(…previously posted although edited… but still worth considering…)
Studied religion? Ah, yes… I’ve heard it can be controversial. Then again, controversy should never impede the way to truth. Our goal should be to handle truth well.
The Intramuralist has long studied other faiths… Hinduism, Islam, Scientology, etc. You’ve seen the posts over recent months. Truth told, I find religion fascinating. (Just ask my friends, the Jehovah Witnesses, who have visited me 3 times in the past 6 months… egad.) Through study, no less, the more I learn. The more I learn, the humbler I become. I am humbled because it begins to make sense…
Truthfully, it would be easier to treat this topic more as a cafeteria plan. You choose what you like. I’ll choose what I like (usually the cinnamon rolls). And then we’ll just eat, drink, and be merry together. But while considering all faiths as equally true may be easier and more convenient, it may not be factually correct.
On the day billions around the globe honor Jesus, the Intramuralist believes it’s important to be factually correct. Let’s offer 2 facts:
- Jesus is the only leader of a faith whose body was never found decaying in a tomb.
- In most all prominent religions, the life and teaching of Jesus is acknowledged.
Again, it would be easier for us to eat, drink, and be merry. But it would be wiser to embrace what is true. If it is true, and we are not embracing it, is that a problem? I wrestle with the following words…
…The basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.
So God said, in effect, “If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.” It wasn’t long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them — the God we bless, the God who blesses us.
Let me add a fact #3:
3. Christians have not always handled the truth well.
Although tempted to respond to those around us, we should never allow the behavior of man to blind us from truth. Otherwise, we, too, may be trivialized into confusion.
Happy Easter, friends. Feel free to dialogue and/or express opinion. We walk this life together… even enjoying the eating and drinking. Let me also be very clear: nothing else other than Jesus makes any sense. Granted, there’s a lot to figure out there. People get confused. They omit grace. They omit truth. They even — we even — then sometimes, actually omit Jesus. He, however, is the one thing that remains, that makes life make sense.
Wishing for blessing for us all… with generous grace… and full truth, too…
Respectfully,
AR