Bee Tee
This is a very helpful post, you are obviously “in the business”.

Boxgum
Re Israel and the existence of God. There is a story, the details of which have long since departed from my mind, that has I think the Tsar of Russia asking about proof of the existence of God. An adviser leans towards him and says “Sire, the Jews” My interpretation of this story is that long after the kingdoms of Babylon, Egypt, Syria, Persia etc have ceased to exist, the Jews are still an identifiable people. They are so because their theology was not mythological in the sense that it was based on the activities of a pantheon of gods, but rather was based on an acute analysis of history and of life. In other words Israel survives as a nation today because its grasp of the realities of the world is superior to that of the nations.

We must stop thinking of Christianity or Judaism as something we do to make us more secure etc. Rather, faith comes about through an encounter with the real, that reality that is not simply apparent to us as individual observers, but which has been arrived at by an historically conscious nation over time.

Theologies have consequences and those consequences will determine whether a nation with those theologies will survive or not.

Theology cannot escape the question of truth. Our problem as moderns is that natural science has take over all truth claims and has cancelled the truth that is contained in legend, poetry, song, liturgy, story. The question about a theology is whether is gives us a true story of the world. It is the truth of that story that will determine our survival.

Further to the consequences of theology. By assuming that all culture is of equal value, especially religious culture, we have blinded ourselves to their obvious consequences. Weber pointed out that Reformation countries in Europe did better that Counter Reformation countries and this difference persists to this day. It is obvious that a culture that places so much emphasis on life after death will tend not to take this world seriously. Likewise, in Buddhism, detachment will produce a similar result. The concept of karma in Hinduism, that one’s fate is determined no matter how one acts, will cripple the will. A cyclic understanding of life and death will trap men in endlessly reliving the present. Pantheists will never deal with the world scientifically because that world is the habitat of the spiritual. In the absence of a theology that confirms egalitarianism, society will be structured according to family, tribe and cult and these will always subvert open and fair government based on merit. In the absence of theology that emphasizes service, public institutions will founder on the avarice of the individual or family or tribe. In the absence of a theology that emphasizes justice for all, especially for those who cannot protect themselves or provide for themselves, human beings will be sacrificed to what are made out to be religious necessity but which serves baser purposes. In the absence of a theology of grace, societies will exhaust themselves in obedience to law which will be used by the powerful against the week and in extracting vengeance. In the absence of a theology that understands each person as being created in the image of God there will be no real justice or compassion.

Hey Sells

I really enjoyed your piece. I loved your comparison of theology and natural science, especially the statement:
"Likewise, if we get the theology wrong, we get everything wrong and we pay the price of losing our grip on reality."
It is sad in this culture how we have diluted our belief systems from a search for universal truth to a mere ‘whatever suits me’ approach.

Yet there is an overriding human need to search for universal truth in some shape or form. Ironically it seems that we have tried to achieve this by substituting theology with science.

A blatant example is the new thinking that abortion should be solely controlled by doctors. Being a medical student myself I was perplexed by this thinking. Yet it seems we have idolised science to the point that we believe it will solve our moral dilemmas. As a side note, I would challenge someone to run a study on new undergraduates and monitor their positions on these issues over the 6 years of the course. I would suggest that the progression would be very similar, if not the same as the general population. A knowledge of science has very little impact on beliefs which essentially have to do with our hearts rather than our minds.

The evolutionary mantra of 'Survival of the Fittest' has replaced 'Love your neighbour as yourself'. Hence we find justification in using people in relationships to fulfil our human needs. Because ‘the strongest should propagate their genes with many women’, we have no problem in objectifying sex. Because of this reasoning born out of competition rather than mutual respect, we spend our time trying to elevate ourselves in stature and power. In modern society this is achieved usually through money. We fight for the top spot to see our needs met, and trample others in the process (whilst being trampled ourselves).

One of the most challenging experiences of my life was when I visited Cambodia. I was expecting to see a nation of people depressed, beaten by their low material standard of living and afflictions. However I found something there which I have never seen or experienced before; a community that had ties as strong as a western family. Wealth had no power to corrupt these people because they had never seen it. Therefore rather than treating their friends down the road as competitors to beat, they saw them as friends trying to make a living. This resonated through the way they conducted themselves. Money took a second place to relationships. They would share what little they had. They would all came out after work at night and hang out with each other, analogous to a big party every night! It is very ironic that I met a happiness there I had not encountered back home.

I believe it is necessary that we stop idolising science and return to a system whereby we search for truth both through science and theology. It is there, as Sells writes, that we will discover truth

Words, words words. All this is a war of words based on a book written thousands of years ago and given legitimacy by ignorance. Listen to Boaz and Sells, the author, Sellick, just words. Self righteous, obsfucated words. Words about the damnation of society, its failure and the only redemption, by following words. Who says?

Get a life. We have a beautiful life in a beautiful world, and like others have said, live in the moment (and not be a grave digger Christian for whom life begins with the worms).

Open your hearts to others, yes listen to Goenka as another posting author has said, but for goodness sake, get off your soap box, stop the convuluted mythology based words and get a life. Better yet, share your life with others. Give yourself from a position of love and not from a book of words.

Go and talk to your dog or cat, do they need redemption? Do they ever show unhappiness? They live in the now and without words.

Remco (and other frustrated individuals),

Happy Easter to you all.

The scriptures maybe just words to you – but to the believers they are the expression of the true author of life.

Don’t beat yourself up though – it is normal for you and your ilk not to understand these words. Without faith you cannot understand God.

As for your ‘talk to the animal’ sequence, I do a lot of that … very rewarding – but they are only animals created by God for our benefit and enjoyment here on earth – they're not humans – therefore they do not need redemption. You and I do.

When you will understand the difference – being ‘human versus animal’ that is – you will begin to see the need for a superior being to redeem you from your sure predicament: death.

Wise people, Spiritual Gurus, prophets, and all other gods and religions are all doomed, all destined for death. How can the dead talk about life?

Only Jesus the co-creator of life, the only one who conquered death is the only one who can give life to those who ask him.

I don’t know what Easter means to you – but I pray and hope that you will find a minute or two to reflect on the true reason for the season. This is my act of love to you.

You can ask the author of life and He will reveal life to you. The real full joyful exciting life that awaits you when you come down from your wooden horse and climb on the white stallion of victory and triumph (over death).

He is risen from the dead and He lives today. He is our Lord, our only saviour.