazvini and his writings, Anzali explains how 'irfan was embraced as a rational, science-friendly, nonsectarian, and anticlerical concept by secular Iranian intellectuals.


Divine Designs

Divine Designs

Author: Rosemarie Carfagna

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9781556128622

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Nine areas that you will pass through on your journey to holiness are here. Suffering, leadership, transformation, and dying are included, along with ways to hear, envision, and grow along the way.


Book Synopsis Divine Designs by : Rosemarie Carfagna

Download or read book Divine Designs written by Rosemarie Carfagna and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 1996 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nine areas that you will pass through on your journey to holiness are here. Suffering, leadership, transformation, and dying are included, along with ways to hear, envision, and grow along the way.


The Routledge Handbook on Crime and International Migration

The Routledge Handbook on Crime and International Migration

Author: Sharon Pickering

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-14

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 1135924333

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The Routledge Handbook on Crime and International Migration is concerned with the various relationships between migration, crime and victimization that have informed a wide criminological scholarship often driven by some of the original lines of inquiry of the Chicago School. Historically, migration and crime came to be the device by which Criminology and cognate fields sought to tackle issues of race and ethnicity, often in highly problematic ways. However, in the contemporary period this body of scholarship is inspiring scholars to produce significant evidence that speaks to some of the biggest public policy questions and debunks many dominant mythologies around the criminality of migrants. The Routledge Handbook on Crime and International Migration is also concerned with the theoretical, empirical and policy knots found in the relationship between regular and irregular migration, offending and victimization, the processes and impact of criminalization, and the changing role of criminal justice systems in the regulation and enforcement of international mobility and borders. The Handbook is focused on the migratory ‘fault lines’ between the Global North and Global South, which have produced new or accelerated sites of state control, constructed irregular migration as a crime and security problem, and mobilized ideological and coercive powers usually reserved for criminal or military threats. Offering a strong international focus and comprehensive coverage of a wide range of border, criminal justice and migration-related issues, this book is an important contribution to criminology and migration studies and will be essential reading for academics, students and practitioners interested in this field.


Book Synopsis The Routledge Handbook on Crime and International Migration by : Sharon Pickering

Download or read book The Routledge Handbook on Crime and International Migration written by Sharon Pickering and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-14 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook on Crime and International Migration is concerned with the various relationships between migration, crime and victimization that have informed a wide criminological scholarship often driven by some of the original lines of inquiry of the Chicago School. Historically, migration and crime came to be the device by which Criminology and cognate fields sought to tackle issues of race and ethnicity, often in highly problematic ways. However, in the contemporary period this body of scholarship is inspiring scholars to produce significant evidence that speaks to some of the biggest public policy questions and debunks many dominant mythologies around the criminality of migrants. The Routledge Handbook on Crime and International Migration is also concerned with the theoretical, empirical and policy knots found in the relationship between regular and irregular migration, offending and victimization, the processes and impact of criminalization, and the changing role of criminal justice systems in the regulation and enforcement of international mobility and borders. The Handbook is focused on the migratory ‘fault lines’ between the Global North and Global South, which have produced new or accelerated sites of state control, constructed irregular migration as a crime and security problem, and mobilized ideological and coercive powers usually reserved for criminal or military threats. Offering a strong international focus and comprehensive coverage of a wide range of border, criminal justice and migration-related issues, this book is an important contribution to criminology and migration studies and will be essential reading for academics, students and practitioners interested in this field.


Iran, Israel, and the Jews

Iran, Israel, and the Jews

Author: Aaron Koller

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2019-03-28

Total Pages: 438

ISBN-13: 1532661703

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Iran, Israel, and the Jews have a relationship that is in the news all the time. But it cannot be understood just in modern terms. Its roots are 2,500 years old. This volume surveys that history through case studies and broad overviews—from the first intensive contacts under Cyrus the Great, through Persian influence on Judaism evident in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Babylonian Talmud, into the Middle Ages and the flourishing of Judeo-Persian literature and culture, and finally into modern times, when the political, social, and cultural ties are multifaceted and profound. Written by experts in both Iranian and Jewish studies, these essays convey the richness and complexity of a long and tumultuous relationship between two ancient and great civilizations, which continues to shape the world today.


