The Christian Continuum

From the Catholics who believe in Transubstantiation to Fundamentalists who believe in the rapture, Christianity in all its forms is fraught with many oddities, mysteries, and confusion. Transubstantiation of Catholicism means that the wafers and the wine of communion are transformed into the literal body and blood of Christ. In the Fundamentalism I was taught, they said that at any moment God would come and take us all back to Heaven with him and those that hadn’t lived right according to the word of God would have to remain and were pretty much screwed. Oh, sure they still had a chance to be saved if they were able to remain faithful to God throughout the hardships of Armageddon.

            I can remember being more terrified of the “left behind” scenario than of any Hell scenario. We were also taught that the Antichrist would come and rule the world and everything would be pretty terrible all around. I have a difficult time with the idea of any god that loves us so much (s)he would make us, just to watch us suffer. I often heard about blasphemy being wrong and an insult to God. But, why would a creator as all-powerful and as all-knowing, not to mention Omni-present, care what you said or how you said it? It stands to reason that any creative force or being of that magnitude would neither require nor need our worship, attention, or devotion. Conservatism and Judeo-Christian influence is all around us in this country from our laws, to where we can build certain buildings. It is integral in our society and not always for the betterment of that society.

            So much of what Christians are taught is either not actually in the Bible or simply a matter of individual interpretation. I don’t meant to imply that the Bible has no value, but it needs to perhaps be approached with a more lighthearted view or not interpreted so strictly. It is a beautifully written and eloquent piece of literature. The contents of the Bible are the combinations of many individuals, their particular perceptions, as well as taking place over the course of many years. When you combine that with the fact that it’s been translated and re-translated into many languages over the years, its many nuances and meanings were most likely lost in translation long ago.

            I have read much about the Bible and the fact that Catholics and Greek Orthodox Bibles have different books in them than the Protestants. I looked up this curious little fact and there isn’t much explanation. But basically a long time ago the heads of the Catholic Church thought that some material was divinely inspired and worthy to be included and other material wasn’t. So that means that someone one day decided that some stuff would go in and some stuff would stay out. Much of this text is referred to as the Apocrypha and there are books not contained in any “Bible” known as the Gnostic text. They are two separate things. I don’t know why some of it (Gnostic text) isn’t included at all, but much of the material has opposing ideas and teachings as well as more woman centered scripture. I guess they just didn’t want it to be too confusing. All those patriarchal priests and scholars were just trying to make sure we didn’t get too mixed up.

I know growing up as a Christian you are never told these facts, because facts such as these may make you doubt or question the validity of dogma and we can’t have that now can we? I am going to let you in on a little secret; we are always confused about faith and spirituality and will always be. It is part of our quest in life to question and learn; we do not ever stop questing for truth because it is then and only then that we are truly alive.

            One of my favorite sayings is, “There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamed of in your philosophy.” If only people could glean meaning, understanding, comfort, and assurance from a philosophy or idea without making it into an umbrella of dogma they believe everyone should live under. It is time for humanity to mentally, emotionally, and psychologically catch up to our technical advances. We could learn something about faith and religion from watching the movie Dogma. Within all the humor and absurdity is the lesson or moral if you will, not to cling so tightly to beliefs as faith can be harmful. There is no one more dangerous than a person with unshakeable faith. We must all come to realize that we are responsible for our planet, our selves, and whether we like it or not each other.

Copyright Layla Tichtchenko 2007