We live in a world in which all of the Sacred Scriptures of the entire Great Tradition of Humankind are freely available to anyone with internet access. And every philosophical point of view that has ever been made.
So any genuinely well read modern person is perfectly correct in pointing out that the narrative that YOU have chosen to believe in is just that; your CHOSEN narrative and just one among hundreds.
WHY/HOW should/could a narrative story of some small tribal cult in Palestine of 2000 years ago have a binding hold on all of Humankind?
And besides which were you there to witness "it"?
Do you know who wrote the books of the Bible?
Did you ever meet the authors face to face so that they could explain to you in detail what they were trying to communicate, and why?
Do you know any of the "church fathers" who put the Bible together? And asked them why they chose the texts they did from the many then available texts?
And why did they strategically edit even the texts that they did include?
And if it is all so straight forward and "obvious" then how come there are thousands of different interpretations of the texts of the Bible?
And why have so many multiples of zillions of words have been written and spoken over the centuries. All the theologies and explanations.
Why are there so many schools of theology? And often with completely different and totally contradictory interpretations and explanations?
On what basis do you presume (or rather pretend) that YOUR explanation/interpretation is true for everyone else? Because such a presumption is both implicit and explicit in your blog and its various postings.
And why are thousands of explanatory sermons still deemed necessary every week across the entire planet?
Also any religion that claims to possess the "one true" faith/way/revelation has effectively declared war on ALL other religions anmd their cultural expressions. And given half the chance will use whatever means it can to impose its inherently TOTALITARIAN agenda on to every else.
Both Islam and Christianity specialize in this attitude and tactic.
John-
Asking a lot of questions that might seem to imply a doubt that surrounds Truth is easy to do. Try giving some answers.
God can impose Himself on everything because He is God and created you. That is His nature. I'd encourage you to ask God all the questions you are having and see what He says in response. Don't think He will? Then give it a shot. If nothing happens then you have every right to spout your questions. What do you have to lose anyway?
"WHY/HOW should/could a narrative story of some small tribal cult in Palestine of 2000 years ago have a binding hold on all of Humankind?"
Because God created that narrative and it speaks to you personally, John. It says you were created to be loved by God. It says you are important and worth listening to because Jesus died for you. Don't believe me? Ask Jesus to show up in your life if he really is alive. Watch what happens. I put my faith in Him because He has shown up in my life. I get to know Him better through the bible.
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