Thanks for coming.

I propose that much of what we believe as truth is based on a very practical analysis of defend-ability and personal benefit.

“Can I rationally defend my viewpoint in a world that values logic and reason and will this belief make me a better and happier human being?”

 For me, the most significant of these decisions relates to person’s place in the universe; a question most simply framed by asking, “Are we insignificant accidents of nature or are we created beings of a more powerful cosmic life source?” Since my earliest recollections of childhood, I have been asked by amateur philosophers about the meaning of life, and I have no qualms admitting that I have held very different views through the various phases of my intellectual and spiritual growth. It’s been a winding path of belief-system evolution.

People who believe that life and all of the beauty and order of the natural world are accidental often lead accidental lives; lives focused on getting by and being “happy” via some path to success. Recognizing a divine order and an ultimate power greater than us is a first step in living a purposeful life. Though faith in God is viewed by many as a legitimate source of morality, the one-day-a-week faithful seldom find divinity as a source of hope, comfort, and guidance in daily life. This blog is about the practical application of what my faith has taught me, and a way to share the experiences of those who have embraced their faith as a lifestyle. You will also find observations of how faith is interpreted to meet specific secular goals, often inconsistent with the author’s intent.

Faith OTB is simply about re-examining your own belief system in the light of the timeless treasures of Biblical exploration and a modern-world spin. Your thoughts and comments are appreciated.

Since I am a proponent of a REALLY BIG and REALLY POWERFUL Creator-God, I believe that the Bible is the divine, inspired Word of that Creator; the God called “Yahweh”, “Jehovah”, or “Heavenly Father.” The beauty of Holy Scripture, and a fundamental proof of its divine nature, is its timeless relevance; applicable as much today as it was for the original worshipers of God’s Son in the first century. Since the earliest publications of this fundamental text, many branches of God’s Church have laid exclusive claim to the truth found in its pages. In fact, there seem to be so many versions of “the truth”, that it can be downright confounding to the average seeker not rooted in a genealogical precedent of family faith or a hometown church.  On the other hand, once an individual is rooted and has stopped seeking, it is extremely difficult to see around the blinders of tradition and habit that create a screen of self-righteousness and exclusivity; an invisible yet tangible barrier that keeps the multiple branches of God’s universal church from touching one another and, in the most tragic cases, from touching those seekers yet untouched by the blessings of a relationship with their Creator.

As an experimentally-inclined son of the sixties and seventies, remembering isn’t exactly one of my strengths. The adolescent indoctrination in Jesus and God that was received from parents, teachers, vacation Bible school, and church are all but a blur to my current 21^st century memory. When I first challenged myself to an end-to-end reading of the Bible at age 43, I had no preconceptions of the shape and form that the Truth would take. I also had no inclination or need to use the Holy Text for support rather than illumination, since, as a one-day-a-week Christian, I had no particular position to support. Church was merely an obligatory exercise in being told what to do and how to live so I could go on with my mostly-secular six days of the week.

What I have learned in my comprehensive reading and continued study of the Bible is that many divergent views can be supported equally as well by Scripture. Though there seems to be an obvious contradiction between NT and OT texts such as “An eye for an eye”(Exodus 21:24)  vs. “turn your other cheek”(Matthew 5:39); the Eden diet (Genesis 1:29), the Leviticus diet (Leviticus 11), and Paul’s statement in Romans14:17 stating, “God’s kingdom does not consist of what a person eats or drinks.” there are many apparently incongruous viewpoints within the NT itself. For example Jesus statement in Matthew 5:17 that says, “Don’t ever think that I came to set aside Moses law or the Prophets. I didn’t come to set them aside but to make them come true.” vs. Romans 3:20 “Not one person can have God’s approval by following Moses teachings.” and Romans 7:6, “But now we have died to those [Moses’} laws that bound us. God has broken their effect on us so that we can serve in a new spiritual way…   Romans 14:10 says: “Why do you criticize or despise other Christians? Everyone will stand before God to be judged,” while in 1 Corinthians 5:12 we read, “After all, do I have any business judging those that are outside the church? Isn’t it your business to judge those who are inside? God will judge those that are outside.”

