Opinion, Volume 9 number 6, June 2007, by Neal Matson
The Missionary Position On Some Answers
Last month I answered Dr. Thompson's first question (of his “Twenty Questions for Christianity, as posed before a meeting of the Socratic Society) by explaining that there are so many Christianities (churches/denominations) today because of all the splits, mergers, and spinoffs of historical churches as well as the appearance of new sacred (to some) writings and charismatic leaders over time and continuing up to today. I shall begin at the beginning—my beginning-- and answer the other questions as I reach them. First, about us humans: We have four aspects: intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual. Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, Carl Jung, described these four basic human functions using the words "thinking," "feeling," "sensation," and "intuition." The Bible also alludes to this as (Luke 2:52) "Jesus grew in wisdom [intellectually] and stature [physically], and in favor with God [spiritually] and men [emotionally].” Philosophy is primarily an application of the intellectual aspect of man while religious faith is essentially sourced in man's intuitive nature. Both endeavors are valid, valuable, and not necessarily hostile to each other, just different. Next, about faith. I think most people would agree with the Bible's own definition of faith as "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is something you believe (in) but cannot objectively prove--sort of like falling in love. Unfortunately, many of us keep holding onto a faith in something that subsequently has been shown to be false—creationism, megaweapons in Iraq, Saddam's ties to 9/11, the absence of global climate change and mankind's contribution to it—and end up being divorced from reality. Now, about God. In my opinion, one thing that cannot be proven or falsified is the existence of God. God's existence is taken on faith, which is ultimately a personalized phenomenon within that fuzzy area of insight and intuition, of awe induced by the natural world, of love at first sight, or of just knowing something without logic or conscious reasoning. How we perceive and interact with God(s) might be a good definition of religion. How do I know my understanding of God is the correct one? I can only speak for myself and will briefly explain how I got to where I am today. I was raised and confirmed as a Lutheran, switched to Unitarianism after my university years, and later began a serious quest for spiritual truth by investigating some of the belief systems loosely lumped together as "new age" (I had dismissed Christianity long before). I sampled Transcendental Meditation, Silva Mind Control, and the ideas of several independent and lesser-known spiritual teachers. After a while, I realized that these practices essentially taught only that we can develop our own god-like powers, and that wasn't the answer I was seeking, although they did convince me that the spiritual realm was something real. People who knew me at the time said my belief system was basically Buddhist. I wanted to be in tune with, to be on the side of, to be in the favor of the "God" who is the most powerful thing in the universe. So I began to pray to this entity whom I would have described at that time as the Great Spirit of the Native Americans. For many hours I prayed. I wasn't stoned, drunk, or under any form of physical or emotional stress or danger at all. I just prayed like hell, voiding all my preconceived notions about how to reach "God," surrendering my life (if need be) to be with Him and be on His side. And I received an answer. No fireworks, no bells or whistles, no tongues of flame, no sound of bugles or anything else, nothing anyone watching would have noticed. God just impressed in my mind the name Jesus.
I knew I needed a Bible to learn about Jesus, so I immediately went to the closest church, got a free New Testament, began to read it, and thus began my steps into Christianity some three decades ago. I've never looked back. I'll continue describing my steps in a future column. I’ll get back to some of Dr. Thompson's questions now. Question 7: "What about all the other religions—are they all false?" The short answer is yes. The kinder answer is that some of them are preliminary or incomplete and many older religions have died and been forgotten. Some teach the concept of karma and reincarnation to deal with the negative things we do as individuals. Some require sacrifices to propitiate the one God or, perhaps, a lesser god who resides in a natural object. The common thread is what one needs to do to gain righteousness or forgiveness and thus be in favor with god. For the Christian, Jesus erases bad karma (and thus allows us to reach the Father God). Jesus said (John 14:6), "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Now, if I were operating in a strictly logical/intellectual way I would reject this idea because it seems too selfish and unfair to all the "good" people in the world. However, from my faith quadrant, I believe it is true because Jesus said it and I trust that the meaning has not been mistranslated over the years. My faith trumps my liberal kindness because my faith deals with my long life hereafter and my secular self lasts only for my lifetime here on Earth. The solution to this internal conflict is to teach others, as I am able, enough so they can make an informed decision about Christianity for themselves. I've answered question 8 ("If they are—what lets us make that determination?") with the above (axiomatic) Bible reference. Question 9: "Couldn't the fundamentalists of any other religion say the same thing?" Yes. Some do and some don't, depending on their sacred book(s) and doctrines. Some are kinder than Christians in accepting other religions simply as different paths up the same mountain and that kindness is appealing to most liberal thinkers. Question 10: "Why isn't their book, their religion, the 'right one'?" Again, Christianity claims exclusivity for itself based on the teachings in the Bible. One's faith is locked into one's book (and conversely). Christianity claims it is the only path that reaches the top of the mountain. Please stick with me until next time and please do not confuse American right-wing doctrines with essential Christianity.
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