Immaterial Existence


Book Description

What is reality? What is existence? Does existence cease to exist? Reality is hard to pin down to one definition. Existence is being. Existence is being aware. Existence does not cease to exist. And it all depends on reality—your reality. The very word—existence—should describe the only real thing that exists in the universe and beyond—Consciousness. Consciousness alone and nothing else. Everything is conscious, even if you do not see it. The earth rotates. Movement indicates that the earth is doing exactly what was intended for it to do. What makes it rotate? The sun shines brightly always. The moon shines brightly too in the night. It is like clockwork. It just happens. It is programmed to happen like that. It is consciousness at work. Some call it nature—the forces of nature—they would chime in. But nature is following a script—a prewritten software. Nature cannot change this script. Nothing can change this script of a software for our earth, planetary system and indeed the universe because the program is set from the beginning.If you can understand that, well, you are welcome to a world created for the enjoyment of Consciousness. If you think about it, the universe seems to have been synchronized by an intelligence science is yet able to put a finger on. Perhaps, Thomas H. Huxley—a biologist and humanist—said it best below:“It seems to me that there is a third thing in the universe, to wit, consciousness, which . . . I cannot see to be matter or force, or any conceivable modification of either . . .”




What It Is to Exist


Book Description

One important task of metaphysics is to answer the question of what it is for an object to exist. The first part of this book offers a systematic reconstruction and critique of contemporary views on existence. The upshot of this part is that the contemporary debate has reached an impasse because none of the considered views is able to formulate a satisfactory answer to this fundamental metaphysical question. The second part reconstructs Thomas Aquinas’s view on existence (esse) and argues that it contributes a new perspective which allows us to see why the contemporary debate has reached this impasse. It has come to this point because it has taken a premise for granted which Aquinas’s view rejects, namely, that the existence of an object consists in something’s having a property. A decisive contribution of Aquinas’s theory of esse is that it makes use of the ideas of metaphysical participation and composition. In this way, it can be explained how an object can have esse without being the case that esse is a property of it. This book brings together a reconstruction from the history of philosophy with a systematic study on existence and is therefore relevant for scholars interested in contemporary or medieval theories of existence.




Origin and All


Book Description

The novel Origin and All tells how the universe began, explores the rebellion of Lucifer and his angelic host, and explains that Christianity is not a religion, but a revealed life. The book contains a seemingly endless streak of high-level supernatural information, presented in a deliberate manner that will preserve the purity and originality of divine truth, with the aim of offering a comprehensive understanding of life and reality in God's universe. The author shows how life, reality, and the totality of universal existence originated from the conscious existence of a living entity known as Elohim, the Origin of all. Further, prominent matters such as the original plan of God, the rise of fallen angels, the three-fold Gospel, the bridal union, and more are extensively covered. To cap it off, belief systems and forms of worship are considered. Christianity is contrasted with religion to offer discernment to readers. Ancient Benjamin was born in and lives in Kumasi, Ghana, a West African country. He wrote this book to bring a finality of understanding to all men on the subject matter of God and Christianity. Ancient Benjamin, named after his Father, the Ancient of days, is a young man, picked and trained by the Holy Spirit in the arena of revelation knowledge, and discernment. He is specially anointed by the Spirit to relate with a rare kind of supernatural messaging, which produces in him the ability to understand pre-creation conditions and realities. Publisher's website: http: //sbprabooks.com/AncientBenjamin




The Great Discourse on Causation


Book Description

he Mahanidana Sutta is the Buddha’s longest discourse on dependent arising, often taken to be the key to his entire teaching. The commentary treats this doctrine according to the Abhidhamma method, explained in an appendix. A penetrative introduction lays bare the sutta’s structure and the philosophical significance of dependent arising.







Personal Ontology


Book Description

What are we? Are we, for example, souls, organisms, brains, or something else? In this book, Andrew Brenner argues that there are principled obstacles to our discovering the answer to this fundamental metaphysical question. The main competing accounts of personal ontology hold that we are either souls (or composites of soul and body), or we are composite physical objects of some sort, but, as Brenner shows, arguments for either of these options can be parodied and transformed into their opposites. Brenner also examines arguments for and against the existence of the self, offers a detailed discussion of the metaphysics of several afterlife scenarios - resurrection, reincarnation, and mind uploading -- and considers whether agnosticism with respect to personal ontology should lead us to agnosticism with respect to the possibility of life after death.




Life in the Face of Death


Book Description

This volume, written by eleven first-class scholars, brings into focus the Resurrection message of the New Testament. Much more than just biblical exposition, these essays demonstrate how the resurrection both provides the basis for joyful living now despite the shadow of death and undergirds the Christian belief in a future after death.




Musings of a 98 year old Scientist


Book Description

Musings of a 98-Year-Old Scientist is a mix of stories and discussions by a scientist who was deeply religious, and lived a unique life. John E. Burgener was born on March 10, 1917. The world was at war and women had just earned the right to vote. Electricity was still a relatively new invention, cars were a luxury, and airplanes a novelty. John lived in a perfect period to experience almost a century of incredible innovation and growth, and he personally contributed significantly to the advancement of science and technology. In this book, John muses about some of the more difficult questions we face about God and religion, ethics and culture, marriage and children, as well as politics, science, and the inexplicable beyond. John recorded these biographical anecdotes and reflections in his final years, while looking back over his experiences. He shares his wisdom and immense knowledge, earned over ninety-eight full years, in the hope that his experiences and reflections may inspire us in the future.




Gestures of Grace


Book Description

Gestures of Grace is a celebration of the life and career of Robert Sweetman, H. Evan Runner Chair in the History of Philosophy at the Institute for Christian Studies (2001–present). These essays, written by students and colleagues, testify to the remarkable breadth and depth of Sweetman’s research and teaching, from his early scholarly career at the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies to his time at ICS. Throughout the volume, there is extensive engagement with Sweetman’s influential historical scholarship on topics such as the emergence and development of the Dominican order in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, medieval women authors, Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus, and indeed on Sweetman’s own systematic contribution to the nature and promise of Christian scholarship today.




Body and Mind


Book Description