If I HAD to Choose a Church
I miss church.
Well not the formal church or the sit for two hours church. I don't miss
the one man show church or the "we only," church. But I do miss
church. Maybe I more miss the coherent and intelligent discussion of all
things theological or being in a place where one can teach and be taught what
the Bible really means, who actually said it and why. I'd like an open
minded church . In all my days growing up in the Presbyterian Church not
once was there any controversy over what the Bible meant or where you went to
church. Not one person got turned over to Satan, wished well and hoped
they repented. No secret groups wanting this or that taught or not taught
lurked at church picnics or in the parking lot. You never lost your good
friends to new truths or the shenanigans of others messing with your
life.
But it would have to be
a church where people are allowed to think and believe as they wish. After all,
beliefs are not necessarily truths. There are some things I'd have to be
able to believe until it either seemed totally true over time or not as true,
just leave me alone. There would have to be room for discussion and disagreement
with no ill will towards others intended. I suppose the members and
ministers would have to be willing to be challenged , questioned and even ill
informed until shown otherwise. I'd have to work on being that
myself. But turning you over to Satan for the destruction of the
flesh would have to be out of bounds.
So, what would be an
ideal church for me. I can't speak for you of course.
On the plus side, if I
had to go with a group, it would be a Sabbatarian one. If you're going to
use the Bible then it doesn't take an Einstein to see that the founding fathers
of the church, which I am pretty sure Gospel Jesus never intended to start in
his story, would be Jewish Christians who saw Jesus as an extension of Judaism
and cleaning it up a bit . I can go with clean and unclean meats but have
never heard much of a real reason why one kind is physically better than the
other. Holy days pointing to this or that possibility seem much more
logical from a Biblical perspective than Solstices and Equinoxes pointing to
the actual origins of Christ-mas and East-er, but I also think Solstices and
Equinoxes are kinda cool since they are the origins of the Pauline/Gentile/What
you got today Sunday church practices. One the other hand, I'd have
to recognize that the Sabbath did not originate with the Hebrews or any God
"resting" (do God's rest?) on the Seventh Day. It is a Hebrew
spin on a Sumerian tale where the God's first rested after they drown the
worker bee humans who made too much noise. Long story.
It would need to be a
group that was heavy on Gospel Jesus, ignoring the failed prophecy of
Revelation Jesus and totally unconnected the Pauline Christ. Gotta pick
one. Can't have all three. Gospel Jesus would never have recognized
Pauline Christ and Peter, James and whole rioting cities evidently did not
either. In short , the perspective of the Apostle Paul on the real meaning , as
if he knew, born of hallucinations in the mind of a man that never once met or
quotes Jesus would have to go.
Christ or Paul?, the Rev. V.A. Holmes-Gore wrote:
"Let
the reader contrast the true Christian standard with that of Paul and he will
see the terrible betrayal of all that the Master taught....For the surest way
to betray a great Teacher is to misrepresent his message....That is what Paul
and his followers did, and because the Church has followed Paul in his error it
has failed lamentably to redeem the world....The teachings given by the blessed
Master Christ, which the disciples John and Peter and James, the brother of the
Master, tried in vain to defend and preserve intact were as utterly opposed to
the Pauline Gospel as the light is opposed to the darkness."
Ernest Renan, in his book Saint Paul,
wrote:
"True Christianity,
which will last forever, comes from the gospel words of Christ not from the
epistles of Paul. The writings of Paul have been a danger and a hidden rock.
the causes of the principal defects of Christian theology."
Rudolf Bultman, one of the most
respected theologians of this century, wrote in his Significance of the
Historical Jesus for the Theology of Paul:
"It is most obvious that
Paul does not appeal to the words of the Lord in support of his....views. when
the essentially Pauline conceptions are considered, it is clear that Paul is
not dependent on Jesus.
Jesus' teaching is -- to all intents and purposes --
irrelevant for Paul."
Those Incredible Christians, Dr.
High Schonfield reports:
"It was not only the
teaching and activities of Paul which made him obnoxious to the Christian
leaders: but their awareness that he set his revelations above their authority
and claimed an intimacy with the mind of Jesus, greater than that of those who
had companied with him on earth and had been chosen by him....It was an
abomination, especially as his ideas were so contrary to what they knew of
Jesus, that he should pose as the embodiment of the Messiah 's will....Paul was
seen as the demon-driven enemy of the Messiah....For the legitimate Church,
Paul was a dangerous and disruptive influence, bent on enlisting a large
following among the Gentiles in order to provide himself with a numerical
superiority with the support of which he could set at defiance the Elders at
Jerusalem. Paul had been the enemy from the beginning. and because he failed in
his former open hostility he had craftily insinuated himself into the fold to
destroy it from within."
I know it is almost
incomprehensible to think of a Christian faith without Paul, but the evidence
of Paul as the author of current gentile Christianity verses the understanding
the real (or imagined) disciples of Jesus had, and no they could not have been
all that oblivious to Jesus meanings. They are said to have spent one
year (Matthew, Mark, Luke) or three (John) with Jesus and Paul is said to have
had a two minute vision only he understood in his head...you
choose. Two minutes is being generous. Paulianity is what we
have today. I am not sure it was what was intended. Long story but
you know how I feel about Paul the Mythmaker and his not so accurate use of the
Old Testament to fuel his views. The ultimate one man show I suppose I
detest so much.
