So far, I have written little about myself, allowing my work to speak for me. I think it time I revealed another aspect of who I am. I’ve decided to share the preface of a study I am working on that I have titled . . .
COME, LET US REASON TOGETHER
Isaiah 1: 18
Come, Let Us Reason Together was first intended as a response to the Jehovah Witnesses who come to my door, convinced that if I but listen for a few minutes to the message they bring and read the pamphlets they leave, I will, in time, become a convert. I will grant them this: they understand the concept of hell to have been nothing more than man’s imagination. However, I believe an average intelligent person—I like to think I fall into that category—can discover the truth without becoming a Jehovah Witness.
Fundamental Christians have no trouble believing the Bible—mainly the King James Version—to be the indisputable Word Of God and written under inspiration from God. Fundamental Christians believe, or are supposed to believe, that all religious writings, other than their own, are based on nothing more than culture, legend, myth, lore and superstition.
I believe the Old Testament, though containing some wisdom worth heeding, is a book filled with ghastly laws written by men as cruel, as savage, as primitive, and as ignorant as their Philistine neighbors. I believe the Old Testament is filled with horrible events God did not cause to happen, and predicts even more terrible events he never will cause to happen. If mankind succeeds in destroying this planet and in annihilating himself, God will have had nothing to do with it.
I believe the self-appointed Apostle Paul managed to merge the worship of the sun god Mithra with that of the promised Jewish Messiah, whom Paul came to believe was the recently crucified Jesus, and from that concept, Christianity began its journey to a world-wide religion.
I believe the Bible was also based on nothing more than culture, legend, myth, lore and superstition.
bravo!!!!! i am avidly against organized religion in any incarnation… and to hear such a brilliantly conceived piece in agreement with my own feelings is a joy i cannot begin to convey!!!!!
Would I ruin it if I asked why this post was titled “39”?
No, it would not ruin anything, but you are reading a number that I don’t know from where it came. Perhaps a mistake on my part? Nice hearing from you, but what do you think of the content?
Hi miss Mary,
I can tell you’re having a lot of fun with your blog. Do you wake up each day wondering what you can share with the world? Exciting, isn’t it? It looks beautiful, too.
Although I don’t believe as you do—that Fundamental Christians have no trouble believing the Bible, that they mostly read KJV, or that the OT is as founded in evil and slime as you attest, I appreciate your candor and desire to start sharing more of yourself on the blog.
The main comment I have is that the title of your study is Come Let Us Reason Together, which makes it seem like the preface will be open-minded and warm, almost welcoming of all religions. Maybe it’s because we’ve only read a little bit of your study, but the tone does not come across that way to me. It seems to be more of a declarative statement, a personal manifesto against Christianity rather than a “reasoning together.” Or, am I just missing the point completely?
Either way, keep writing and putting yourself out there. It’s nice that you have a forum to do so, and readers who are interested.
Linda
Linda, I really do appreciate your observation and will give it careful thought and consideration. Perhaps I write too much from my own personal experience, beginning with the year 1947 through to this very day. For many years I was a believing member of a fundamental church that was so fundamental, they followed Paul’s commandment in Ist Cor. Chaper 11,and I wore what was called a prayer cap. While I do not believe the O T was founded in evil and slime, I get no further than Exodus, Chapter 22 and verses 29/30 to realize that mere man, and not God, directed the writing. That is the point of my study. Thanks for commenting. Hope to here from you again.
Absolutely, Mary! I think it’s very natural for us to write through the filter of our own experiences, which makes your poetry so rich. Take care, Linda
Sister Wendy says that religion is a scaffolding that leads us to God, it is not God. I was raised without religion and yet I still have a deep connection to the Divine. Religion can be a divisive force when it is mistaken for God. Very interesting post.
Thank you “Fellow-artist”. Before coming to Florida, I both painted and sculptured.
