Blasphemy

This is a novel by Douglas Preston.

Looking through the reviews on amazon.com, one sees a spectrum of opinion. This is one of those kinds of books. I find myself all over the place about it.

I found that the book started off very slow and is a choppy read in many ways, but reads better nearer the end. It is hard to tell in some ways what Preston's message might be.

I won't go into details so as not to spoil the book for people who have not read it, but the book is really about God, the meaning of life and maybe even science versus religion. Preston depicts certain Christians in a truly bad light in the process and may even suggest in some way (I think unfairly) that most are like them. The "alternative" presented in the book seems to be based on a sham, but then it is hard to say if that is truly the case as well. Read the book, and this will make sense. Again, it is hard to tell exactly what viewpoint Preston meant to support, but it seems he leans toward the new religion depicted, if anywhere.

I got mad at Preston at several points in the book - parts of the book seemed divisive and unfair. But then he would back off a little and I'd continue. He would then present some rather appealing ideas.

Suffice it to say, I have an educational background in science, engineering and the law and do not find that science and religion have to be at odds. Maybe the Big Bang and the expanding universe is how we perceive an unfolding thought of God. Maybe evolution is another of these unfolding thoughts or part of a bigger one. That seems easier to me to accept than the alternatives. I think that Preston might even agree with me that God is behind what science is discovering; he might also agree with me that we should be careful about how we interpret what we read in the Bible. I think that I am just more respectful of more traditional religious beliefs (even if I disagree) and those who hold them.

Take a look at the book if this sort of thing sounds to your liking and let me know what you think.

Conversion

During my recent readings in the Bible and searchings for the meaning of life, I wondered exactly what it was that propelled Christianity from an outcast religion to a true power in the Roman Empire and beyond. Maybe the key to what I was looking for lay in that. I thought long and hard about what I had read in the Gospels.

Then, it struck me. It must have been the analogy between God and a loving father. OK, I might seem a little slow to some of you, but hear me out.

Growing up with this idea makes it seem like no big deal to many of us, but let's put ourselves in the shoes of the Romans. Their gods were sort of like larger than life humans with larger than life bad habits who did not care much for humans. Although the myths are good stories, there is not much to hang your hat on there about the meaning of life.

The picture of God related by Jesus (and even the earlier, standard Jewish one) was certainly a big improvement. Add in all the good Jesus stories, and things all start to make sense - about what the Romans saw and maybe what I am looking for in my search. Sort of a restart with the fundamentals and go from there perhaps for my part.

Maybe in the fairly empty age we find ourselves in, we need to consider this message that God is a loving father and all that flows from that and get with the program.

The Bible

I finished reading the Bible today - the Oxford annotated edition of the RSV. Actually, I read only some (but still many) of the books from the Old Testament and Apocrypha, but did read the entire New Testament. It took me a little over 2 years to do it. I had some help getting through it besides the annotations in the edition I read - some commentary in two other books.

It was an interesting project, but not really what I expected when I started. I've already made comments on each part of my Bible reading before, so I won't repeat this.

I will say this here though. The understanding of God really changed between the Old and New Testaments as most people know, but I think not as much as might have been warranted by what Jesus actually taught.

Suffice it to say, I have more searching to do, but the Bible will be my basis in many ways. Stay tuned.

The New Testament

I finished reading the New Testament today - the Oxford annotated edition of the RSV. This was the first time I had read the entire thing.

Even though I had probably seen most of it piecewise over the years, it seemed different when read all together. Surprisingly, I found that a number of famous and familiar quotes in context were somehow less powerful. The gospels seemed a little choppy, and the letters seemed a bit "way out" in many ways. Revelation, which I had once read as a whole, seemed more bizarre and alien than I remembered or expected.

I had hoped to better understand who Jesus was/is after finishing, but I don't feel I was very successful. I think that I will have to keep looking to figure this out, but I do have some ideas on how to do that. Stay tuned.