To Andrew, all religions were but a history of God and contrary to their own beliefs. Institutions of faith were required to change since God’s story changed, even though God was considered both immutable and ever-changing. However, the conservative nature of the world’s churches refused to bend. Religion, Andrew offered, was like a chapter in a history book that simply resisted and did not want to become the next chapter, because it felt that if it became “history,” then it would no longer exist. He went on to argue that “human genes show us that history is still alive and makes up a part of what mankind is today and what it will be tomorrow.” In other words, a book with missing pages just didn’t work. The existence of previously “read” pages was integral to the story, and its continued existence was essential to humanity’s complete understanding—and God’s understanding—of the whole story, the whole Self.
The clergy, and those tied to churchianity, didn’t like the notion that they represented only a small and incomplete page in God’s Great Book. They found themselves instead caught in a master paradox: they existed in the present, and yet claimed to know Truth. To know Truth, however, one must have read the entire book. To have read the entire book, one must have been outside of time in order to have escaped the “now.” Since the known world had “apparent” limits, Andrew insisted that it would seem impossible to read a “limitless” book while being manifest; therefore, religion was but a few pages in a four-billion-and-counting-page volume...
“I know the idea of thinking during the summer is heresy, but you may be required to write about this topic for your first term project next fall.”
Moans and groans welcomed the idea of next fall’s projects for aspiring theology graduate students, though there existed a silent understanding among them all that Dr. Andrew was the professor to study under if any desired to be considered freethinkers in the academic theological world.
“Every major point in history can be traced back to a precipitating event,” he began. “This event is the immediate cause, but it is also itself an effect. Let’s consider some examples. The American Revolution: the precipitating event was the ‘shot heard ‘round the world.’ World War I: the assassination of Ferdinand. World War II: Hitler invades Poland. Civil Rights: Martin Luther King is killed.” He paused for a moment, then added, “Christianity: the Crucifixion.
“These events are obviously not the underlying cause of great historical moments, but rather are the final straw, if you will—that which precipitates the next great event. Consider the American Revolution again. One can make a long list of causes, or reasons as to why there was revolution—the tax issue, no representation, unfair commerce laws, indifference on the part of the King, et cetera. All of these causes built a pressure in the colonies. That pressure was released when the first shot was fired in Lexington. Likewise, pressure built around Martin Luther King; pressure built in Germany, in Iraq, in czarist Russia. Finally, in each case, an event occurred—a precipitating event—that allowed the pressure to be released. Such events are frequently attributed to one person—the assassin for example—or to a small group of people. Those who blew up the World Trade Center, for instance. In other words, millions of people may well be affected by the event, but they do not participate in the event itself.
“Wondering what this has to do with theology?”
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