You are so right: religion can be a devisive factor and not just between churches and countries. Religion caused a rift between my husband and me, a rift that began in late 1959 and caused terrible friction between us for the next twelve to thirteen years. When my husband died in late 1993, we were in complete agreement. He died free of the bonds of any and all religious dogma. If there is anything that could be called ‘Divine’ in my life, it’s the perfect peace I have knowing that, while I cannot prove there is no heaven, I can prove there is no hell.
This weekend my family visited a Muslim mosque for the first time ever. We were there for the afternoon call to prayer and got to witness the local Muslims gather and go through their prayer ritual. We also were able to talk with one of the mosque leaders. I felt the best part of the experience was when he talked of the other religions. He said, “Muslims, Christians, Jews, we all believe in the same thing, in the same God. We call him Allah, but He has many names. It is all the same God, all the same teaching. Anything that is in the Bible that is not in the Koran, has been added by man. Anything that is in the Koran that is not in the Bible man has taken away by man. All who believe in a God believe in the same God.” I have long felt that way and have never been able to buy into the idea that one religion is the right religion and the rest are wrong. If only all people would follow this belief, the world would be a much greater place.
Justin: Those words, ‘Anything that is in the Bible that is not in the Koran, has been added by man. Any thing that is in the Koran that is not in the Bible, man has taken away by man. Those few words need to be closely analyzed The truth is: all “Holy” books were written by men believing themselves to be guided by an unseen power, and therein lies the tragedy . . . religious factions, crusades of one intensity or another.
Don’t get me wrong, I saw that he was saying the Bible has been altered and the Koran has not, but I still felt the over all message was a good one.
Obviously all Holy Books had to be written by man, but that does not mean that they were not guided by an unseen force. It’s an unwinnable and unprovable argument though, which is why neither side can ever convince the other and really shouldn’t try.
The beauty of being human is that we can choose what we believe in and the belief alone is all that is needed to make it true. That’s why it’s called Faith.
Come, Let Us Reason Together: What do I think of the content?
I think that your and my beliefs regarding Christianity and the Bible are not that different; and I truly do wonder what Christians–and mankind, in general–would be like if God’s laws were actually written on our hearts, instead of in a thousand-page book (as that book reiterates). Calling any one book holy and above all other books, is, in my mind, an invitation for a crusade or a jihad.
I am sufficiently mystified by our universe to consider that ANYTHING–including the existence of a God or two–is possible. Given that we mortals cannot begin to fathom the endless dimensions we are so humbled by, I expect to be fully and unfathomably surprised.
jckaufman
Yes, ANYTHING, meaning some kind of an Intelligence, may exist ‘somewhere’ out in space without end, but the possibility presents not solutions, but more questions.
All religious writings were written by men. I imagine if I had been born of Muslim parents, I’d be as convinced the Koran was written under inspiration of Allah, as is the fundamental Christian convinced the Holy Bible was written under inspiration of God—whom Jesus would have had to have called, Yahweh.
Mary, I have read through this post and am looking at several others from your blog and I feel the need to post a couple words. I come from what I assume you would call a “Fundamental Christian” family, I have always been in church from the time I was an infant up until now, and I continue to go most Sundays. I noticed that you make the statement that “All religious writings were written by men” many times in your posts. What I fail to see however is an organized thought out, well laid argument in favor of this view. Maybe I haven’t stumbled across it in my hopping around on your site, but if you would be polite enough to lay out your views for me I would be greatly obliged. Thank you and God Bless. !)avid
Thank you, Whiteman0o0 for your interest in my blogsite. You have asked me to explain something in a few words that began with me the afternoon I had what I can only describe as an epiphany: a question which had nothing to do with me, as least not with the conscious “me”. That was back sometime during 1957 or 58. I have, since then, read the Bible like I had never read it before. My small library attests to the fact that my major interest, since those long ago years has been a study concerning the roots and the rise of the Christian religion. I began my study with “Man And His Gods” by Homer W. Smith. My latest acquisiton is “The Jews In The Roman World” by Michael Grant. Perhaps I could use your comment for my blog in the near future. Or, you can contact me by email. Mary from Meander With Me makpoet@aol.com