What Is Truth - Much Ado

     He gave me another Dawkins book, I gave him WHY RELIGION MATTERS by Huston Smith; he gave me an existentialism book, I gave him THE ART OF LOVING by Erich Fromm, he gave me a book from the perspective of Buddhism, I gave him THE BEATITUDES FOR TODAY by James C. Howell. The exchange was an enriching series of conversations.

     One comment about Dawkins’ work – For all the hype that goes with anything this man does or says and the accompanying debates over atheism, I found him to be a gifted writer, only so full of hate that most any point he made was choked by that bitter tone. There is one example he gives in one of his books, I believe when he is trying to make the point that scientists are inspired just as religious folk, where he goes into a long segment of flowing language to discuss the evolutionary limitations of insect sight. The point he develops is that the insect doesn't see as humans do because their world is so minuscule. They do not need the complex system of vision we have for color and depth and distance; our macro world is immense in comparison.  As I read and ever since, I wanted to shake the man and say . . . exactly! Just because the insect cannot perceive most of the universe he inhabits, does not mean it doesn't exist – just because man cannot perceive the supernatural with his eyes, does not mean it does not exist.

What Is Truth - What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

     I overheard co-workers laughing – exchanging quips over how ridiculous they felt it was for anyone to believe the world could be created in seven days. I don’t know what prompted their conversation. I just remember the exchanges of how they had once fallen into the trap churches create for people, but now they based their beliefs on science and reasonable evidence. At that time I was figuring out what my own views were as I read books on religious and philosophical perspectives so I wasn't enough of a hypocrite to criticize the fun they were making.

      “It is okay with me if you believe in God, if it helps you make sense of the world,” one of them said to me as if the purpose of belief was to make my life easier. God needs no defense, but I didn't like them making fun of him. So I began a conversation that lasted over a period of years. 

    We made an agreement. I would read books he suggested, if he would read books I suggested. He gave me THE GOD DELUSION by Richard Dawkins, I gave him THE CASE OF THE CREATOR by Lee Strobel.

What Is Truth - Shocked, Disappointed and Amazed

  Shocked is how R. Dawkins would have you react to Bible reading – more on him later.  But my surprise did not stem from social practices or warfare in the Old Testament. Instead, I honestly had no idea that the ancient Jewish religion was so bloody. Granted their sacrifices were of animals and not humans like some of their contemporaries, but the Old Testament seemed a bloody series of ritual though precise killing of animals and spreading of blood over alter and priestly clothing. I know the purpose was for atonement of sin. I respect that and make no judgment. When you examine these practices threaded through book after book coupled with other behaviors, and when you consider these people in scripture were only a small segment of humanity, it is no wonder man needed saving.

    Disappointment flashed through me briefly each time I came across one of the grand Bible stories we learn as children. For it seemed as a child the events were so much larger than they were given space in the Bible. I remember skits we would act out in Sunday School and flyers we would take home with pictures of events like Moses as a baby saved by floating in a basket or David killing Goliath. Instead of paragraphs and chapters, there are actually only a few simple verses.  I wondered then how these stories became part of the core events shared through the ages. But there is no denying the power God displays to bolster Moses who speaks to his people when the enemy is about to attack. He says, "The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still." There is no denying the playful innocent love David had for God his entire life even after he broke God’s laws.

    Amazed and full of wonder is how I felt when I read the final verse on the seventh day of the fifty-second week. You know what happens when you play the children’s “telephone” game where one whispers the story to another and so on around the circle until the last one says out loud what he heard and it is nothing of what the original person said. My conclusion after all the lines of law, history, wisdom, poetry, psalms, gospels and epistles is – It could not have been humanly possible to create such a seamless story. Unlike some holy books of other religions, the Bible was composed by many different persons across many different centuries. I am not talking about translations – but original authoring. I do not believe that many people through human talent alone could have collaborated to unfold such an epic story of life that meshes all that is wrong with the world with a beginning recognition of the need to atone for wrong-doing with a solution to fix all that is wrong for eternity. 

What is Truth - The Whole Bible?

“Have You Read the Bible?”

     It surprised me when I was asked this question.  I guess my contributions to our discussions showed that in actuality I had not. Of course I had read parts – most Christians have, especially from the New Testament and particular verses from the Old including Psalms. But really, how many professing Christians have actually read the whole Bible?

     At that time I was reading from many different historical religions curious about what components of their faith seemed true to me because I was struggling with belief in my own tradition. So I decided to read all of the Old and New Testaments – why shouldn't I give my own religion the same evaluative effort? How could I say for sure what I believed if I had never actually read the scriptures that form its foundation? 

     Fortunately I found a year-long reading plan that worked. It assigned each day of the week a different type of reading rather than going from page one to the end.  So every Monday for example you’d read The Law, every Tuesday, History, Wednesday Psalms, etc. After a while it was rather like tuning in to your favorite TV schedule anticipating what was going to happen in the next episode when that day of the week came around again.

     When the year came to a close, I was shocked, disappointed and amazed.

What Is Truth -

     In polls writers claim the majority of Americans still believe God exists though they see him in a deistic form – he created the universe then bowed to the background and hasn't and doesn't really concern himself with physical or worldly things. This means they do not believe God is personal – meaning he may be of spirit form, but not a being.  You cannot have a personal relationship with a deistic God which is why a great number of modern/postmodern people find it difficult to accept Christianity since a focal point of the faith is a personal relationship with God’s son, Jesus.

     This brings us to another difficulty, and that is belief in events that oppose our knowledge of science—the virgin birth, resurrection. You could list God becoming human or Holy Spirit empowerment at Pentecost, but by nature these are supernatural and could not logically be evaluated scientifically. So in our current age, choosing to be Christian is typically not something one becomes simply by virtue of family heritage.

     There are a significant number of people who believe in God and have accepted their family’s religious heritage. But at some point each has to come to terms independently with one’s own faith. And whether a person believes in God or not – each is a position of faith because neither is actually provable.

     What I hope to do through a series of posts is to relate how I have come to terms with my own faith. So I begin with a question and a statement two different persons shared with me some years ago.

“Have you read the Bible?”

“It is okay with me if you believe in God, if it helps you make sense of the world.”

Peace ~ For the Coming Day

come to the praying place
the rocks are warming
the early morning light lifts steady over the bluffs
come to meet us, Lord
in spirit
in mind and contemplation
we gather here
among the tall rippling grasses of these breeze-blown mountains
your presence moves
brushing past our out-stretched arms
reaching tenderly to cradle the field flowers
bending softly in the wind-
how have you been?
rest
now
light soothes
and strengthens you for the coming day

"Clear the Stage"

graphics - lyrics - instrumentation
Here's an example of when art gets it right. We've heard the quote from Shakespeare - "All the World's a Stage." You have in this song meaning - for the performer, the primary intended audiences, for -all the world.

You can "sing all you want to" - work all you want to - play all you want to - speak all you want to - be all you want to - and "still get it wrong."