Project Employment Inc www.realitysearch.com.au |
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| Michelle Nailon B. Arts, B.Theol., M. Theol., GradDipTheol. |
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Books Connected to the Reality Search Analysis |
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Workstyle this is the house. This 201 pgs |
Workstyle was the first book written in the whole series of books connected with the realitysearch analysis. It was
heavily based on a sociology of religion course run by Noel Ryan SJ in the 1980's. However it did build on the course in
one particular way by showing how some of the social philosophers over the centuries in Western Society aligned with the
teachings of Plato, namely in The Republic. It considers dilemmas of a Platonic based society.
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also shows how other social philosphers have aligned with Aristotle and his interest in democracy
for example in his collection of the constitutions of city states at the time. This same distinction between
the social philosophers is picked up in the book Is There a Critique of Greek Philosophy in the Gospels? The book Workstyle also makes an attempt to clarify the feminine dimension of the godhead by looking at Wisdom references in the Old Testament. |
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Bethany
this is the house. This is the house This is the 110 pgs |
Bethany is a follow through of the analysis. It is a hypothetical story of Jesus and the time after his death.
It uses similar but not the
same names in the gospels in order to clarify that it is "hypothetical". Bethany uses the analysis in order to
explore common questions about the gospel story. For instance it explores the identity of the "ointment woman"
who is at the centre of
Mark's Section D concentric circle. Who was this woman? What had she done to so upset the disciples (cf. Matthew).
Why did her anointing of Jesus and his forgiveness of her, appear to trigger the decision of Judas to betray him?.
Another question explored is "Who was the beloved disciple?" |
Also, why was Bethany a "fall back" place in the story, for
instance according to Luke, the resurrected Jesus took the disciples to the outskirts of Bethany from where he
ascended into heaven. The last part of Bethany argues there were deliberate omissions made by the gospel writers, for instance possible connections between the family of Jesus and the Essene sect. The book also fills in some gaps, for example if Jesus often stayed in Bethany (cf. John) he would have had access to the Temple library (and Greek philosophy!). The back of the book shows the location of references in the analysed text. |
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Towards a Sociological Understanding of the Gospels
this is house This is the house. This is the ho50 pgs |
Towards a Sociological Understanding of the gospels has been a popular download. It deals in particular with the
position of Jews and Jewish literature having to deal with the "bull-dozer"
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influences of Greek
philosophy in the Greco Roman Empire. It is a preliminary part of the popular book Is There a Critique of Greek
Philosophy in the Gospels?
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Is Christian Morality Unique? Part One
this is the house. This is the hou 190 pgs |
The realitysearch analsis is based on the approach of semiotic analysis. It shows how the use of words, especially those related to time and place, denote paragraphs. These are set out in concentric or parallel patterns. The patterns in turn demonstrate how there is a "line of logic" that moves through a gospel text and then into the next text. At the same time, amongst such "patterns" there are sections in which it appears there is no attempt being made to embed a word pattern. In the analysis these are called "child" sections. This is mainly because within them, an emphasise is being made on the qualities of a child. Examples of these are in Mark's Section D, and Section A in Matthew and A in Luke. There is a "child" section in the the opening of Acts and in John's Section D. These sub-texts appear to deal in particular with the qualities an "adult child". Note how in the most intimate address of Jesus to his |
disciples he calls them "children". Reflection on these sections has led to the question as to what qualities are to be found within the "adult child"? We are given a clue in Mark's Section C when Jesus challenges a young man to "go sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me". There is an echo here of the "poverty, chastity and obedience" vows as taken and carried through in the history of the church. There is also a parallel here with the commandments of "Thou shalt not kill, commit adultery or steal." The book considers the writings of Paul and the Council of the early church in which these commandmnts appear to be idealised and inverted from a "Thou shalt not" to a challenge to identify with the mindset of Jesus. The book explores the mindset of Jesus further to show how he embodies the challenge in his death on the cross. |
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Workshops - Is Christian Morality Unique? Part 1
this is the house. This is the house 21 pgs |
The "Workshops - Is Christian Morality Unique? Part 1 picks up on the mindset of Jesus as set out by Paul
and in the gospels. It provides a simple, graphic challenge to move away from the pitfalls of "money, power and sex" and into a "mindset" that looks towards 1. the material welfare of others, 2. the empowerment of others 3. respect for others. |
In this way the book attempts to "sum up" the essential position of morality as put forward, not only by Christianity, but by
other
world religions as well. The workshops also show how the challenge to adopt and practise the mindset sum up the best aims of the industrialised world. Not much early interest has been shown in the workshops so far (!). |
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Project Employment Inc | the writer Michelle Nailon B.A., B.THEOL., M.THEOL., GRAD.DIP.THEOL. |
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| Project Employment Inc Sunshine 3020, Australia ABN: 39 566 577 931 |