The point here is that it is inherently dangerous to build a theology on individual passages in the Bible. Often, that’s what churches do to develop separation from their “competitors”.  Jesus, in Matthew 23:24, tells the church folks of his times, “You strain gnats out of your wine, but you swallow camels”.  Fortunately, faith and one’s relationship with God is not about churches. It is a personal journey that connects us one-on-one with our Creator and allows us to become effective, informed ambassadors for God in a world hungry for the security and hope found only in Jesus Christ. Obviously, a strong and supportive church family can facilitate one’s journey and effectiveness, providing inspiration, additional insights, a wonderful platform for one’s gifts in outreach efforts, and a useful safety net when we find ourselves falling away, but I suggest that the church is not a substitute for individual discernment of God’s plan for us. The core relationship is still singular in nature. Each believer in God is individually convicted or convinced to honor God in their own way. People with similar convictions gather in groups and form their own “God Clubs”- organizations based on a mutually agreed upon expression of faith and worship. Each group often ascribes to have exclusive ownership of “the way and the truth” and comforts its members in the rightness of their way and garners strength from the wrongness of others. My version of the real Truth is as follows:

• God is the creator of the Universe.
• He is a just, merciful, and loving God who, from the beginning, provided everything for the happiness and fulfillment of human beings.
• Humans are born into sin – a condition of separation from God due to our innate need for self-reliance, self-sufficiency, self-satisfaction and self-fulfillment.
• God sent his son – Jesus Christ – to live among self-centered humans and demonstrate that His standards of unconditional love, selflessness and mercy are fair and attainable even in our mortal form of flesh and blood.
• Jesus Christ, in His short time on earth, expressed the perfect character of God in a human body. I am the way, the truth and the life. John 14:6
• He died, and came back to life as a living example that resurrection is possible for every human being.
• As followers of Jesus, we are asked to take on His character and that of His Father in order to further the will of God in the best ways that we can.
• The will of God is that we love others in the way that God loves us and share the opportunity for all humans to be saved eternally in Jesus Christ.

In my mind and heart, just about everything else is peripheral.

As an illustration, without disposition to tradition or past training, my own Bible reading convicted me of the holiness of the Sabbath and the importance of using God’s own day on which to honor and worship Him. I use the timelessness of the Ten Commandments as a buttress of my conviction, as well as the example of Jesus Christ and His disciples. When I am asked by friends and acquaintances why a Christian would attend church on Saturdays, I answer, “If it was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me!” I have many Christian friends, however, who for various reasons, observe Sunday as their worship day. Am I right and they’re wrong? Is their faith weaker or stronger than mine? Are they in danger of missing out on salvation because of misunderstanding one of God’s commandments? As far as I’m concerned, that is only for God to decide. Based upon my personal view of the big picture, particularly as described by the apostle Paul, I don’t think specific rules are the barrier to our acceptance by God since the rules were always impossible for us to obey. He looks at bigger issues, such as if we live in light or in darkness. Paul, in describing rules about food and holy days of worship says in Romans 14:22, “So whatever you believe about these things, keep it between yourself and God. The person who does what he knows is right shouldn’t feel guilty. He is blessed.”

There are many other passages in the New Testament that provide Biblical credence to those that view Moses Law as obsolete in modern post-Christ times. The bottom line is to do what you believe is right after thorough and honestly open-minded research. After all, “Anything not done in faith is sin.” Romans 14:23

We have a responsibility to find a church family that best supports our convictions and our understanding of the truth. My personal feeling is that it is too much to ask to be on the same page with every doctrine of a particular church, but that is the nature of an individual relationship with God vs. the institutionalized group version. Seek with an open mind, recognize a loving and nurturing environment, pray not only to ask but to listen, not only for loved ones but for enemies, and set as your goal to lead a life in Christ’s example.

The question of a random accidental universe wasn’t adequately answered for me until I was in my 40’s. The possibility of a primordial soup that magically acquired life and somehow developed into incredibly complex life forms and biological systems was put into personal perspective in the mid 1990’s by Paul Little’s[1] illustration of a tornado blowing through a junkyard and assembling a 747. Though at the time I was a religious skeptic, this science-based theory was simply more irrational than believing in a Creator and forced me to reconsider the possibility of a power in the universe called “GOD”. The Apostle Paul, the most prolific journalist of the New Testament, writes in Romans 1:20, “From the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly observed in what he made. As a result, people have no excuse.” Many members of the Christian faith describe nature as “God’s Second Bible”; a practical way of connecting God with their own personal environment and sensibility.  Indigenous Native Americans also believed in the cosmic forces of nature and a Creator God with whom they were compelled to live in harmony and awe. For me it continues to be remarkable that as our understanding of nature and the universe grows, modern science shows a clearer picture of the order in objects, systems, and natural processes large and small. It is what we have lately been referring to as “Intelligent Design” – a new code for inserting divinity into conversations when we don’t want smart people to think we are stupid by mentioning “God”. The question then becomes, ”If we believe in intelligent design, is it rational to believe in an Intelligent Designer?” It is clearly a personal choice that has many apparent plusses and minuses when we try to insert a spiritual twist into a secular world view.

