Finding truth
I haven’t had much time today, but I sat down and spat this out in creative writing.
Ever since I got to Pepperdine, I’ve been trying to sift out what I truly believe from all the things that I’ve carried around with me out of habit. You can’t go through life collecting “truth” from other people. There’s no faith in that.
The problem, however, is that I’ve held onto only a few gold nuggets. I though I knew but found that I really don’t. And along the way, I’ve picked up a few that were deemed taboo previously.
I began by stripping away all belief. I took a very Cartesian approach to it. And I found that God is. I feel that Descarte’s ontological argument provides for that. But I’ve only discovered a philosopher’s God. All-knowing, all-powerful, all-good, infinite, supremely perfect. But He’s not the Christian God. And I have no Jesus. Yes, Jesus existed. But as a man, a prophet. The Christian equivalent of Buddha.
I find Buddhism compelling. There is a philosophical argument for polytheism, which I haven’t completely explored. I don’t believe in it, but it’s interesting. It’s plausible. Reincarnation is a beautiful thought. I don’t believe in it, but, again, it seems possible. Why not when we’re talking about metaphysics and God and afterlife?
So, why do the people surrounding me push Christianity? Why Jesus? Out of all the faiths, why that one?
In fact, why choose just one? Why must God be boxed and labeled and cut off from certain people? For Christianity to say that only belief in Jesus gets you into Heaven…how elitist and segregational. Buddhism and Shinto and Hindu would never say that. It’s all about chances and doing your best and simplicity and the path.
So why, if I must take a leap of faith, should it be into Christianity? And what epistemic proof is there for Jesus as the Savior?
My favorite spiritual metaphor comes from Life of Pi when Pi is talking to all the different religious leaders about how he practices many faiths. He comments on how different lands accept all different types of passports. So why can’t Heaven?
Last 5 posts by InfiniteInk
- Ontological Argument and the Cartesian Circle - February 8th, 2008
- Buried Memories - February 8th, 2008
- Phantom Harpist - February 5th, 2008
- Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path - February 3rd, 2008
- Madame Butterfly - February 3rd, 2008