#5 "-isms" Post 3

Nice post Alan. You covered a lot of bases there. In an effort to keep this from spiraling out of control I’d like to address the 5 main points I got from your response.

The discussion we are having is about “-isms”. My skeptical question to you was, "Alan, why is God’s “revelation” to man so full of discord? Why does God, seemingly, want so many '-isms'?"

Here’s the bullet points I get from your reply, please correct me if I’m in some way mistaken:

1. Some schisms in Christianity (more colloquially known as “denominations” in Protestantism) evolved from the wholesome desire of believers wanting to, through worship, find revelation of God’s many faceted nature.
2. Other schisms in Christianity evolved from the political machinations of religious and political leaders.
3. The proliferation of individual communities within a given schism (for example folks leave en masse from “Faith Community” church and start “Grace Community in HD!” church down the road) evolve from both 1 and 2, and of course a desire to change the drapes!
4. Schisms and their establishment and maintenance are the major force behind inquisition, genocide, racism, and other family favorites, throughout history.
5. The real purpose of the Bible is not to give us rules and regulations (which invariably require interpretation in our various historical and cultural vacuums), but to show us a “way to connect” with our Creator.

Let me thank you for courageously bringing up point 4. While any believer would be a fool to ignore these historical facts, it might be a little less clear just how prevalent a place religion has in modernity as the progenitor of Bronze Age brutality.

Anybody remember that “little” disagreement in Bosnia in the ’90’s? How about Rwanda? How about the ever popular “war on terror”? One can’t turn on FOX news without hearing about Sharia law and it’s inexorable encroachment on this American Eden we’ve built. (For those concerned that I’m conflating Islam with Christianity, I am not. Sharia law is merely a derivative of Jewish AND Christian “law” and tradition).

So, I assume you concede that “-isms” do in fact lead to wicked behavior.

Points 1, 2, and 3 are a little difficult to keep separated. Perhaps in the perfected mind of an omniscient creator the seeds of schism can be sorted out; wheat from chaff, sheep from goat. Sadly, for us mere mortals the end result is more pressing. When a man is being torn to pieces on the rack of the inquisition, or a girl of 13 is being raped by a “fellow believer”, or a nation is rent asunder in civil war, the impetus for expressing the many facets of God through differing traditions of worship seems a bit....banal.

At present there over 35,000 schisms that call themselves Christian. It is more than plausible that each one of them lays some claim to the “real” truth.

When you “know” the Truth, it only takes a spark to get a fire going.

I fear I belabor the point.

Point 5 then. Here’s your weapon of choice! It’s a good one too. One that can’t really be argued, because it is a matter of pure and unadulterated faith.

“ Religious folk who approach the Bible in order to find the correct data will always misuse it, even when the data is accurate, even when their understanding of the data is accurate. When the agenda is to be right rather than to be in right relationship, division is inevitable.”

The last sentence is magnificent. Unless you’re doing math. Or science. Or driving. Or baking a cake. Or arguing with a “true believer” that believes differently than you.

I certainly subscribe to the “heart” being in the proper place. Even as a young Christian I knew that I could follow the letter of the law and miss completely the spirit of the law.

The only trouble is, there is no way to KNOW the spirit of the law. I know your answer is to seek God’s will. But that’s a very tricky proposition. How many philosophical schools of thought have an entire wing dedicated to a subject like eschatology? Religious people CELEBRATE death. It’s the only path to paradise!

The Bible is a book filled with bloodshed, murder, rape, genocide, political maneuverings, and racism. It endorses slavery. It endorses misogyny. By it’s very nature it encourages “-ism”. 

And please, do not try and explain the difference between the “old” and “new” testaments. Yes, Christ is a game changer. But let’s look at some quotes from the new era of “Hope & Change 1.0”, the words of Jesus:

Matthew 

5:17-Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Re-read some of the Law and Prophets. They’re a bit Sharia law sounding-JE).

10:34-35- Think not that I am come to send peace on Earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in-law against her mother-in-law. (that last one is an easy one though, really-JE).

Mark

4:11, 12- And he said to them, “Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all of these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins forgiven. (So, he states clearly that being unclear is a methodology-JE).

16:15, 16- ....Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.

He that believeth and is baptised, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (If you can’t convince them and they won’t join you, well, to Hell with them. Pack a sword.-JE).

I could go on and on and on. The subjugation of the (much) fairer sex is endorsed by the New Testament repeatedly. Slavery? No biggie. Hold back some land deal money from the “Church”? God will strike you dead in your tracks. (Sapphira, baby ain’t you got enough?)

The Bible and it’s adherents are schismatic. Because, as you rightly assess, mankind is intrinsically self-centered and fearful. (I believe that comes from being a mammal and spending a few years out on the Savannah). I assert that since the Bible was written by men it, necessarily, is full of self-centered, fearful, and tribe based propaganda. In other words, it is full of “man”.

My main point is this; you can claim that the Bible is a living document that merely points the path to redemption through Jesus Christ. But you cannot summarily ignore the thousands of doctrinal instructions it presents as immaterial.

Well, I guess you can, but if the political or financial circumstances change, that kind of thinking will get you killed by the next “-ism”.

Jace