Sometimes what we perceive to be a fork in one road is actually two separate roads travelling together for a short distance but going to different destinations. The fact that our scientific world, grounded on human intelligence, seems to reveal truths that both challenge and verify the possibility of an all-knowing God, the option remains open that the story that God wants us to believe doesn’t lead us to an understanding of the physical world but rather to appreciation of a spiritual existence defined by God’s plan for us. We often engage in “apples and oranges” discussions trying to reach an intellectual consensus that can’t exist in the spiritual context. Paul writes in 1Corinthians 2:13, “We don’t speak about these things using teachings that are based on intellectual arguments like people do. Instead, we use the Spirit’s teachings. We explain spiritual things to those that have the Spirit. A person who isn’t spiritual doesn’t accept the teachings of God’s spirit. He thinks they are nonsense.” And therein lies the conflict and dilemma as we reach out to “educate” those around us to our version of the truth. Each individual needs to come to their own conclusion before a conversation occurs. We can only be dedicated and faithful witnesses and let our example speak to create an interest in our faith.

The Bible, in very simple terms, was never written to provide a scientific basis for the origins of the earth. It was never meant to persuade us that dinosaurs never existed, that the earth is only 6000 years old, or that the creatures that god created do not evolve in response to their environment and the survival of the fittest. The Bible is the story that God gives us so that we can understand His plan for our salvation. It is written in a language and a context that is simple by design so that even the least intellectually capable can grasp the content. It embraces the entire human condition from lust to love, maternity to murder, envy, jealousy, materialism, compassion, greed, revenge, and unfaithfulness. It is a story of unconditional love vs. selfishness and betrayal.

The story of Adam and Eve in the beginning of the Bible highlights the importance of choice in our earthly existence. The concept of Original Sin did not occur through some evil act of violence or larceny. For believers in the Bible, our future course in the universe was set by the first humans simply by choosing against God; a conscious decision to not trust and to disobey the force that created them; the Cosmic Father that walked with them and gave them clear instructions on happiness, health, and fulfillment. As we progress on a journey that brings us closer or pushes us farther from the life that God intended for us, we are forced to continually make choices.  The most fundamental choice is that between the existence of God and the idea of humanity as the smartest and most powerful entity in our immediate universe. In a culture of self-reliance, self-gratification and self-achievement, it is incredibly difficult to let go of “me” and turn authority over to a being we can’t see or touch – a concept many of our friends and neighbors view as a myth or a fairytale; an idea that doesn’t make us look “smart” in today’s world of information and expanding scientific discovery; furthermore a philosophy and morality that seems to curtail our ability to have fun. Classical and neoclassical philosophers recognize the human mind and the ideas it produces as the revealer of ultimate truths. Humanism is an internalized philosophy based on our continually expanding understanding of the logic of our universe. Faith in the theistic context sees God as the center and externalizes the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) independent of the physical world. It is a point-of-view issue that each of us resolves within the framework of our lives and our experience.

My buddy Bruce, a philosophy major in college, impressed on me the metaphysical concept of “the irrelevance of ‘why’”. While our minds are preoccupied with the mental gymnastics of why things happen or why things are the way they are, something either “is” or it “isn’t”. We often agonize over options that don’t exist. It is a simple view of the broader philosophical discussion on “being”. God either is or He isn’t. The more important element when we enter a discussion on God is to preface each point with “if”. We can’t have a discussion about the nature of God if one party doesn’t believe in the existence of God. We can’t use the Bible as an inerrant reference on the character of God if our conversational partner believes the Bible is a corrupt work of man. Every discussion on faith needs to be qualified and begin at the lowest common denominator. Conclusions need to be logical and provide an answer for the present level of understanding. Eternal Life is a great reward, but what about right now and how I deal with whatever situation I am in? My personal faith handles both the present and eternity based on a promise that God gave to Abraham 400 years before Moses received the Commandments. It is a simple promise that we are justified not by our deeds, but by our faith. Our faith then helps us overcome the circumstances of the present because there is a bigger story being played out. The biblical story of Job is the penultimate example of an individual’s pain and suffering and struggle with his faith being played out within a much bigger script of cosmic conflict.

