Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Crosstiching Dooyeweerd

We're likely to get a foot of snow today, March 4th! The pict above is the view from my front door this morning. So to pass the time perhaps some of you in St. Louis would like to crosstich some Dooyeweerd.


This is Angie's work.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm. Reminds me of this:

http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com/2007/01/11/funny-theology/

Jeff Meyers said...

Hmm. I didn't mean this to be funny. I was serious. It's a shame that more people these days don't read Dooyeweerd. How many reformed people today know what the cosmonomic philosophy is? How many are able to summarize it in a few sentences? That's just sad. A fall from a glorious past. Dooyeweerd's wisdom ought to be popularized, and crosstiching would be an effective way to do it.

Did you find Dooyeweerd's crosstiched maxim hard to understand? Would you like me to help? Perhaps if you mediate on the cosmonomic connectons that link the picture of the snow, the date of this post, and the etymology of the name of my city, it will come to you. ;-)

Lori Waggoner said...

Nearly 6 inches already and my kids are still at school...yep, you heard me right. We had school today!

Jeff Meyers said...

Even Westminster was off today! I just listened to the radio and the roads sound like a bumper car ride.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure you didn't mean it to be funny. I was only pointing to the rather profuse amount of jargon on the quotation. Can't say as that I've ever seen that much jargon on a cross-stitch before. I've never read Dooyeweerd, so I wouldn't mind a bit of help with this particular quotation, if it can be explained without jargon.

jennifer h said...

I thought it was funny. When I was in college, I read some articles by Dooyeweerd. Back then, I think I understood. Now, my brain is fied, and I can't even make heads or tails of the cross-stitched phrase. But, at least I know who he is :)

On the PCA kids being in school today--amazing!

Angie B. said...

Hope you like the Dooyeweerd decoration. My new business, Philosophy in Stitches, offers a different cross-stitched philosophical or theological quote each month. Tired of that "Home Sweet Home" hanging? Want something that will brighten your room as well as help you meditate on thee aspectual engine of dialectic in Dooyeweerd? Order today--only $19.95! (Please add $7.95 if you prefer the original Dutch).

Next month's offering, a beautifully cross stitched Catherine Pickstock quote:
"It would seem that Socrates' intimations of an orally-construed language allow a greater ecstatic dimension into his philosophy than Derrida seems willing to admit, and that there is an incipient account here of supplementation as the origin and possibility of language itself; this, together with a thematizing of the transcendent contagion of the good, and the repetition implicitly involved in any act of philosophic recognition."

Pattern border choice: teddy bears or intertwined swans.

Jeff Meyers said...

Angie: your project is unbelievably timely for the church. An answer to many prayers, I am confident. I have to believe that this venture of yours will be very productive for the kingdom. I can't wait. I hope all the local Christian bookstores pick up on this.

Al said...

Did Dooyeweerd write to be read? 'Cuz dude!

Here is a link to someone else using jargon to talk about the jargon of Dooyweerd

too deep for a guy who uses "cuz" and "dude" in his everyday lingo.

al sends

Baus said...

Mr. Meyers,
Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

I'm touched that you would think of me (and that you are even aware of me, for that matter).

For plenty of Dooyeweerd and cosmonomic (now more commonly "reformational") philosophy reading, see my sidebar at:
reformatorischeblog
http://reformatorische.blogspot.com/

I have a "sister site" too: The Kuyperian for basic neocalvinism info
http://kuyperian.blogspot.com

I hope you will stop by and browse the materials.

One more thing, I hope Angie has completed the nonvirtual stitching because I'm fairly sure there is an error in the quote! I think it should read
"...a religious dialectic in the basic motives..."

[missing an "i" in 'religious' and "basis" should be 'basic']

In any case, you guys are wonderful. Thanks again!

Baus said...

oops... that should be:
"I hope Angie hasn't completed..."

eah, typo happenns.

Angie B. said...

Uh, oh--that's what happens when you go googling for obscure Dooyeweerd quotes! (I copied and pasted it.) It makes only slightly more sense to me with "basic" instead of "basis"--but I guess that's better than nothing.

J Huang said...

yeah, this strikes me as almost needlessly dense (and therefore amusing). I'm pass/failing a philosophy class ("problems" in philosophy) this semester, and thus am losing patience over reading stuff that could be summarized quite nicely in a few concise sentences.

But maybe this is just because I'm a second semester senior...

Jeff Meyers said...

Jon: There are no "problems" in philosophy. Philosophy is the handmaiden to theology. Since the Bible is so jumbled and unclear, we need to set things in order. Because Scripture uses terms so haphazardly and often without stopping to define key technical words, philosophy is there to give us universal categories and language that systematizes the unorganized doctrines in the Bible.

This is why we Reformed theologians are the Great Concatonizers of Bible truth. We congeal doctrines in timeless forms of expression which need never be altered or updated. With the help of philosophy we write catechisms that help people read the Bible because they provide the missing definitions of the most important terms. Armed with the correct definition of all the key terms anyone can read the Bible make sense of the confusing presentation therein.

So don't worry. Dooyeweerd will be clear to you when you finish all your philosophy classes and begin to learn the genuine, hidden meaning of theological terms. For now it is enough for you to hang these crosstiched sayings from Dooyeweerd in your bathroom. Read and meditate on them everyday when you are in there. As you evacuate your body of harmful toxins so also cleanse your mind of all non-cosmogenic forms of thought.

Martinus Scriblerus said...

Exactly right, Rev. Meyers. I believe pastoral education should follow the Reformed Octivium, shown here from most important subject to least:

Philosophy
Systematic Theology
Applied Pietist Linguistics
Science
Psychology
Music (19th century)
Bowling (not on Sunday)
And if there's time left over, Biblical Theology

Jeff Meyers said...

Melrose: that is such an encouraging comment. I really appreciate it. I have one problem, however, with your list. The only thing I would disagree with is the music part. Music is dangerous. The only kind of "music" that is acceptable and conducive to genuine philosophical theology is acapella singing. And then only the Psalms. With no wicked harmonies and no evil rhythmic beats. Only "music" in this form will allow for quiet and productive meditation on the foundational terms of philosophical theology.

Bobber said...

Yes, just tell Bach to go stuff that big organ with all it's pipes!

Garrett said...

Oh, would that it were so! Let us not forget the study of archaic British civil/ecclesiastical covenants, mustache waxing and ejaculatory prayer.

Baus said...

OK, ok... ha ha. I see that this is just a big joke to everyone. Well, look, you can make light of my ideological commitments, but to mock mustache maintenance !!!... NOW you've gone too far.

;]

J.W. said...

this is about the most humorous thread i have ever read.