Reflecting on one thing I did...

Other than gain weight, I did achieve something while I was away on holiday. I finished reading (well, listening to) A.J. Jacobs' The Year of Living Biblically. It's a fun, insightful book and I would encourage anyone, secular or spiritual, to check it out.

When I started reading it, I posted about that, but now that I'm done, I would like to share something really cool from that book with you. At the end, the author reflects on what he's experienced during the last year... living by following every rule and suggestion for living provided in the "old" and "new" testaments of the Bible. He comes to a very insightful conclusion about literal translation of the Bible that I agree with whole-heartedly.

Robbie Harris, one if the author's Rabbis is asked about whether a literal interpretation of the Bible's text is appropriate:

He says, "We can't insist that the Bible mark the end of our relationship with God. Who are we to say the Bible contained all the wisdom? If you insist that God revealed Himself only at one time, at one particular place, using these discreet words, and never any other time than that, that in itself is a kind of idolatry."

His point is you can commit idolatry on the Bible itself. You can start to worship the words instead of the spirit. You need to meet God halfway in the woods.

Amen. This is something I had always believed, but never brought far enough forward in my mind to put into words nearly this eloquent. What do you think?

Simple Question #010a: Is Intelligent Design Necessary?

For Christians, is the concept of Intelligent Design really necessary to reconcile science with the Bible?

It's a straightforward question. There are many ways in which, at least on the surface, the Bible seems to contradict scientific findings of the last 100 years. Does this mean you need to "find God" in these scientific results before you can rest easy in your faith?

I have an opinion or two, but I'd love to hear what you think first!

What makes up the Christian Bible?

Are we just talking about the books in today's New Testament? What about the The Book of Splendor or The Gospel of Judas? Someone wrote all that stuff down a long time ago, but someone since decided it was heretical. Why?

It seems that early Christianity was a very segmented and heterogeneous collection of interpretations of Christ's teachings - many of which didn't agree with each other. The oldest original surviving manuscripts are translated copies of texts originally written down and copied by hand over and over many years after Christ and His disciples left this planet. We're so used to the Bible as it stands today that it's easy to understand why books previously expurgated seem odd, fanciful, or even downright bizarre.

But what if the Book of Revelations was a new find? Wouldn't it seem completely odd when compared to other books of the New Testament? To me, it seems more comparable to some of the removed texts than much of the rest of what was deemed acceptable. It almost seems, dare I say, more like a gnostic tract than comparable to Matthew or Mark.

So what makes up the real Christian Bible? That's a question to which I don't have an answer, but I have lots of incomplete opinions. I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject.

Dream Thoughts

I'm not a big "dream interpretation" kind of person. My general theory is that dreams are the brain's attempt to work through the experiences you don't, can't, or won't address during your waking hours. Some are just garbage and some can seem amazingly relevant. Either way, it's your brain and your "Stuff" it's rifling through, so at least occasionally the "messages" from your dreams are going to be (or seem) important.

The other day, had a dream where I was being reprimanded by someone with religious authority who was holding a Bible over his head as he took me down a couple of notches. My response was one that only comes from the clarity of a dream where your ego is turned off and the inspiration can flow evenly. As soon as I had finished the thought, I bolted up out of bed, and scuffled into the other room, and wrote this down:

The weight of the responsibility for truly knowing God's loving forgivenes is great.

I wonder, as you hold that Bible over your head as if to beat someone down with it, how you do not feel the heavy wisdom of God's forgiving love within its pages for it is there if only you would listen and accept it... And yet obviously you do not.

I have no idea why this came to me the way it did. When I try to compose things like this, they always come out too wordy. I've even (in my more pretentious moments) tried to write in parables, only to be left with lots of words and little wisdom on the written page. I'm much better with the quick, one-off metaphor.

Does this really mean anything?