“The exclusivism of there being only one way in which we can be saved, the idea that there is a single religious group that is in sole possession of the truth–that is the world as we know it that must pass away. What is the Kingdom? It lies in our realization of the ubiquity of the divine presence in our neighbors, in our enemies, in all of us.”
— Joseph Campbell
Explorations of Life and Enlightenment
Is religious truth antipodal to “false”? Is such truth true in the sense of logic? If so, is God limited by logic? I argue in my posts that religious truth is sui generis (i.e., unique).
Hi Free
Religions are typically built from a persons or group of peoples profound experiences or revelations. Over time, a teaching develops, then becomes formalized. In further time, the teaching or “truth” often becomes divorced from the experience. Revelation becomes dogma, taught as expected belief. Ego gets involved and make this right and everyone else wrong.
However, within that teaching remains the seeds of its origin. When a person has their own ‘revelations’, they find the shared experience in other faiths.
As “truth” is founded in fundamental intelligence, what we might call the mind of God, it has a fundamental logic. However, that logic may not be initially apparent in a revelatory experience. Such experiences are usually beyond mind so it can take mind time to catch up. Describing it to someone else who has not shared the experience, they may find illogical paradoxes. But this is not because it is not logical but because it dos not match the perceptual framework of the listener.
The paradox of free will vs determinism is a classic example. I’ve spoken about that here several times. It is resolved when it is discovered they are the same thing. However this is not logical until it is your experience that what is created exists only within the creator and Thou art That.
Conceptual models of God may limit our conception but this has no influence on God, only our perception of same. Logic exists within God, not God within logic.
Those individual revelations I spoke of that founded religions are indeed unique. But as each unique experience is of the same fundamental reality, there is a common flow through them. Like the blind describing how they experience different parts of an elephant, there are many ways of perceiving God. But seen as a whole, you see it’s all describing one thing. Different perspectives, one truth.
Interesting blog – welcome to the blogosphere.