In an age of ramp-prolonged obstacles that run through almost everything – identity, meaning, belief, language, and now earthquakes – this reflection returns to the old way of looking at the world. As the ground moves, some ideas are taking root again.
Before the scientific revolution, people did not distinguish nature from the supernatural. Classical and medieval thinkers understood nature was reaching towards a purpose beyond immediate capabilities, or already participating in perfect reality. Latin Terminology Supernaturalis It mainly appeared in the works of Thomas Aquinas, and still did not mention a sharply defined exclusive dichotomy between the two realms, which appeared only in the 13th century.
What we just labeled Super natural– Imitation, God’s actions, grace – It was simply a part of this deep natural order, not a free bonus or God’s reward. What we’re calling now religion It was once embedded in everyday life, but not another domain reserved for personal beliefs. The Bible does not speak of “religion” in the modern institutional sense, but only in its old etymology. What connects us. The denial of God, or worship of alternative gods, was viewed as a rejection of natural order, rather than as an alternative religion.
The rise of mechanical science in the works of Descartes, Bacon and Newton has led to nature being explained in terms of regular legal processes that can be studied without being related to transcendental causes. They transferred God’s actions beyond observable causes and rethinked the world as a closed system. Supernatural is now defined as a violation of nature, not as a fulfillment.
Supernaturalism became a necessary concept only after nature was redefined as self-contained. The dualism between intrinsic and transcendence has replaced a participatory view of reality. Instead of structuring the world from within, God’s existence has shifted to something beyond it or outside it. This shift led to modern divisions between revelation and reason, “Athens and Jerusalem,” theology and science, metaphysics and empiricism, spirituality and materialism. Faith is now considered something for the sacred day, but the “real world” is based on the facts of the wild.
Max Weber called the process “worldly disillusionment.” The supernatural is no longer part of the world, it is added to it. The distinction between nature and grace, or the distinction between reason and revelation, is no longer within a shared worldview, but it reflects the reorganization of boundaries. The supernatural category that currently functions are new structures shaped by specific historical developments.
One consequence of this change from classical thinking to modern thinking is the dualism of gender and gender. Today we recognize straight and homosexuality as a distinct category, separated from the unified nature of sex and gender. The natural difference between men and women involves the coexistence of all of us “masculine” and “feminine” dimensions throughout nature, including human nature.
The cry of today is to reclaim what was already part of who we are. It has long been negated in a feminine, male norm-controlled world. Sharks do not need to be “gay” to exhibit traits linked to opposite “gender”; Right-wing extremists don’t need to be shut down to show the same thing. Not everyone has to be “trans.” Because in a sense we are all gender blends, regardless of gender, plants, animals, or humans. Jesus himself was a man, but he was just as feminine and masculine. God is not constrained by our pronouns.
The world was once seen as a life connected to being. Separation now divides and organizes the things that once held together, from matter, reasons from faith, and men from women. But the old vision remains and offers a different perspective. Not fragments or conflict, but patterns of relationships, in a universe shaped by participation and symbolic unity. We’re still one.
[*] Bingen’s Hildegard (1098–1179) was a Benedictine monastery in 2012 and later clerics as saints, and was a mystical, philosopher, composer and natural scientist. In a time when theologian women were rare, Hildegard was engaged, just like the Emperor and Pope, and emerged as a famous figure. Her overall cosmology emphasized the interconnectedness of all creation, animated by God’s “green power” and God’s wisdom, often represented as Sophia.
Notes and reading
“Every creature is a spark from the radiation of God’s glow.” From Hildegard Seriously “I know how” Part II, Vision 1—The Order of the Universe was completed around 1151, with a translation by Mother Columba Heart and Jane Bishop (1990). Serious It describes 26 of Hildegard’s most vivid visions.
Sisters of Wisdom: Theology of St. Hildegard’s Women– Barbara Newman (1987). Newman explores how Hildegard’s cosmology views nature and spirit as intimately intertwined in a way that is not divided.
God’s Experience –David Bentley Hart (2013), Ch. 3. “Existence”; Theology and social theory– John Milbank (1990). Hart criticizes the post-enlightened separation of nature and bounty as a misstep that obscures its own depth. Milbank identifies the same divisions as theological errors that underpin the secularization of modern social thought.
The phenomenon of life –Hans Jonas (2001)-life Meaning beyond mechanical explanation. Jonas (1903-1993) was one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century. His leaders included Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger and Rudolf Brutzmann.
The concept of “disillusionment” It is most prominently discussed by Max Weber in his lecture, “Science as a Profession,” published in 1919.
Judith Butler’s Hip Defeat –Martha Nussbaum, “Professor of Parody”」The New Republic (February 22, 1999). Nussbaum criticizes Butler’s social construction of gender, arguing that her abstract terminology-rich feminism ignores real-world injustice and the risks that hinder effective efforts towards gender equality.
What is ancient philosophy? –Pierre Hadot (2004). Hadot says that ancient philosophy is not merely theoretical discipline; How to live– A spiritual movement aimed at personal change.
“If his presence is not good for the sparrow, when your time comes, are you sure what is good for you? I believe that there is not just a little that the heart of the universe is gentler, more loving, fairer and more just than you or mine.”
Tip #197 – Heron at Dawn
Tip #196 – Another word, another world
Approx. 2 + 2 = 5
Source: 2 + 2 = 5 – williamgreen.substack.com
