Metaphysical Theology

Click link above and go to DrTom's "Theo-Blog."

New feature: RevTom is writing a regular column (Theo-Blog) which will appear exclusively at his Blogspot location. This Theo-Blog will discuss current events, new ideas, and generally whatever Tom wants to rail against or agitate for, and will appear with whimsically unscheduled regularity. So, bookmark the site and check frequently.

There are also archives of previous Theo-Blogs to peruse, and a reply device by which you'll be able to comment favorably, pose new possibilities, and/or disagree vehemently.

Click the link next to St. Anselm's picture (above) and you'll be whisked there instantaneously...more or less.

Good Questions - new Unity bestseller

Following text provided by Unity House publications:

No topic is off limits for the wise and witty Rev. Dr. Thomas Shepherd as he takes on some of faith's thorniest issues. In his own words, “Good Questions represents questions (not always friendly) and answers (not always “correct”) drawn from more than 15 years of accumulated letters, notes and e-mails delivered to my Q&A column at Unity Magazine®.”

As a columnist, Dr. Tom has become known for getting to the heart of the matter with a surgical command of the facts, a disarming dose of humor and an unbridled passion for truth. He engages creatively with his readers, prompting them to think critically about their lives, their relationships and the Divine within. Dr. Tom doesn't hold back as he creatively engages with readers in answering their questions about personal tragedy, God, evil, religion, the Bible, prayer, healing, forgiveness and death. He also tackles questions about homosexuality, bigotry and violence. But his goal is to help his readers think more critically and spiritually about their lives. As he asserts, “Heart and head must work together, for disparaging either will condemn humanity to fanaticism or ignorance.”

Thomas Shepherd, D.Min., teaches systematic and metaphysical theology, church history and theological ethics at Unity Institute®, the education arm of Unity School of Christianity headquartered at Unity Village, Missouri. Best known for his popular column “That's a Good Question” in Unity Magazine, Shepherd is also host of an online radio talk show on Unity.FM called Let's Talk About It. His books include Friends in High Places and Glimpses of Truth. An ordained Unity minister, Shepherd received his Doctor of Ministry degree from St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri in 2009.

To order your copy, click the following link: Good Questions

I want Friends in High Places

Revised, Refreshed, Renewed, Re-Published:

Friends in High Places

3d Edition (2006)

(Click on link, "I want FIHP"-- above left--to order. Click on full title--directly above--for link to FIHP reviews.)

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Historical Profiles in New Thought Christianity

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Available NOW from iUniverse.com and the Unity Village Bookstore

Also available at Amazon.com, and through most quality bookstores.

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Excerpt from 3rd Edition of Friends in High Places:

Due to recent manuscript discoveries—like the Coptic library consisting of fifty-two texts discovered in earthen jars at Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt in 1945—scholars now have better evidence about the intriguing ideas advanced by other groups, the “heresies” who lost their bid to become number one in the early church reality show.
Although extraordinary forces shaped the arena in which Christianity grew to maturity—e.g., erosion of the old Roman Republic, the rise of an unchallenged Imperial Rome with its corresponding Pax Romana which allowed relatively safe travel on well-built roads and aboard ships in a well-policed Mediterranean Sea; the ascending popularity of cultic mystery religions imported from the Near East to satisfy the ubiquitous hunger for personal immortality in Hellenistic society; and two Jewish wars of rebellion and their consequent violent suppression by Rome—nevertheless, one should not dismiss the idea that a Divine element has also been at work in the evolutionary process.
Twenty centuries later Pierre Teilhard de Chardin will propose a direction of flow for the whole process of evolution, from nonliving through consciousness to the Omega Point, which he identified with the Christ.

(From Introduction to Friends in High Places.)

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Welcome to the Home Page of

Metaphysical Theology:

Culturally Christian,

Spiritually Unlimited

This site is dedicated to the ongoing study and critical analysis of what has been called New Thought Christianity, i.e., metaphysical theology.

Theology could be defined as: .

"Organized, rational reflection on ideas and practices pertaining to the Divine, God and Ultimate Concerns, evaluated from within the boundaries of a chosen circle of faith." (Glimpses of Truth)

To say it is reflection on "Ultimate Concerns" and that it occurs within a "circle of faith" is to borrow a few terms from theologian Paul Tillich, who was a widely respected ontologist. That's the academically acceptable word for metaphysician these days. This site intends to wade into the thicket of theology and metaphysics and find common ground between mainline Christian thought and New Thought Christianity. Of course, not all ground upon which Christians stand will be contiguous. There will be some delightful controversies and probably a little celebration of ideas which other followers of Jesus would call flagrant heresies...just as people of His era declared heretical the New Thoughts he brought to Hellenistic paganism and trditional Judaism.

The writers and thinkers who contribute to this site will be speaking for themselves, not any institution or even any particular religious tradition. Although Christian, we will not be so hardy as to claim we are teaching exclusively what Jesus taught authentically; no one is capable of that, because when trying to reconstruct objective history, Christian scripture and church traditions frequently present incomplete or contradictory images. The goal here is an honest assessment of religious "ideas and practices" through the lenses of Scripture (including extra-canonical and the foundational texts of other religions), tradition (what people have said and done), experience (what people today have learned from life in communal and personal existence), and reflection (both intellectual reason and intuitive insight).

Veteran students of theology doubtless will recognize the four formative factors listed above (Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reason/Reflection) as the well-traveled Methodist Quadrilateral. This approach is widely taught as a systematic and non-sectarian way of looking at spiritual ideas.

An excellent book on the subject is How to Think Theologically by Howard Stone and J.O. Duke (Fortress Press, 2006). These are a few goals and some of the tools you will find at this site.

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So, welcome again to the home page of Metaphysical Theology... Spread the word. Any number can play.

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I'm the Rev. Dr. Thomas Shepherd. I teach in the Historical and Theological Studies Department of Unity Institute...Well, actually, I am the whole department currently.

At this site you'll also find class information for studies in Metaphysical Theology (a portion of which--alas--is restricted to registered students in my classes at UI), monographs and essays about delightfully provocative topics, and assorted other information. The site will be under continuous re-construction, so bear with me as the process develops.