Book Synopsis Iran, Israel, and the Jews by : Aaron Koller

Download or read book Iran, Israel, and the Jews written by Aaron Koller and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2019-03-28 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Iran, Israel, and the Jews have a relationship that is in the news all the time. But it cannot be understood just in modern terms. Its roots are 2,500 years old. This volume surveys that history through case studies and broad overviews—from the first intensive contacts under Cyrus the Great, through Persian influence on Judaism evident in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Babylonian Talmud, into the Middle Ages and the flourishing of Judeo-Persian literature and culture, and finally into modern times, when the political, social, and cultural ties are multifaceted and profound. Written by experts in both Iranian and Jewish studies, these essays convey the richness and complexity of a long and tumultuous relationship between two ancient and great civilizations, which continues to shape the world today.


This Flame Within

This Flame Within

Author: Manijeh Moradian

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781478016182

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Manijeh Moradian revises conventional histories of Iranian migration to the United States as a post-1979 phenomenon characterized by the flight of pro-Shah Iranians from the Islamic Republic and recounts the experiences of Iranian foreign students who joined a global movement against US imperialism during the 1960s and 1970s.


Book Synopsis This Flame Within by : Manijeh Moradian

Download or read book This Flame Within written by Manijeh Moradian and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Manijeh Moradian revises conventional histories of Iranian migration to the United States as a post-1979 phenomenon characterized by the flight of pro-Shah Iranians from the Islamic Republic and recounts the experiences of Iranian foreign students who joined a global movement against US imperialism during the 1960s and 1970s.


The Cloud of Unknowing

The Cloud of Unknowing

Author: William Johnston

Publisher: Image

Published: 2012-01-11

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 0307809056

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THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING and THE BOOK OF PRIVY COUNSELING are the first explorations in the English language of the soul’s quest for God. Written in Middle English by an unknown fourteenth-century mystic, THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING expresses with beauty a message that has inspired such great religious thinkers as St. John of the Cross and Teilhard de Chardin, as well as countless others in search of God. Offering a practical guide to the life of contemplation, the author explains that ordinary thoughts and earthly concepts must be buried beneath a “cloud of forgetting,” while our love must rise toward a God hidden in the “cloud of unknowing.” THE BOOK OF PRIVY COUNSELING, also included in this volume, is a short and moving text on the way to enlightenment through a total loss of self and a consciousness only of the divine. William Johnston, an authority on fourteenth-century mysticism and spirituality, provides an accessible discussion of the works, detailing what is known about the history of the texts and their author. In a new foreword, Huston Smith draws on his extensive knowledge of the varieties of religious experience to illuminate the relevance of these works for contemporary readers.


Book Synopsis The Cloud of Unknowing by : William Johnston

Download or read book The Cloud of Unknowing written by William Johnston and published by Image. This book was released on 2012-01-11 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING and THE BOOK OF PRIVY COUNSELING are the first explorations in the English language of the soul’s quest for God. Written in Middle English by an unknown fourteenth-century mystic, THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING expresses with beauty a message that has inspired such great religious thinkers as St. John of the Cross and Teilhard de Chardin, as well as countless others in search of God. Offering a practical guide to the life of contemplation, the author explains that ordinary thoughts and earthly concepts must be buried beneath a “cloud of forgetting,” while our love must rise toward a God hidden in the “cloud of unknowing.” THE BOOK OF PRIVY COUNSELING, also included in this volume, is a short and moving text on the way to enlightenment through a total loss of self and a consciousness only of the divine. William Johnston, an authority on fourteenth-century mysticism and spirituality, provides an accessible discussion of the works, detailing what is known about the history of the texts and their author. In a new foreword, Huston Smith draws on his extensive knowledge of the varieties of religious experience to illuminate the relevance of these works for contemporary readers.


