The way of imagination

     Crazies?   So, you’re a group of Christians, are you?   And your faith is based on the New Testament, is that right?   Interesting… I wonder if you are aware of how the founders of your religion described themselves as well as how they were perceived by their contemporaries.   The New Testament, even as it claims to present the truth, makes no attempt to hide the fact that its message is one that strikes the “normal”, conventional person (ancient as well as modern) as utterly absurd .   Let’s look at a few examples: The gospel (the message): “the message about the cross is foolishness (Gr: moria ) to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles…” (1 Cor. 1.18, 23) The apostles (the messengers): “I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentence...

       Free to choose.   You’ve probably heard the old expression: “You can lead a horse to water…but you can’t make him drink”.   Ultimately, it’s up to the horse – does it desire to drink?   At the beginning of the Gospel of John, Jesus asks a simple but very profound question: “…John the Baptist was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples…followed Jesus.   When Jesus turned and saw them, he said “ What are you looking for? ” (John 1.35-38) What do you want?   This question becomes a theme for the whole Gospel.   As Jesus encounters different individuals, their response to him reveals what they truly desire .   Jesus is the light – the light that attracts those who desire truth, life and God, while repelling those who desire power, status and human approval.   “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the...

       A religious world.   Did Jesus come to establish a new religion?   Is Christianity simply one religion among others, a species of the genus “religion”?   The ancient world was indeed choked full of temples, much like the modern world is replete with churches, synagogues, mosques, and various places of worship.   The ancient gods were believed to “inhabit” their temples in some way; the image of the god(dess) in question symbolized the divinity’s having taken up residence in its “home” (naturally, the last step in the construction of a temple was the installation of the god’s statue in a conspicuous place within the shrine).   Interestingly, the Ancient Near Eastern writer who penned the book of Genesis tells the story of the creation of the cosmos in such a way that would have been immediately recognizable to an ancient architect – Genesis 1 describes the creation of the world in terms of the construction of a temple!   What is cr...