The Global Community Tribunal

The Archbishop of Canterbury stated in an interview with the BBC that the story of the Three Wise Men was nothing but a “legend”. The Telegraph reported on this statement and, as could be expected, it was followed by a flurry of comments.

As usual responses were forthcoming from believers and non-believers and very soon the whole debate degenerated into a lot of name calling and insult.

This made me wonder why the two schools of thought have so much difficulty in discussing a subject which both sides have absolutely no knowledge of. Believers do what they do best, i.e. belief. That is why it is called ‘faith’. There is no empirical proof of something that most probably exist in a dimension which we have no perception of.

Why is it then that atheists always demand ‘scientific evidence’ to justify faith? Most of them ‘believe’ in evolution notwithstanding the fact that the theory has not succeeded in evolving into scientific fact. We ‘believe’ in the Big Bang but none of us has heard anything. We believe in the existence of black holes, parallel universes. eleven dimensions and negative energy but it all remains theory originating in a lively imagination. Until not too long ago ‘science’ accepted Newton and all the natural laws as empirical and beyond reasoning until quantum physicists came and turned the cart over. One moment cholesterol or salt is the cause of heart attacks just to be replaced by stress or something else. Science has not even yet succeeded in developing a cure for the common cold. How on earth can science be used to discredit believes that reaches into the Infinite of a universe which we do not even know whether it is real or just a reflection.

So, there is very little exact about science and most certainly not enough for it to ridicule religious faith. We are dealing with two totally different approaches to the same world which is so infinitely big and of which we know so little that we inevitably need to rely on a large measure of human imagination and faith to grasp some of it. Those who refuse to rely on faith, deny themselves one of the greatest human faculties with which they could gain some insight in what they see and do not see around them.

When I talk about religion I don’t refer to organised religion which I see as the corruption of faith. The Christian faith is all about searching for the Kingdom of God and what it is and what it entails. But many churches do not allow their members to think for themselves and search for God. They have a fixed recipe and they have a vested interest in making sure that you stick to what you are told. With the new charismatic movement, the Toronto experience and the like it has become a powerful weapon with which churches are driven on business principles and for profit. It is actually strange that some of them have not yet opted to list on the New York Stock Exchange!

Now what has all this to do with the nativity scene and the fact that the father of Christianity in Britain has declared most of it ‘legend’? Everything. Like young children, we should delve and look for the origin of all these ‘legends’ before we do away with it. Religion and its history does not stand separated from the general history of Mankind. It is part of it. Don’t just read the Bible. Read Von Danniken, Sitchin, Gardner, Ellis, David Rohl, Paolo Coelho and so many others who are all searching for God in all His glory and magnificence.

It is a wonderful journey to make and one that should never be ruined by the bleak and unimaginative souls who refer to themselves as ‘atheists’.

J.C.Grobler.

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This entry was posted on Friday, December 21st, 2007 at 7:37 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.