On Religious Thought, Part 3

The third reason for concluding that all religious thought is manmade is that the creation as presented in Christianity, as well as in all other religions was left with no definitive avenue of communication between the deity and the creation. The communication process, ultimately and as described in Christianity, is one of revelation, the indispensable link being some individual man. Various men had offered various revelations as to the character and intentions of the deity — these have differed both in detail and in concept. The indefiniteness of the communication between man and the deity lies in the condition that there is no way of choosing between the alternative revelations offered. Typically each one claims to be, if not the correct one, then the best one. The choice in the end reduces to a trust in the particular individual making the revelation. It is the height of absurdity to claim that one in particular is true because it is deity-inspired, because the choice of a relation to believe depends not on this but on trust in the revealing individual. Even if one revelation were truly deity-inspired there is no basis for selecting it rather than any other. Logically either all revelations are true communications from the deity or none of them are.

There are other characteristics of the revelation process which make it man-inspired rather than deity-inspired. For example, for the process to be good and just, and thus to reflect the qualities of the deity it must be equally appealing and convincing to all men. Since men differ in understanding and situation the revelation must vary in its attributes so as to be equally appealing and convincing in all cases. It is not adequate for the revelation to appeal to only one or a few humans or many humans but not all. For the claim to be made that one particular revelation is correct even though it is rejected by one or more individuals means that it is inherently human-inspired and created. For a revelation to be correct, every many would have to be an identical clone of every other man and in the same situation and with the same history; thus every person would be equally appealed to and convinced. Obviously this is not the case in the history of the human race and therefore revelation is totally a man-created idea.

Another weakness in the revelations produced so far in the history of mankind is that they do not correspond to the characteristics of the world as it is observed. The most telling of these discrepancies is that revelations are typically static either in whole or in part. The revelation is presented on a “take it or leave it but do not change it” basis. If there is one thing evident from the world around us it is that it changes. The picture of creation as being functionally finished and complete after man’s creation denies the occurrence of real changes not only in the physical and biological world but also in man’s perception of it. This and other discrepancies are so basic and flagrant that they could only occur in an imperfect man-created revelation.

More specifically in the case of Christianity itself there are several basic illogicalities that destroy its connection with traditional Jewish writings. Two of these relate to the prophecies from the Old Testament which are considered the basis for making Jesus the promised savior. One of these indicates that the savior would be of the “House of David.” This lineage in the case of Jesus is through Joseph. Because of the doctrine of the virgin birth, this basis is effectively removed. The argument could perhaps be raised that Jesus was in the household of Joseph but this is a specious justification at best because of the careful blood-line relationship from David to Joseph outlined in the Bible. The doctrine of the virgin birth was probably incorporated in Christian belief to buttress the belief in the divinity of Christ; it is paradoxical that in the end it would do more to destroy it than to enhance it.

The second prophecy used as a basis for Jesus being the savior is that of the promised Messiah. The Messiah was supposed to deliver the Jewish people from their sins and from political domination by others. It cannot be that Jesus was the Messiah since he did not achieve this. Merely coming in the guise of the Messiah is not sufficient — the proof of being the Messiah rests not in the promise but in the actuality. That Jesus was a “Messiah” to the non-Jewish community is not enough. In a way the Jewish people are the only hope for Jesus ever being the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. It is only be a consensus acceptance by the Jewish community of Jesus as the Messiah that would validate him as such. Subconsciously this realization may be the reason for the ages-long prejudice that Christians have regarding the Jews — deep down there may be the hidden feeling in them that there is nothing to Christianity until and unless it is accepted by the Jews. Christianity carries on its record as being the cause of the Nazi policy of exterminating the Jewish people. Not a very high recommendation of it as a way of life.

It surely strikes me as evidence that Christianity is a man-made product when it contains such incontrovertible items of illogical premises as I have outlined about.