Contemporary Sufism

Contemporary Sufism

Author: Meena Sharify-Funk

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-12-22

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1134879997

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What is Sufism? Contemporary views vary tremendously, even among Sufis themselves. Contemporary Sufism: Piety, Politics, and Popular Culture brings to light the religious frameworks that shape the views of Sufism’s friends, adversaries, admirers, and detractors and, in the process, helps readers better understand the diversity of contemporary Sufism, the pressures and cultural openings to which it responds, and the many divergent opinions about contemporary Sufism’s relationship to Islam. The three main themes: piety, politics, and popular culture are explored in relation to the Islamic and Western contexts that shape them, as well as to the historical conditions that frame contemporary debates. This book is split into three parts: • Sufism and anti-Sufism in contemporary contexts; • Contemporary Sufism in the West: Poetic influences and popular manifestations; • Gendering Sufism: Tradition and transformation. This book will fascinate anyone interested in the challenges of contemporary Sufism as well as its relationship to Islam, gender, and the West. It offers an ideal starting point from which undergraduate and postgraduate students, teachers and lecturers can explore Sufism today.


Book Synopsis Contemporary Sufism by : Meena Sharify-Funk

Download or read book Contemporary Sufism written by Meena Sharify-Funk and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-12-22 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is Sufism? Contemporary views vary tremendously, even among Sufis themselves. Contemporary Sufism: Piety, Politics, and Popular Culture brings to light the religious frameworks that shape the views of Sufism’s friends, adversaries, admirers, and detractors and, in the process, helps readers better understand the diversity of contemporary Sufism, the pressures and cultural openings to which it responds, and the many divergent opinions about contemporary Sufism’s relationship to Islam. The three main themes: piety, politics, and popular culture are explored in relation to the Islamic and Western contexts that shape them, as well as to the historical conditions that frame contemporary debates. This book is split into three parts: • Sufism and anti-Sufism in contemporary contexts; • Contemporary Sufism in the West: Poetic influences and popular manifestations; • Gendering Sufism: Tradition and transformation. This book will fascinate anyone interested in the challenges of contemporary Sufism as well as its relationship to Islam, gender, and the West. It offers an ideal starting point from which undergraduate and postgraduate students, teachers and lecturers can explore Sufism today.


Nihilism-In-Tension

Nihilism-In-Tension

Author: Martin Sebo

Publisher: Dissertation.com

Published: 2017-09-19

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 161233458X

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One of the pastoral problems of religiosity in Slovakia today is that contemporary Christianity is pervaded by nihil-inclinations. Such inclinations manifest themselves in the loss of orientation and meaning, and a disinterest in Christianity, which has by and large remained on a doctrinal, moralistic, and ritual level without offering a constructive faith response to the 'signs of the times'. This dissertation argues that nihilism is not an entirely negative or morose concept that leaves behind a void or abyss without values, rendering this world meaningless. Nihilism as such is not an absolute (demonizing) danger; rather, it is the failure to adequately engage it that constitutes the pro-nihilizing threat. My analysis of nihilism begins with Nietzsche. In analyzing his texts, I propose my own interpretation of his nihilism. Because of the tensive state of Nietzsche's nihilism, which on the one hand lacks a firm ground of higher values, and on the other, exhibits a recurring tendency to return to these values, I refer to this state as 'nihilism-in-tension'. I suggest that 'nihilism-in-tension' may be conceived as the condition of thought that bears some resemblance to divine kenosis. I argue that kenosis is an appropriate epistemological instrument to disclose the mechanism or unknown function working within 'nihilism-in-tension', and may be described through a transformative kenotic formula ('pro-kenotic-nihil'). To reveal this mechanism, I employ the experiential theory of the sublime as the vantage point from which to uncover the inner constituents of kenosis and 'nihilism-in-tension'. Here I argue that the event which imparts transformative meaning to 'nihilism-in-tension' is the radical imitation of the deepest Christian mystery exemplified in the kenotic life of Christ. This may be expressed in the following formula: nihil and its kenotic radicalization (maximization of nihilism) = annihilation of nihil (negation of nihilism). To apply this mechanism to ecclesial life, I introduce the nada of John of the Cross and the “weak thought” of Gianni Vattimo as two modalities, spiritual and philosophical, that can translate the postmodern condition of 'nihilism-in-tension' into a practical pursuit of wisdom and right relationship. The former transmutes the nihil of 'nihilism-in-tension' from nada to todo, or from self-emptying to union with the divine. The latter transforms the nihil of 'nihilism-in-tension' through the philosophy of “weak thought,” which calls for tentative and non-foundational modes of thought and a weakening of immutable structures. I demonstrate that nada and “weak thought” are appropriate instruments for “weakening” authoritarian church structures and reinterpreting (or rewriting) the tradition in kenotic, inclusive, and dialogical forms. This study demonstrates that the kenotic movement of the nihil of 'nihilism-in-tension' into the nihil of kenosis, or fructifying todo, is a potential pastoral instrument to address the problem of nihil-inclinations in the religious context of Slovakia. It attempts to give some orientation to the local Church by raising awareness of its kenotic origins, and offering its theological, spiritual, and philosophical apparatus to approach the problem.


