Existentialist Society

EXISTENTIALIST SOCIETY - Melbourne, Australia.

An online presentation, followed by discussion. All viewpoints welcome.

AGNOSTICS GROUP - Melbourne, Australia.

Some of us are participating in their online event.

"Dust to God: An adventure to find the sacred hidden in plain sight."

EXISTENTIALIST MEETUP - Melbourne, Australia.

History of Religion - Our monthly online series.
The presentations are followed by questions, comments and discussion. All viewpoints welcome.

Early Religion: An Alternative History.
What do the historians and archaeologists think of the veracity of religious legends? Legends are an amalgamation of history and mythology. But how much of each?

"THE ANCIENT GNOSTIC VALENTINIANS."
The Valentinian Godhead, rather than a Trinity, was fifteen loving monogamous couples. So, unlike the majority of the Gnostics they were not ascetic, nor licentious like the minority. Consequently, the Valentinians have become the most popular variety of Gnosticism. After her Fall, Sophia, the youngest of the goddesses, became the Biblical Creator God's grandmother.

We will be investigating Prof. Hans Jonas' attempt to construct an ongoing consistent narrative of the Valentianian mythology out of the diverse versions of this "heresy" which were presented in the anti-heretical writings of the Church Fathers.

SEA OF FAITH IN AUSTRALIA (SoFiA) - Melbourne.

Some of us are participating in SoFiA's online event.

"IT’S ALL ABOUT THE METANOIA!"

Fergus McGinley will present the topic and lead the discussion.

~ Regardless of your faith persuasion, there’s one thing we can probably all agree on: the fundamental cause of all human problems - everything from little children not playing nicely in the playground, to climate change and the threat of nuclear conflict - is people behaving selfishly, putting their self-interest before the good of others and the world. Our most urgent need must surely be, therefore, to learn how to cooperate selflessly together - something that, as history attests, doesn’t come naturally to us!

Metanoia is the word we’re looking for: the transformation, for each of us individually and for our species collectively, from our natural-born state of self-centredness to a very unnatural state of selflessness. In fact, Metanoia has always been the central concern of historical religion, as evidenced in, for example, the Mosaic Law, the Dreaming stories of Australian Aboriginal religion, or the Eight-fold Path of Buddhism.
My talk will focus on prospects of Metanoia for the human race. ~

BIO: Fergus McGinley is an Adelaide writer and teacher with a background in science, philosophy, education and theology.
He is the author of many essays and articles, and his recent book is The God Who Doesn’t Exist, ATF Press (2025).