I'd have to find a
church that believed in good science well done not "falsely so
called." That's what an insecure Christian says about science when
the science actually disturbs their world view. The universe really is 14
billion years old and earth is less than nothing in it . Quantum physics
really can inform of the nature of reality and how time and space mingle.
Maybe it is a hologram or perhaps Branes and parallel Universes are real and
just out of reach, but the church can't be ignorant of these things. They
would have to know or at least be very much less rigid on the fact of evolution
and what the word "theory" really means to a scientist as opposed to
a fundamentalist. The fact is that over the last 2000 years, the
"Church" has always had to yield to good science well done and not
the other way around of good theology well done. Actually the two can
never meet.
They would have to lean
heavily towards the understanding that humans too evolved over the last 2.5
million years and more and that modern humans are about 160,000 years old so
far. Neanderthals were successful, but not us, for about 250,000 years
and others before them for 500,000 years. And while dinos "died
out" , I'd like folk to at least admit 200,000,000 years ain't bad.
click to enlarge
It would need to be a
group that understood the difference between mythology and historical
facts. Adam and Eve would have to go and replaced with an understanding of
the real intent and meaning of Genesis 1-3. I will spare you for now as I know
most of you are tired of hearing it! You might not think this all that
important until you think of the misery inflicted on the masses (by the Apostle
Paul and Gentile Church Fathers ) over your stinking rotten selves
due to "Original Sin" and then you might be able to free yourself
from the idea that all humans are rotten and hell bound, no matter,
especially women who caused it all and therefore should shut up in
church. They would have to understand that even human Jesus would not
have known Adam and Eve were not real people in real time or maybe even Moses
or Abraham. It would be a unique church for sure. Most intelligent
Rabbi's today in Judaism would admit these characters occupy a less than sure
place in Jewish history.
We'd have to understand
stories like the sojourn in Egypt and the Exodus are not literally true and
never could be in a dozen different ways and for hundreds of reasons.
Great metaphor maybe, but not history. An understanding of who actually
wrote the Pentateuch and why would help. The battle between Scribes and
Prophets in the OT would also be up for grabs along with "just what the
heck do you mean prophecy fulfilled?"
It would be nice to chat
in church or study about why the Gospels really have no harmony. Who
wrote what and why they aren't really eyewitness accounts. Midrash, and
not a form of Shingles , would have to come up a few times to explain how
Matthew came up with his birth of Jesus story and Luke , who never read it,
came up with his. I like the study of why he used four loose women in the
OT in his genealogy of Jesus before getting to Mary, but that's getting
picky now. "We weren't born of fornication," and
all. A great study on why have a genealogy in the first place
when Jesus real and literal father was God would be fun.
Finally for now, perhaps
at least a tip of the hat to astro-theology as to the ultimate origins of both
Sun Worship and Son Worship. Hot topic for literalists I know but you
just can't get away from it.
Jesus being the central
sun having 12 disciples who surround him and with whom he spends one year not
unlike the real sun that travels in one year through the 12 signs of the zodiac
seems not so far fetched to me. It's the story of all dying godmen plain
and simple. It's a great story and an amazing tribute to the human need
to know what it is all about . The fact that the Gospel story of Jesus
exactly matches the story of the Sun through the one year , one month in each
sign, can't be a coincidence. Or it is the greatest coincidence in
history. As above so below and all that... Understanding that
"lo, I am with you , even unto the end of the age (not world) and Aries
the Lamb (Jesus) dying and the Sun now moving into Pices the Fish (Christian
Church symbol the last 2000 years) is not a coincidence. This is an
amazing story with rich detail from the Bible to support it, but alas, few care
and the rest are afraid of it. "Our God is a consuming
fire....."....The Sun.
Ok, I know there is not
place such as this. Maybe a Unitarian Church but they are off in the
summer. Perhaps the more liberal Episcopal Church would do .
I attended a Catholic Mass in a large church a couple years ago and Sun symbols
were everywhere so maybe that would work.
I actually do miss
church. I miss lives to live and friends to get to know. I miss
helping when help is needed and older people who need encouragement in the last
days of their lives. I miss meaning but I don't miss meanings that don't
mean what they are said to mean. I'm crazy like that. I don't miss
most ministers. I miss teaching but the path this whole experience has
lead to leaves few who want to learn "that bullshit" as I have been
told lol. I know it is hard to give up the Sunday School idea
of the Bible, Jesus and his friends. I still have my perfect attendance
pins and bars for years of Sunday School!
For now I will be content with:
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there
may be in silence.
As far as possible without
surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and
clearly; and listen to others,
even the dull and ignorant; they too have their
story.
Avoid loud and aggressive
persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with
others, you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be
greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your
career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of
time.
Exercise caution in your
business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you
to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full
of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign
affection.
Neither be critical about
love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as
the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the
things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit
to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with
imaginings.
Many fears are born of
fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the
stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is
clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and
aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery
and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be
happy.
© Max Ehrmann 1927
....but I still miss church.
