“It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
In computers, we can divide the world into operating systems and applications. So, too, religion. Applications don't run properly unless the operating system is installed, maintained and updated. The favorite hobby of Christians, however, is doing applications. This article is an example of an application. While we are off on a lark doing applications, who is tending to the Christian operating system? Who is installing, maintaining and upgrading the Christian operating system? When we are off on a lark doing applications, the Christian operating system grinds to a halt and, with it, Christianity itself. Can 50% of our practice of Christianity be devoted to the Christian operating system? Is 50% too much to ask?
What are we doing to make the Christian understanding of God known in the Valley of Tears? This article certainly does nothing. We see the author engaged in his hobby. When will we see him and others like him engaged in the meat and potatoes of Christianity, that is, closing the gap between our understanding of God and the nature of God. Closing the gap between our understanding of God and the nature of God is the point and place of beginning for Christianity. It deserves the position of prominence in the showcase of Christianity.
“It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
Yes, it picks our pockets and breaks our legs. Why? It is nonsense that distorts our perception of reality.
The Christian understanding of God arises from the lopsided conversation that took place on the road from the Crucifixion to the Resurrection. In the lopsided conversation, we interrogated Jesus with lash, thorns, nails and cross. We gave him the third degree. Jesus answered us. He did not hang mute. His tongue was not nailed to the cross. He gave us his gentle answer to the brutal and lethal evil that we did to him. He forgave us (Jeremiah 31:31-34) (Luke 23:34) (Matthew 26:28). BY FORGIVING US DESPITE THE EVIL THAT WE DID TO HIM - EVIL BOTH BRUTAL AND LETHAL, JESUS UPGRADED OUR UNDERSTANDING OF GOD. "... for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:31-34) . It is the most important conversation between humanity and divinity since God and Moses spoke at the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-3) . God poured more and better theology into the 'conversation' than He poured into the heads of every apologist, theologian, Doctor of the Church, monk, abbot, mystic, priest, monsignor, bishop, Cardinal, Pope, hermit and saint who has ever lived or will ever live. The gratuitousness of Jesus's gift of forgiveness gobsmacks us. It knocks us off our horse (Acts 9:4) . Like Moses astonished, we turn aside to see this great sight (Exodus 3:1-3) trying to understand it better. Our curiosity wants more. By forgiving us for the evil that we did to him even though we did not deserve forgiveness (Jeremiah 31:31-34) (Luke 23:34) (Matthew 26:28) , Jesus created the strongest force on earth. Love in the form of forgiveness gives Christianity its magic and Jesus his charisma. The gravity of his gentle answer to the brutal and lethal evil that we did to him pulls us into a centripetal orbit around him. It is the honey that draws the bees back home to the hive.
Let us return from our hobbies and apply our talents to the Christian operating system. 50% to the Christian operating system. 50% to the applications.