Monthly Archive for June, 2010

The greatest of all divisive approaches to life is to come at it with CERTAINTY! Certitude is the end-all of cooperation. One of the best “discussion stoppers” is when there’s a discussion-argument going on and someone says, “Well God told me it’s ABC and not XYZ”. Discussion over- game set, match!

When the FATUOUS argument dumbs-down to, “God said” there’s simply nowhere to go!  

Ancient texts such as the Bible were written primarily from an allegorical paradigm and yet to make the message more pronounced, the early church fathers kept sliding the bar more and more to the historical market. There is history IN the Bible of course; however, is that the main way the text-manuscripts were written? 

Because we have the GOSPEL of John in the New Testament, does that mean John is an historical work? Because there are FOUR Gospels in the Bible does that mean they are the only GOSPELS with truth? Of course not! There are dozens upon dozens of Gospels. Why four? Origen gave the answer that it was because there are four directions?  

Wow, what logic! 

Additionally the word Gospel has become near synonymous with the word TRUTH or the word ORTHODOX. It’s abundantly clear that none of the Gospels are without factual error, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t laden with spiritual truths, universal metaphors, and time-tested allegories. I’ve simply come to the place where I see the Bible (especially the New Testament) as a book with inspiring narrative, hyperbolic legends, beautiful poetry, prophetic pronouncements, and instructive teachings for ethical enhancement.

Oh yes, and then one has to remember that we don’t have even ONE ORIGINAL manuscript, much less either of the four Gospels brandishing the name of the author to which we later ascribed the work. So, it seems to me that the high road would be to follow the allegorical truths and not get too caught up in trying to defend some  historical account. 

And, regardless of how one interprets the Bible, just simply LOVE them and don’t try to prove anything, unless they ask, and even then tread gently. 

 Say what? Let’s begin with the technical definition and then proceed to the point of this commentary.

A lobotomy is a surgical incision into the frontal lobe of the brain to sever one or more nerve tracts, a technique formerly used to treat certain mental disorders but now rarely performed. However, one could make a case that many religions are still very actively involved in performing such operations upon the spirit of humanhood.

My experience as a Christian was along these lines. It took a long time before I realized what was happening: had happened.

The religion and denomination that I embraced as a young adult basically abstracted the divine nature (or what I knew of it at the time) from my psychological being by “externalizing” seemingly everything. The esoteric nature of religion was wiped from the hard drives of my operating system.

The ANTHROPOGENESIS of mankind and any thought of merging natural selection, Darwinianism, and creationism together in some harmonious alchemy was taboo.

There was no reason for me to THINK because everything had already been thought out!

Everything spiritual and everything DIVINE was packed in the body of Jesus of Nazareth. To bring up the possibility that a smattering or fragment of the divine might dwell within me would certainly bring on more problems than one would want to encounter. There ware so many deceptive traps of the enemy that one must stay close to the party line lest one becomes seduced by the harlot.

There is so much I don’t know and so much to learn; however, the community to which I belong today encourages such. I live in a healthy community: a place where pioneering is encouraged, and a place where making mistakes is not a mark of shame. Alvin Kuhn saw some of the problems when he wrote, “The rise of Christianity was marked by a release of pietistic fervor that swept reason aside and produced an afflation of religious zeal.”

In other words a spiritual lobotomy went hand in hand with circumcision.

Christian prayer is an interesting study and exercise. Most prayers are entered into when one is in trouble or when there is a great need. Few prayers come under what Wordsworth calls, “The wisdom and spirit of the universe”.  Who knows what God wants for God’s sake (pun intended). 

Most kids who grew up  through various CATECHISMS were soon done with wanting to KNOW about spiritual things. Just bring on the GOOD STUFF! Unfortunately mainline Christianity has stayed at the kindergarten level of anthropomorphism. So in prayer, God is Daddy and we are his children. We want and Dad provides. It’s really pretty simple. Yes, and most often it’s very petty as well. It’s expected that as we age that we mature as well. Some even digress from God as Dad to Granddad.

You know, we see Him less, but he always gives more.

What a LIFE!

This manner of praying which is generally thought of as PETITIONING, or if you will, COMPLAINING, doesn’t cause one to grow up. Has it ever occurred that maybe prayer is more about COMMUNION? What if we spent more time just BEING with the one: being still and knowing God. Being still and listening for what it might be that we and the inner voice come to mutually see as answers to our life.

Too difficult?

It’s been said that in the West we pray for God to get us out of problems while in the East they pray to be taken care of in and through the ordeal. Maybe we could strike some common ground and just listen, speak, communion and maybe pretend that we’re ONE with the Creator and that life could be much richer if we’ll converse with the I AM that is- WITHIN!

First, let’s make sure we understand that Lazarus was not resurrected at Bethany- his body was resuscitated, not resurrected. The, let’s take the deeper spiritual and philosophical (and yes historical) road and remind ourselves that Jesus’ BODY was not resurrected because there can be no resurrection of the body!

The NIMBUS of Jesus was resurrected, not his physical body.

If we could take all the resurrection stories as literal (and I can’t), we see that Jesus did not have a resurrected PHYSICAL body; rather, something akin to a GLORIOUS BODY. His spirit, his soul, and his etheral template (using more modern terminology) were resurrected. No physical body that I know of can walk through walls after eating a Big Mac or was that a FISH SANDWICH?

Christianity took a wrong turn when it made the death of a body of ONE MAN the goal!

We must all experience the release of the soul from the flesh. It has a varied shelf life here on terra firma depending upon a lot of hereditary, environmental, and attitudinal factors. Alvin Boyd Kuhn said it well, “All theology has, as its ultimate concern, the descent of the soul into matter and its imprisonment in flesh. The death is of the soul and not the body; however, Christianity transferred this principle-truth to the death of the BODY of Jesus, and not the soul of all humanhood.”

Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular because it came first, tried to BE and PLAY GOD. Richard Maybury got it when he wrote, “When people play God, they always do it badly.” We’re still doing it badly. It’s taken a very, very long time to make the progress that’s now becoming clear. There’s a new ethos, a new mythos on the horizon and it will take us to the paths that we need to journey to make our way back home.

LOVE is the heart of what’s underway.

How could I overlook the name of JAY-ZUS? Seriously, who was this person called “Jesus of Nazareth”? Was he a real historical person? For me the answer is without a doubt YES; however, he is NOT the historical person that’s portrayed by the church today. Jesus was something (someone) GREATER than the picture that’s been painted by the Gospels. Continue reading ‘What’s In A Name? (Epilogue)’