Thinking About Life
I confess that there are so many issues about life on earth that make no sense, that it leaves me frustrated. Sure, for those of us who experienced years of the Worldwide Church of God, we learned what truth is not.
We know that religious hierarchy stinks. We know that men who stand in pulpits and pretend to represent God are far off base. We know that tithing is a very false doctrine. We know that many have made prophecies about the future and were very wrong. We have learned that charismatic personalities can often persuade the gullible and naive. We have learned that FEAR and GUILT are tools of control. We have learned that the Bible is NOT infallible and inerrant, and that it is interpreted in as many different ways as there are specks of sand upon the seashores. We have learned that anyone can potentially be caught up in cult groups and man-made religious beliefs.
Beyond all that, when we read that "they shall lay hands upon the sick and they shall recover", it does not always happen and even in most cases does not. I have yet to see a paralyzed human being healed instantaneously, or a paraplegic restored and I have prayed for both categories of such people. I have been in a nursing home where some human beings are nothing more than physical and or mental vegetables, and all the prayers never had any result that was positive. I have been to two Benny Hinn "Healing Crusades" and have witnessed first hand the emotional impact such events have upon thousands of human beings in attendance. I have read many books by the most famous "healing evangelists" or preachers known to man, such as Kathryn Kuhlman, Smith Wigglesworth, Oral Roberts, John G. Lake and others. I even attended an Oral Roberts "healing crusade" in Amarillo, Texas as a young child and was overwhelmed with what I saw and experienced.
Once, some years ago my wife and I traveled to a church to hear a man who proclaimed that he had "raised" something like 14-people from the "dead" in Mexico, in his personal ministry and over a period of years. During his talk, we were all spell-bound with what he had to say, and during the service, in through the doors came a family rolling a man in serious condition (Lou Gehrig's Disease, as we learned) on a hospital bed. Naturally we expected a "miracle", because after all, here was the man standing in the pulpit who "raised people from the dead." After the service, the guest minister was ushered over to the bedside of this man who was at death's door, and nothing happened. The sick man went out the same way he came in. Our disappointment was deep.
Once, my wife and I attended a service at a church where the guest speaker and his wife, had a "healing" ministry, where people supposedly had their teeth filled with "gold" where their cavities were. The guest minister asked that anyone who wanted gold fillings to come forward, and a friend of mine and myself, along with others went forward. The "minister" looked in our mouths with a flashlight and literally said "I see nothing but gold." In our gullibility of course we thought that our fillings had been turned to gold. When we went home and looked in the mirror, there was no gold. Naturally our disappointment was enormous and such an experience only added to our loss of faith and confidence in the clergy class of people.
In my personal life, I have experienced church beyond the Worldwide Church of God. My personal church life includes charismatic, pentecostal, baptist and other groups and even including what is called "house church", which is not controlled by any church organization. In many organized churches they have what is called "cell groups", which I have also been a part of in years past. Ultimately my wife and I came to the conclusion that 100% of all organized churches are man-made institutions and having nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ. Admittedly Jesus Christ has NEVER approached me personally, in a visible and physical form and spoken to me, so much as one word and yet I still believe in Jesus Christ.
In spite of all the negative church experiences, Jesus makes sense to my reason. I will never embrace atheism. I concede that what is called the "Bible" is full of myth, legend, human fabrication and yet it is astonishingly the most read "book" in the world, and argued over more than any other writings in human experience. In fact the "Holy" books of the major religions of the world are to my thinking the reason for so many problems in human life.
Indeed God is a mystery and I have never found a satisfactory answer to human suffering. I have never known anyone who has not suffered in human life. Suffering is both physical and mental and life is overwhelming at times. Who can comprehend why there are tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and what we all call "natural" disasters? Who can comprehend why humans can be so intelligent and genius and at the same time so stupid as to be idiots, which to my thinking is what all wars are---insane? Why can't life be for positive and constructive purposes instead of idiot and never ending wars of death and destruction? Why sickness and disease and mental anguish and torment?
The only conclusion that I have been able to come to is that "the wisdom of God is greater than the lack of understanding of human beings." As far as what happens after the death of the body, no one has a clue, other than what we all read in ink on paper, which is nothing more than human say so. Atheism offers no hope. If there were no hope of life beyond the physical human realm, then human life is to my thinking without meaning and purpose. What makes sense about Jesus to my reason is that He taught "love your neighbor as you love yourself", "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", "blessed are the peacemakers", "blessed are the meek" and so forth. In essence what Jesus taught in one word is LOVE. Anything attributed to Jesus that would appear to contradict Himself, makes no sense and to me is very questionable as to its real source. As far as we all know Jesus Christ never penned anything and all that we know of Him is strictly based upon what men write.
We can choose to believe or we can choose not to believe. Strangely, no matter how we believe about God, it does not change the fact of His existence and if He does not exist, it does not change that reality.
Personally, I choose to believe.
Van Robison
Van, I've read several of your articles now and I agree with a lot of what you say. That said:
ReplyDelete"Atheism offers no hope."
I'll try to say this without coming across as an atheist who is "hostile and drive(s) people away" (as you put it). I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but your need for hope is not a valid substitute for hard evidence.
"human life is to my thinking without meaning and purpose."
I'm sorry Van, but the fact that you were unable to find meaning and purpose without involving the concept of an afterlife does not constitute an *actual* lack of meaning and purpose in this world. Of course these things are subjective, to each their own. All I can do is offer my heartfelt sympathy to people such as yourself who require something greater than this world we were lucky enough to be born into.
"What makes sense about Jesus to my reason is that He taught "love your neighbor as you love yourself", "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", "blessed are the peacemakers", "blessed are the meek" and so forth. In essence what Jesus taught in one word is LOVE."
Van, you said it yourself: something is intrinsically wrong with a book that condones people being stoned to death for working on the Sabbath. How can this be anything more than you cherry picking that book?
Anyway, that's all I've got. You were right when you said:
"we can choose to believe or we can choose not to believe"
I choose not to believe. ;-)
Keep up the great writing!