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Monday, June 18, 2012
A. Boocher: "Will History Be Repeated?"
Will History be repeated?
I
am not a historian, but I read a lot of history. What we are seeing
today is a magnification of what happened in the early years of what I
will refer to as “the story” of Christianity.
First,
I want to point out that I personally believe in the existence of an
“eternal intelligence” that is the source of everything that exists,
since “total nothingness” cannot produce something that has existence. I
believe this an over simplification of what is defined as “God”.
I
personally do not get involved in arguing over the many ideas and
thoughts that people have regarding this “eternal intelligence” beyond
the point that it is “perfect” in producing a universe that is so
integrated that everything that exists fulfills a role in the “present
condition” at any moment in history.
Having
said that I will point out that much of what is going on in the area of
religion today happened in the “early years” of the beginning of what
is loosely defined as “Christianity”. It doesn’t matter what we believe
about the source of “Christianity” but it should be noted that there was
a “battle for survival” that began when the information regarding Jesus
and those defined as “apostles” was being recorded in those early
writings. This battle dealt with many of the same questions being asked
today. There were “Cults” and “Critics” going head to head, creating
confusion over the same issues that are still yet to be resolved. Since
the teachings of the “apostles” were the primary source for Christian
beliefs in this battle for survival there was a need for development of
“authoritative” letters to be used as a
guide to what was “orthodox” and what was “heresy”. These letters
became the New Testament and were used along with the establishment of
an “authoritative” system to bring order and stability into this
“Christianity”, but those who were actively involved in this “battle”
never succeeded in a complete rooting out of the “heresy” and confusion
promoted by the “Cults” and “Critics”. History reveals the ongoing
battle for survival and while what the early church believed and
understood may not recognized; what is defined as “Christianity” is
still struggling to fill the “spiritual” longing in our human nature.
I
personally believe it is natural for a human being to need a belief
that promotes moral standards that exceeds the human expectations the
most perfect mind can imagine, but we also need to recognize that such
perfection will never be realized in this present life. It is this
realization that has promoted the Christian theology of a resurrected
life that enters into a system where such perfection can be experienced.We
as an individual can choose to believe it or choose not to believe it,
but as long as there are human beings with fleshly desires the
continuation of the battle between the “Cults” and “Critics” will be
repeated over and over again.
Thank you for your post. I appreciate your insights.
And, am I right in guessing you are against people like David Barton using outright lies and twisting facts in order to attempt to rewrite the history of the USA?
Hello Norm, I am not for or against anyone, but being a student of history I recognize that “history” is not always factual. It is often tainted by person’s personal beliefs or worldview. I am not impressed with David Barton’s credentials as a historian, but preachers are prone to be a little careless with the truth. To be honest I had never heard of David Barton until you ask the question and I looked the name up on the internet. A. Boocher
IMO, the thing that spoils the Christian religion is organization. Man tries to organize, to create uniformity, and to decide who can or cannot participate, and to govern, and suddenly you lose the beauty of a personal relationship with God, based on prayer, Bible Study, and individual transformation of the heart, one Christian at a time. Man's government is from the top down. God's is from the bottom up. Unity comes from God, not from man's attempts to "lord it over".
PS, on the David Barton thingie: he's just a man. However, I do place a lot of trust in the original, primary source quotations from our founding fathers, those which have not been lifted from context by "proof-texters".
Currently, pseudo-historian David Barton has a lot of influence in right-wing governmental circles. The website Liars For Jesus does a good job of exposing him as a liar and fraud with an agenda of promoting a very distorted view of the founding of the United States.
BB I understand what you are saying; I personal would define the Christian religion as being based on a personal relationship with God. It all starts with God and a person’s desire to understand a purpose for life. The real problem is man’s effort to establish a system of behavior and standards that can be used to create an external observation of what is or should be happening internally. There needs to be some structure in church life, but it should be focused on making a contribution to creating a harmonious unity not dictating righteousness. BTW: I agree the words of the founding fathers of USA when quoted accurately show a wisdom that is superior to the interpretations we see today. A.Boocher
Hello, A. Boocher,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. I appreciate your insights.
And, am I right in guessing you are against people like David Barton using outright lies and twisting facts in order to attempt to rewrite the history of the USA?
Thanks,
Norm
Hello Norm,
ReplyDeleteI am not for or against anyone, but being a student of history I recognize that “history” is not always factual. It is often tainted by person’s personal beliefs or worldview. I am not impressed with David Barton’s credentials as a historian, but preachers are prone to be a little careless with the truth. To be honest I had never heard of David Barton until you ask the question and I looked the name up on the internet.
A. Boocher
IMO, the thing that spoils the Christian religion is organization.
ReplyDeleteMan tries to organize, to create uniformity, and to decide who can or cannot participate, and to govern, and suddenly you lose the beauty of a personal relationship with God, based on prayer, Bible Study, and individual transformation of the heart, one Christian at a time. Man's government is from the top down. God's is from the bottom up. Unity comes from God, not from man's attempts to "lord it over".
PS, on the David Barton thingie: he's just a man. However, I do place a lot of trust in the original, primary source quotations from our founding fathers, those which have not been lifted from context by "proof-texters".
BB
Currently, pseudo-historian David Barton has a lot of influence in right-wing governmental circles.
ReplyDeleteThe website Liars For Jesus does a good job of exposing him as a liar and fraud with an agenda of promoting a very distorted view of the founding of the United States.
BB
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are saying; I personal would define the Christian religion as being based on a personal relationship with God. It all starts with God and a person’s desire to understand a purpose for life. The real problem is man’s effort to establish a system of behavior and standards that can be used to create an external observation of what is or should be happening internally.
There needs to be some structure in church life, but it should be focused on making a contribution to creating a harmonious unity not dictating righteousness.
BTW: I agree the words of the founding fathers of USA when quoted accurately show a wisdom that is superior to the interpretations we see today.
A.Boocher