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I get what the Rabbi is saying, but I’m not sure equating all expressions of religion is the best thing to do. Further, but doing so, don’t you leave room up to the claims that all of the divine is made up? What say ye?
“Humans have worshipped thousands of gods throughout the ages. Which of these does this discussion refer to? Remember, they were convinced that they had it right too. Just as you don’t believe in Zeus, I don’t believe in your god.”
There are two assumptions in this statement that I’d like to challenge:
First, not all religious people are convinced that they have it right. That is an assumption that simply is not based on facts. Unquestioned certainty is a fundamentalist position, but is not an inherent — or even desirable — quality in a spiritual life, and is not the position taken by a vast number of believers or by most theologians. There is a long history of debate in all religions about the nature of the Divine, the meaning of scriptures, and the purpose of doctrines. In Judaism, for example, the Talmud records vigorous debates between the most educated and dedicated Rabbis in order to remind us that disagreements in search of truth are holy acts, that simple answers are to be questioned, and that we must resist the lure of certainty.
Second, I do believe in Zeus.
via Rabbi Alan Lurie: The Rabbi Who Believes in Zeus: Why All Intuitions of God Are Incomplete.
Related articles
- Atheists group Jesus, Allah in with Zeus, Bigfoot. (copyranter.blogspot.com)
Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).
Website: → Unsettled Christianity
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