In the same way that we cannot prove the existence of justice, disappointment, or love by touching, feeling and measuring them, God is difficult to prove by scientific methods. The proofs of God to those that believe come from seeing the results of God’s work, whether it is in the vastness of nature or in the solace of one’s personal life. A faith in God starts one step at a time; one stone placed on another. Once we believe in God as the Creator of the Universe, all things regarding our faith in Him are possible to believe: a six-day creation, a serpent offering an apple, a man swallowed by a whale, and a dead man rising back to life. If we don’t believe there is a power and force beyond humanity, all these things are just a mythical impossibility, at best designed to teach us moral lessons in order to make us good people; at worst, a scam to rule the unruly masses and give hope to the hopeless. On the other hand, it is important not to rule out an all-knowing God speaking to us in the Bible in an allegorical manner so that our limited  brains can understand His message. When we speak of inerrancy of the Bible, we have to look at the whole story as it reveals the nature and love of God rather than nitpick chronology, historicity, and geography. Does my Creator-of the-Universe God have the power to create nature and human life in six days? Of course. Did He actually do it in a literal six days, six thousand years ago? I don’t know. What I do know is that if God is the creator, and if the Bible is His inspired word and if this book is His divine users’ manual for humanity, then the six-day creation and Adam and Eve are the beginning of the story He wants us to believe in order to comprehend His ultimate plan for us and His expectations for our lives. He wants us to understand that even if there wasn’t a literal Adam and Eve, they represent the choices we make in life today to obey and trust Him. He wants us to understand that pain and suffering and death are humanity’s choice, not His; that from the very beginning of choosing our own judgment over the judgment of God, that He created an exit strategy for us to be reunited with Him. He wants us to understand that in our imperfection, we can still be loved, not only by God but by those around us. God’s plan is never about what we do, but what He has done. Through the study of his Word, we learn what is important in human life and what is an irrelevant distraction. But all these things are possible only if we choose God over ourselves and begin placing one stone of faith on another.

There are many individuals in my life who have been frustrated by their experience with religion and with the self-righteous people that often associate themselves with God’s Saints. I am no different. But in defense of God, never confuse your faith in Him with religion. Religion is the institutionalized, man-made box into which we collectively place our Faith. It is valuable for multiplying our efforts to do good in an expansive world of pain, suffering, and need; for establishing a network of fellow believers for support and friendship; and for developing an environment for study and spiritual growth. It is not an insulator from the “scumbags” of society or a substitute for God and the personal relationship that is required to sustain our faith. We are all works in progress and a church gives us the opportunity to move forward in becoming part of a movement to radically change the planet one person at a time. It is also a stage for bringing out the worst in us, for making some feel better and more important than others, and for inflicting terrible pain on brethren. The Biblical concept of God graphically teaches that we are imperfect beings and when we band together in self-righteousness, we can inflict more damage than good if our focus isn’t based on love. The Bible is also very clear on our own efforts being useless in gaining our escape from the results of the bad choices of mankind through history. With man spearheading the religious movement of God, it is no surprise that with only one Bible, there are 38,000 denominations of the Christian faith[2] in the world.

For many, God manifests Himself through tradition. We adopt the God of our parents or our neighbors or our friends. A foundational faith requires a subjective analysis of why my God is the right God. There are approximately 20 world religions[3] that claim over 1 million adherents each, with Christianity being the largest accounting for over 33% of the world’s believers in a divine source of life and truth. (Secular/ nonbelievers/ atheists are actually #3 on the list with 16% of the world’s adherents.) Each religion claims to be the one true faith. How do we qualify our own faith without knowing what makes ours different? When C.S Lewis, a member of the Inklings (an informal literary discussion group at Oxford University in the 1930’s), was asked what made Christianity different from other world religions, he replied, “Simple. It is the concept of Grace.” Grace is the divine response to our natural human instincts of self-sufficiency – the giving of the undeserved gift. It is what makes the entire Bible such a radical piece of literature and Christianity an anti-humanistic philosophy. The Judeo-Christian God freely and lovingly gives us what we don’t deserve. We are called upon as adherents to unconditionally do the same. It is difficult. If the Bible was truly written by man, it would ask us to do things and follow rules to gain favor with God. The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8, “God saved you through faith as an act of grace. You had nothing to do with it. Being saved is a gift from God. It is not the result of anything you have done so no one can brag about it. God has made us what we are.” Furthermore, an exploration of world religions and their founders will reveal belief systems placed upon adherents that were not necessarily followed by the leaders. Jesus Christ, the leader of our Christian faith walked the walk and talked the talk to the point of his own death. His documented historic life was a response to a traditional legalistic Judaism that had determined that God’s requirements were impossible for humans to meet. It is a great story and one each of us can aspire to with results that make us partners in a better world; a world blessed with hope of an eventual reunion with God. It is a hope that brings light into dark days, and if the eternity part turns out not to be true, we will have been no worse off for our short life on this earth and our faith based on love, forgiveness, selflessness, humility, service, and grace.

Peter Sildve 12.18.2010