When the Homily is about Immunology

So What?

For those of you who were following the comment thread, I am beginning the discussion anew here with my answer to what I meant by "So what" in regards to the mystery "god-man" resurrection myths and the undertsanding that Christianity appears to be a blenderized version of Judaic and Hellenistic religious beliefs.

The conclusion is yours to draw.

The presumed conclusion as is typically offered to Christians is that because we perceive a mish-mash of hellenistic and hebraic religions AND that we have seen resurrecting "god-man" myths before that we ought to conclude that Christianity is therefore untrue. Or more specifically that the person of Jesus Christ had become something He Himself never actually was. Frankly I do not see how this neccesarily follows...unless one brings with them certain presuppositions (which can steer us either way - a tendency toward disbelief or a tendency toward belief.)

And so when someone says stuff like Christianity is merely a rehatched "god -man" myth, or some bizarre syncretism of hellenism and whatever, I ask: so what.

If the person of Christ (as God in the flesh) is the cornerpiece of human history, if He is the person that we Orthodox say He is - then we should expect nothing less than to see mythological fingers pointing toward him. Is this an apologetic? Well, only in answer to the argument for which I ask: "So what?"

I do not pretend to have the answers that will "ultimately and logically lead a person" to faith in Christ. I've long since given up on the "scientifc" attempts of "proving" the Bible or the philosophical "proofs" for the existance of God. A friend sends me occassional emails in which he shows some new scientific proof that the creation story is true...I just shrug. By the same token, the study of history has lead me to certain conclusions about Christianity and about the Orthodox Church - leading me away first from evangelical fundamentalism and then from the theological relativism often found in the ECUSA.

There is something about the Orthodox understanding of the beatitude which says: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." While I do not pretend to have a pure heart - far from it...but I do believe that it is in THIS realm (not so much the mind) that we ought to begin the search for God.

Yesterday at a protestant friends house we were sitting down (sitting down?) to pray for dinner and my son nudged me: "Where's the pray thingys?" I didn't quite hear him and asked him what he meant. "The icons?" he said. Well I belayed his question telling him that I'd try and explain later. But it reminded me of the truth I see in the Icons and in the life of the Church. Looking at the fruit of the Church (meaning the lives of her saints) speaks volumes of truth to me that transcend the things of science, textual criticism, and yes - even logic.

The words of Christ (as expressed in the Gospels) rings of profound truth...but more than that..He Himself rings of truth "I am the Truth" He says, and the words in the halo of His icon remind me of this everyday.

Am I decieved? I wrestled with that question a long time ago and at times when I begin to doubt again I find that more often than not (for me, and perhaps me alone) that I do not do so for purely intellectual reasons - but for other more heart-related reasons. The "intellectual" reasons simply offer superficial support to the doubt I grow in my heart. If I am right, that the realm of discovering God is in the heart and not the head, then surely this must be the case?

Of course, none of this precludes the further discussion or historical and philosophical arguments/theories on the existance of God or the truth that I supposed is to be found in the Orthodox Church...rather I hope it gives such discussion some greater context and understanding.