/lit/ - Literature

>"Relative truth" is primarily represented, for our age, by the knowledge of science, which begins in observation, proceeds by logic, and progresses in orderly fashion from the known to the unknown. It is always discursive, contingent, qualified, always expressed in "relation" to something else, never standing alone, never categorical, never -absolute."
>The unreflective scientific specialist sees no need for any other kind of knowledge; occupied with the demands of his specialty, he has, perhaps, neither time nor inclination for "abstract" questions that inquire, for example, into the basic presuppositions of that specialty. If he is pressed, or if his mind spontaneously turns to such questions, the most obvious explanation is usually sufficient to satisfy his curiosity: all truth is empirical, all truth is relative.

>The unreflective scientific specialist sees no need for any other kind of knowledge; occupied with the demands of his specialty, he has, perhaps, neither time nor inclination for "abstract" questions that inquire, for example, into the basic presuppositions of that specialty. If he is pressed, or if his mind spontaneously turns to such questions, the most obvious explanation is usually sufficient to satisfy his curiosity: all truth is empirical, all truth is relative.

>Either statement, of course, is a self-contradiction. The first statement is itself not empirical at all, but metaphysical; the second is itself an absolute statement. The question of absolute truth is raised first of all, for the critical observer, by such self- contradictions; and the first logical conclusion to which he must be led is this:, if there is any truth at all, it cannot be merely "relative." The first principles of modern science, as of any system of knowledge, are themselves unchangeable and absolute; if they were not there would be no knowledge at all, not even the most "reflective" knowledge, for there would be no criteria by which to classify anything as knowledge or truth.

>This axiom has a corollary: the absolute cannot be attained by means of the relative. That is to say, the first principles of any system of knowledge cannot be arrived at through the means of that knowledge itself, but must be given in advance; they are the object, not of scientific demonstration, but of faith.

Fr. Seraphim Rose, Nihilism: The Root Of The Revolution


was he right?

>>21214683
Yes this is a really good point anon and I say this as someone who doesn't like Peterson that much to be quite desu.
On the topic of Nietzche and Christianity, it is interesting that you point this out. Fr. Seraphim Rose, before he became an Orthodox Christian, was strongly influenced by Nietzche, who was of course very much not a Christian. Rose went through a phase of his life in which he had a very nihilistic and atheistic worldview. Looking back on this time in his life, Rose later would say that he went through the dark abyss of nihilism much like Nietzche, but the difference was that Nietzche chose to stay in the abyss, whereas Rose went through to the other side and found God.

>>21213831
This is what Fr. Seraphim Rose said.

>blah blah blah socialism blah blah blah capital blah blah late stage free market systemic neolibertarian blah blah blah
It's nihilism, anons.
Read Fr. Seraphim Rose.

>>20668219
Father Seraphim's book is on the effects of Nihilism on western society broadly, but it may be of use.

>>20563913

>>20448900
>At age 22 in 1956 and while he was still at Pomona College, Rose came out as homosexual. During a romantic relationship with Jon Gregerson, Rose was exposed to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. While the relationship lasted a significant period, Gregerson lost interest in Orthodoxy despite Rose's growing interest. Rose ultimately terminated the relationship and later commented on the period prior his conversion, saying "I was in hell. I know what hell is." Rose is reported to have not externally expressed his sexuality following his conversion.

>>19746939
Father Seraphim Rose and his book on nihilism

>>19675524
He was ahead of his time. He speaks to our generation right now.

>>19426793
based

>>19249523
based

ITT people prove OP right

When I read Father Seraphim Rose, it is like finally, I have found someone who sees the world the same way I do.
I wish I could have met him, anons.

>>18870865

Reading Guenon was the catalyst for Seraphim Rose to seek truth and become an Orthodox Christian.

Maybe read Seraphim Rose.

>>18797220
>>18797237
Also, Father Seraphim Rose addresses this. One of the things that turned him away from American Protestantism was the soft, milquetoast, effeminate mindset of it. He searched for a more manly, traditional spirituality, and went through various phases of atheism, Neitzche, Geunon, and so on, before finally discovering the Orthodox Church.

>>18734678
No. Read the Holy Fathers.

>>17458644
checked and based, orthodox anons are probably more well read on demons, cryptids, ufos, and the occult than you typical astrology obsessed /x/fag

>>17441221
Get a better understanding. Don't get me wrong, I love Fr. Seraphim, but it's all niche and unnecessarily scary. Like with all more specialized texts in orthodoxy, if you're not properly prepared they can fuck you up. My advice; don't get fucked up, talk to a priest and ask if you're ready. If you're still on baby's first catechism, don't even look at Rose or things like the Philokalia until you're on firmer ground. If you're genuinely ready to read rocor schizophrenia, then still talk to a priest because he might just slap some sense into you.

>>17412314
>be fag
>read guenon
>become monk
>will be canonized soon
how's your relationship with God anon?

Where do I start reading Fr. Seraphim Rose? I know about him and I have a basic understanding of Orthodox theology and history but I'd like to go deeper.

>aerial toll houses
Thoughts?
Why is it so eerily similar to the buddhist liminal state in the book of the dead?

>dude aerial toll houses lmao

>>16396328
>Christ is neither more man than God, nor more God than man
>the Word made flesh
Simple as, anything else is just an early Church heresy. What really fucks me up are the veggie tales letters.

>>16363094
>If you can only use the bible to determine what is true
What? The Bible is not the word of God, Christ is the Word made flesh and the Bible was written by men who chronicled this. So, it is not necessarily about a written truth, but understanding the gifts God gave us (Communion, Baptism, Confession, etc.). He gave these gifts, not to the lay reader, but his Apostles whose lineage gives us the best understanding of His gifts as a human institution can. But the answer you're looking for is the Septuigent and just read the NT in Koine.
>>16363149
Based
>>16363103
Cringe