Original Research

Die ontwikkeling van die menslike bewussyn: Kan die postmodernekerk ruimte bied vir ‘mitologie’? Ken Wilber se bydrae tot die pastoraat

Ignatius (Naas) W. Ferreira
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 66, No 1 | a181 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v66i1.181 | © 2010 Ignatius (Naas) W. Ferreira | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 23 April 2009 | Published: 09 April 2010

About the author(s)

Ignatius (Naas) W. Ferreira, Universiteit van Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

The development of the human consciousness: Can a ‘postmodern church’ accommodate ‘mythology’? Ken Wilber’s contribution to pastoral care

Postmodern theologians like Hal Taussig are not very optimistic about the future of Christianity. To them, the theistic (mythological) understanding of God is of little use in the postmodern world of the 21st century. Taussig prefers the grassroots Christianity, which has room for persons of all sexual orientations, and advocates ecological sensitivity. The question is: What do the followers of this spirituality teach their children about God? The solution is what Wilber calls ‘the conveyer belt’ and God’s ‘Kosmic address’. Everyone starts at square one, ‘traditional’ and grassroots Christians alike, and move along this conveyer belt. Along the way, there are seven stages and three perspectives, i.e. the first, second and third-person perspective, through which human consciousness could evolve. That means that any given person could have one of 21 different possible understandings and experiences of God. A questionnaire could assist pastors to determine at which stage or level of evolution an individual is, as well as the ‘Kosmic address’ that God has for that individual. Through spiritual exercises, pastors could then support the individual’s further growth towards mature human consciousness.


Keywords

psigoloog; mistikus; Oosterse Filosofe; godsdiens; grondbeginsels

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