The books are “A History of Christian thought” by Justo L Gonzales, it’s in 3 volumes. A good primer on thought in a historical easy read. The finite life and infinite life question is one I’ve heard before. The philosopher Kierkegaard talks a lot about how finite and infinite relate. It’s deep to think that our finite choices have eternal and infinite consequences and some sense finality. The book by Kierkegaard is “sickness unto death”. I love our class. Mark

You might find these articles interesting: 1. ) https://sacred-texts.com/cla/ebm/ebm05.htm 2. ) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleusinian_Mysteries > "The Mysteries represented the myth of the abduction of Persephone from her mother Demeter by the king of the underworld Hades, in a cycle with three phases: the descent (loss), the search, and the ascent, with the main theme being the ascent (ἄνοδος) of Persephone and the reunion with her mother. It was a major festival during the Hellenic era, and later spread to Rome." I'm noticing a pattern here: descent -> searching -> ascent as a path of spiritual initiation.