Category: doctrine

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  John 14:6 

Truth – firm as a rock and fleeting as the wind. Absolute, without compromise. No meddling, altering, blemishing that which is in its purest essence. More common, however, are our tainted thoughts, simpleton sayings, inaccurate interpretations, misguided misconceptions. What did Jesus say? What were his teachings? What are we suppose to get from the stories, the parables, the poetry expressed in words assumed to convey equivalent meanings in every native tongue unadulterated by the filter of a translator?

Many would find the sentiment “to each his own” uncomfortable, unscientific, unnerving in view of the bias implied. But the filters of genetics, environment, and experiences are impossible to negate. Thus the uniqueness of every line penned, the choice and placement of each word, the time, cultures, and technologies it spans, lends itself to misinterpretation, manipulation and sets itself up for mockery and mistreatment. And yet there is so much simplicity in the announcement “I am the way, the truth and the life” – and we are bidden simply to come. 

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.  Acts 17:26-27

Boundaries – should we live as if they are static or dynamic? Is it possible to continually evolve under a fixed set of rules? It’s entertaining to consider the notion that the “laws” of science are not a permanent framework to derive understanding. What foundation is there to hypothesize and propose interpretations if the underlying principles assumed were not the same in the past and will not be true in the future?

We could simply add a time-dependent component to our theoretical models or employ a different time constant to reconcile an age when the average age was much longer than 80-years. Currently, however, the prevailing wisdom is that we presume an unchanging construct established under peer-review. But where did this strong bias for permanence come from when it seems more natural to favor change based on experience? What in the world is more constant than change?

The religious may argue for a wall of immutable statues based on their belief in an unchanging God. Isn’t this implied by the very name he declared for himself – “I am”? The problem with this assertion, however, is there are no limits in a nature that embodies all that was and is and is to be. Only infinity is the rightful “bound” of that which is inherently constant. Which, I guess, is the reason that all that evolves – exists in the physical world – must be assigned a time and marked out a place instilling a desire for that which is forever, eternal, and knows no end.