I have often wondered why it is that the gods of the Romans, the Greeks or the Norsemen have been relegated to the world of mythology? The religions which were based on these gods called upon them for help and strength in times of war, sickness, distress. These religions had elaborate ceremonials, prayers and rituals -- very much like the religions of today. And now they are just stories.
It’s in the BOOK
I've been doing a lot of thinking in the last few years, mostly because that's the one thing that I can still do. The topic that seems to dominate is my belief system, what do I believe and why? Growing up in a Mennonite family has shaped my thinking a great deal. As I think back to my days with the Mennonite Brethren I have very mixed emotions. I found the fellowship very sincere and supportive. I admired the work of the Mennonite Central Committee. I enjoyed the singing, the music but, (there’s always a "but") -- the atmosphere within the community was very exclusive, judgmental and at times, suffocating. It was always a relief for me to leave that community and go back into my other world. It seemed to me that my holiday was over and it was time to get back to real living.
Now that I am confined to a wheelchair and can no longer hold a book, a big part of my life is gone but the computer and my wife have changed that. The internet has meant that I can Google all over the world and into libraries that I didn't know existed. And when that doesn't work, Pat reads to me. I have tried Books on Tape but that doesn't work. I just can't maintain my concentration on what is being said.
The big question for me is who or what is God? What is heaven and where is it? Why do people always point up when referring to heaven and down when talking about the other place? Have we been created in the image of God or has God been created in our image? Is that why we talk about God sitting on a throne of gold surrounded by streets of gold with a crown of diamonds and other valuable jewels? Didn’t he tell us that gold had no value?
On the internet, I learned about the Bible. I read about “Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, the fourth session, 1546.” This was where the basis of Christianity was established. As I read the minutes of these meetings, I wondered who gave them the right to determine what was going to be included in the Bible and what was going to be left out? How did they get the right to be able to say, ”but if any one receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately contemn the traditions aforesaid; let him be anathema. Let all, therefore, understand, in what order, and in what manner, the said Synod, after having laid the foundation of the Confession of faith, will proceed, and what testimonies and authorities it will mainly use in confirming dogmas, and in restoring morals in the Church.”
Pat read to me books written by Dawkins, Harris and others and then I learned more. Four gospels were chosen by the council but another eight or nine were rejected. Why was the lineage of David so important that it had to be traced from Joseph when Mary was a virgin impregnated by the Holy Ghost? Doesn’t that make Joseph somewhat irrelevant? Matthew in his gospel uses 28 generations to trace the genealogy but Luke refers to 41 generations, with no duplications? The rejected gospel of Thomas speaks about Jesus as a boy who used his miraculous powers to change his playmates into goats, lengthen a piece of wood, or turn mud into sparrows. Were these miracles any harder to believe than the ones he performed later?
After all, these words were “received by the Apostles from the mouth of Christ himself, or from the Apostles themselves, the Holy Ghost dictating, have come down even unto us, transmitted as it were from hand to hand; (the Synod) following the examples of the orthodox Fathers, receives and venerates with an equal affection of piety, and reverence, all the books both of the Old and of the New Testament—seeing that one God is the author of both — as also the said traditions, as well those appertaining to faith as to morals, as having been dictated, either by Christ's own word of mouth, or by the Holy Ghost, and preserved in the Catholic Church by a continuous succession.”
The Bible tells us that "God is Love" but if that is true, his thrust hasn't had very much oomph. If the devil represents hate then he certainly has created "hell on earth." Let's face it, he is winning. But Christ will return (it is written in the BOOK) and put the bad guy away, in the tradition of Superman, Batman, Spiderman, the Hulk and let's not forget, Wonder Woman.
Six Elevators - http://www.jackfunk.com/article.php?story=20070623101023862