for 16 JUL 05: LIFE'S LITTLE INSTRUCTION BOOK

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: You may find this humorous, serious, or a little of both - but from time to time, we offer things to reflect upon as we keep the seventh-day Sabbath.)

We posted an e-mail from AR on Monday, and promised to bring you one part in particular to consider today. Here's what he wrote us:

And as to the Christian comments, I've learned that arguing with a Christian about theology (with the exception of many Catholics and some Protestants) is like trying to walk through a brickwall. Better yet, it's like shooting myself with a nailgun. There never really is any debate in that situation. It's always "the Bible says this", and "the Bible says that". If you really need a book written over the past 600 years (yes, for those of you who cannot grasp history, the King James Bible was written or compiled/edited in the 1400's) to be the pillar of your faith, then I really do feel sorry for you. Doesn't it say in your wonderful book that the Kingdom of God lives within us all. Maybe all those Nazis and other assorted group of hate mongers just didn't know how to listen to their heart, or let their minds muddy up the Truth. Bit a philosophy there for y'all to chew on.

Thank you for giving us something to chew - but that doesn't mean we necessarily have to swallow it.

Many Christians base their beliefs on the Bible. I would hope their understanding of the Bible is accurate - but sometimes we all can have things in error. It's like the story of the newcomer who heard the Biblical words, "In the beginning...." and thought God invented baseball.

Sometimes people think the Bible says one thing, when it really doesn't. For instance, the phrase "spare the rod and spoil the child" isn't there - but the concept based on that phrase is mentioned in several places. And no, I don't think James Dobson was the one who invented that phrase years ago....

To declare the King James Bible was "written over the past 600 years.... compiled/edited in the 1400's" is inaccurate in a couple of directions. Most historians actually trace the publication of "the KJV" to 1611 - and do you notice how hip they were? They used three-letter shorthand long before anyone called Atlanta "the A-T-L."

Yet the title page of one of my King James Bibles says something I'd never noticed before this came up: "translated out of the original tongues, and with previous translations diligently compared and revised...." This may shock some Christian conservatives, who think the KJV was the first and only one.

The Bible actually has roots from long before 1611 - from "original tongues" such as Hebrew and Greek, as people wrote down the text thousands of years ago. I'll leave it to language experts to decide whether Pentecostal preachers actually speak in those original tongues today.

Does the Bible say, "the Kingdom of God lives within us all?" Books called concordances allow you to find the answer - as they list every verse in the Bible where certain words occur. A co-worker in Oklahoma years ago joked managers were restricting him to only saying words in the Bible. Yet somehow, he kept saying our city of "Enid" a lot....

But anyway, that phrase AR quotes can be found in Luke 17:21 of the KJV: "for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." But the margin in the middle of the page notes "within" also can be translated as "among." Since Jesus said this, the King of that kingdom was among the crowd - but He wasn't in anybody's body. Science-fiction books weren't written about that yet.

Besides, a little later in Luke 22:18 Jesus said His Kingdom "shall come." So it apparently hadn't arrived yet -- and other New Testament verses indicate it's something believers inherit in the future. From what I read, it may not even be subject to the "death tax."

AR obviously is disappointed that many Christians consider the Bible a "pillar of faith." But maybe he should consider it another way - as a book with instructions for living on earth now, and how to live eternally after that. This may explain why so many women go to church. Guys usually don't like to read and follow instructions.

The religious e-mails don't stop there. Someone else returns to this discussion - which you'll recall started when we mentioned the guilty plea of Adrian Robinson for kidnapping and killing Harris County nun Philomena Fogarty:

Dear Richard;

When I first mentioned that I could find no room for humor in the loss of the Saintly Sister, I had no idea the topic would evolve into apologetics.

Panentheism, whether touted by the ignorant urban intuitives or the landed gentry Whisky-palians, evolved from paganism, and is a form of atheism. The idea that God is in everyone's heart rather than a separate Supreme Being, as presented in the Bible, presents an autonomy from authority that is wholly narcissistic in willfulness. Independence Day, indeed!

The writer purports a relativistic ethic for a new social system, founded upon and fueled by the ˜god" in all hearts. If ˜god" is in all hearts it cannot be the God of Abraham. The GOD of Abraham is a supreme being with eternal life, without beginning or end, who is the creator, not part of the created. Free will allows individuals to act as they choose but an indwelling of a perfect being would surely mitigate the crime and evil in the world.

How does the writer explain the problem of evil?

The sensitive subject of the loss of a woman whose very presence brought love and peace into a room, (to those in whom emotions and spirituality exist), cannot be broached without a discussion of sociopathy. Sociopaths have no conscience. Human Consciences are developed during a maturational window. If children are put into a cruelly violent environment without loving parents, they often will not develop a conscience. They will become sociopathic, and some will become career criminals with a range of criminality from thievery to torture and murder.

Such a social system, as described by the reader, is doomed to failure because it neglects present day sociopathy, as well as many other things outside the discussion of the Saintly Sister's death.. Sociopathy, with its foundation in cruelty and its sometimes exponential effects upon society is the
very opposite of God in hearts....

Panentheism, with its independence from external moral ethics and with its need to make morality an individual choice rather than a societal standard or a Godly commandment attempts to exempt true recognition of anything outside of the narcissistic self.

Deborah Owens

Deborah coins some new words here. The first one you might know better as "pantheism" - but she defines it well. And no, most chefs on the Food Network do NOT worship pans.

(But be careful, Deborah - start talking about topics "evolving" and some people will think you've watered down your faith.)

The other new word (at least for me) is "Whisky-palians." Is she talking about people turning pale, from drinking too much? Or this is a slap at the ordination of Episcopal minister Gene Robinson in New Hampshire?

As for the maturing of human consciences: did you hear the squabbling this week about the divorce of author Terry McMillan? Husband Johnathan Plummer declared 20-year-olds don't know if they're "gay, straight, bisexual, transgender...." Thanks a lot, guy - now teenagers will feel like trying them all, and who knows what diseases they'll spread.

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