Most of us believe we live in a modern, secular world informed by the findings of science. We’ve abandoned many ideas once held to be true. Only the uninformed still believe the world is flat or that Earth is the centre of the universe. Yet, much of what we believe about life and the divine is influenced by the beliefs of our ancestors. In a religious context, our leaders have held us captive to the content of sacred scriptures written thousands of year ago.
The scriptures I’m familiar with are the ones collected in what Christians call the Bible. The Old Testament is a library of stories told by the Hebrews about how the world was created, how they became God’s chosen people, and how they failed to live up to their agreements with God. They’re a kind of history interspersed with prophecies and promises of a Messiah.
However, no matter what form they take, the texts of the Old Testament or Torah are teaching stories. They are not factual history and they are not transcriptions of the Word of God. They are stories explaining the world as understood by people living in the Middle East three or more thousand years ago.
A few things have changed since then.
The New Testament has four stories about the life of Jesus and a collection of letters written by his disciples interpreting the meaning of his life and death. The Gospels tell the events of Jesus’ life and hold a collection of his sayings or teachings. They include claims of a virgin birth, miracles, Jesus being the Son of God, and his death and resurrection being a sacrifice needed to atone for our sins and earn our salvation. The books making up the New Testament were written by people who interpreted the significance of Jesus’ life in light of the promised Messiah of the Torah.
The words of the New Testament were written around two thousand years ago, according to Bible scholars, and were codified into a set of beliefs through a series of Church Councils that started with the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. Since then, we’ve been taught to believe what’s in the Bible as the Word of God. All those teaching and preaching in Christian Churches claim to derive their authority from the Bible.
Questions
- What makes us think the divine stopped communicating with us when John penned the Book of Revelation?
- What makes us think our ancestors had it all worked out when it came to God and how life works?
- What if what we regard as sacred scriptures contain more fabrications than truth?
- Where do such questions leave us?
We could walk away, telling ourselves they’re nothing more than stories. Many have taken that option and dismissed the divine out of hand. That’s the path that leads to atheism.
But that’s only one option. Whether we choose to believe what’s written in scripture or not, a lot of us are still looking for deeper meaning. Something whispers to us that there is more to life than physical reality – even if we regard the story of creation in Genesis as a fable.
This is where the Mystical Journey comes in. Mystics know that God is still talking to us, and has been talking to us forever. Mystics know there is some truth contained in the words of scripture even if the details are fiction.
We can read the insights of mystics down through the ages and we can accept their invitation to listen to the still small voice within that whispers to us continually.
We can release ourselves from the beliefs of our ancestors by realising we are one with the divine and don’t need a priest or theologian to tell us what to believe or connect us to God. But, we must be willing to pause long enough to hear and trust the voice whispering in our hearts.
Featured Photo by Stephen Radford on Unsplash