One thing I am not is an encourager of blind faith. I am not a kool-aid drinker who will take what people tell me and accept it as gospel. Not anymore.
I find that in order to strengthen my faith, I must challenge it. If I am afraid to do so, then I am admitting that I have doubts about its validity. I am saying my god is not big and strong enough to be questioned, and that, in itself, is a sign of a weak faith.
If I must put God in a box and protect him with all my might, then that is a weak God. That is saying that I am somehow stronger then the Creator himself.
I apparently ruffled some feathers recently when I suggested further reading on how the books of the Bible were determined. I suggested reading about the Council of Nicaea that was formed by Constantine I during which the issue of Jesus' divinity was determined by a group of bishops as well as other issues. There have been gospels unveiled, such as the Books of Judas, Thomas, and Mary that show a different side of Jesus. These gnostic gospels proclaimed salvation and enlightenment were obtainable without the involvement of the church. They also suggested that Jesus himself did not consider himself the actual SON of GOD, but A son of God just like you and I are children of God.
There is also very little evidence that the four traditional gospels were actually written BY Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as first hand accounts but were written in their name by later scholars as was the tradition of that day. The Gospel of Thomas is believed to be the oldest written account and it paints a picture of Jesus that is different from the Jesus of tradition.
I say all this, not to take away anyone's faith, but to say that we must "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth." --2 Timothy 2:15.
I am not saying that Jesus was not divine. I'm saying I don't know. What if he was just a man? So what? He was a man of inspiration who showed the world a different way. Would it change our perspective of God and salvation? Sure, but it would only allow us to expand our view of God. It certainly does not need to destroy our faith. God is still God. Maybe he's just a bigger God than we first believed.
Let him out of the box. Let him grow into a big, powerful God that can cross all boundaries and love us all as his universal children. The determination of one's faith is how they live their daily lives, not the doctrine they have printed on their hearts.
Imagine a minister and an atheist. Both come upon a wreck in which the person inside is burning. The minister drops to his knees to pray, the atheist runs to the car, pulls the victim from the wreck and to safety. He goes back to see if there is anyone else in the car, and the car explodes, killing him instantly. Who do you think God would be more proud of? The minister who did nothing but pray, or the atheist who gave his life for another? Do you really think God would doom that man? If so, then your God is too small.
We see only what is in front of us. God sees the heart. He knows what makes people deny he exists and he also knows a lot of that responsibility lies on his followers who make him seem like such a hateful deity. He has known that atheist from the time he was a small child until his death. And if you think he is concerned more in what he believed than how he lived, then that is so sad to me.
Suppose I did not know my parents because I was given up at birth. I believed them to be dead, to be non-existent. However, watching over me without my knowledge, was my father. Perhaps he was the janitor in my school, or my soccer coach. He watched me grow and was proud of the person I had become. Did it matter to him that I believed he was still alive, or that I grew up to be a person who cared about others?
I think that's how God sees us. Yes, he wants us to believe and to have a relationship with him. But he still stands by us and watches us as we grow. It is up to him to reveal himself to each person. All I can do is to live my life with as much compassion and understanding as possible and to do my best to reflect his love.
Its time we worry less about details, about semantics. They are only excuses and disruptions to keep us from looking at our hearts. May God put a mirror in front of us, so that we can examine ourselves honestly. Only then can we open our hearts to let God be God even if that's not our interpretation of him. We are not God. We cannot know fully who he is until we get to the other side, but we must not put limits on him. It is not our place. Let him be universal energy, let him be the God we know in Jesus, let him be in the buddhist meditations.
Just let him be God.
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