Book Synopsis Nihilism-In-Tension by : Martin Sebo

Download or read book Nihilism-In-Tension written by Martin Sebo and published by Dissertation.com. This book was released on 2017-09-19 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the pastoral problems of religiosity in Slovakia today is that contemporary Christianity is pervaded by nihil-inclinations. Such inclinations manifest themselves in the loss of orientation and meaning, and a disinterest in Christianity, which has by and large remained on a doctrinal, moralistic, and ritual level without offering a constructive faith response to the 'signs of the times'. This dissertation argues that nihilism is not an entirely negative or morose concept that leaves behind a void or abyss without values, rendering this world meaningless. Nihilism as such is not an absolute (demonizing) danger; rather, it is the failure to adequately engage it that constitutes the pro-nihilizing threat. My analysis of nihilism begins with Nietzsche. In analyzing his texts, I propose my own interpretation of his nihilism. Because of the tensive state of Nietzsche's nihilism, which on the one hand lacks a firm ground of higher values, and on the other, exhibits a recurring tendency to return to these values, I refer to this state as 'nihilism-in-tension'. I suggest that 'nihilism-in-tension' may be conceived as the condition of thought that bears some resemblance to divine kenosis. I argue that kenosis is an appropriate epistemological instrument to disclose the mechanism or unknown function working within 'nihilism-in-tension', and may be described through a transformative kenotic formula ('pro-kenotic-nihil'). To reveal this mechanism, I employ the experiential theory of the sublime as the vantage point from which to uncover the inner constituents of kenosis and 'nihilism-in-tension'. Here I argue that the event which imparts transformative meaning to 'nihilism-in-tension' is the radical imitation of the deepest Christian mystery exemplified in the kenotic life of Christ. This may be expressed in the following formula: nihil and its kenotic radicalization (maximization of nihilism) = annihilation of nihil (negation of nihilism). To apply this mechanism to ecclesial life, I introduce the nada of John of the Cross and the “weak thought” of Gianni Vattimo as two modalities, spiritual and philosophical, that can translate the postmodern condition of 'nihilism-in-tension' into a practical pursuit of wisdom and right relationship. The former transmutes the nihil of 'nihilism-in-tension' from nada to todo, or from self-emptying to union with the divine. The latter transforms the nihil of 'nihilism-in-tension' through the philosophy of “weak thought,” which calls for tentative and non-foundational modes of thought and a weakening of immutable structures. I demonstrate that nada and “weak thought” are appropriate instruments for “weakening” authoritarian church structures and reinterpreting (or rewriting) the tradition in kenotic, inclusive, and dialogical forms. This study demonstrates that the kenotic movement of the nihil of 'nihilism-in-tension' into the nihil of kenosis, or fructifying todo, is a potential pastoral instrument to address the problem of nihil-inclinations in the religious context of Slovakia. It attempts to give some orientation to the local Church by raising awareness of its kenotic origins, and offering its theological, spiritual, and philosophical apparatus to approach the problem.