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Welcome to OneLife Ministries. This site is designed to lead you prayerfully into a heart experience of Divine Presence, Who is Love. I hope persons of varied wisdom paths will find inspiration here.
Blessings,
Brian Kenneth Wilcox
MDiv, MFT, PhD
Interspiritual Teacher, Author
You are invited to join Brian at his fellowship group on Facebook - OneLife Ministries – A Contemplative Interspiritual Fellowship.
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The heresy of literalism as such is a modern, post-scientific phenomenon. Its beginnings can be traced in seventeenth-century Protestant orthodoxy, but it bloomed with twentieth-century Fundamentalism, when the modern world fully embraced the dynamic power of natural science. Scientific method crucially altered the Western mind. After Descartes we became principled skeptics, doubting in order to find out the truth. The notion stole into the religious mind that biblical narratives make proposals that only appear to compete with testable scientific findings (to test our faith) while ultimately, if miraculously, conforming to scientific truth.
*Kevin Lewis. On the Heresy of Literalism. http://people.cas.sc.edu/ .
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A man moved into the house I live in. Shortly, he urged me to share with him about my spiritual beliefs. He acted like he wanted to hear my views. I refused to share. I just advised him that we pray together. We did have prayer.
Why not share? I could tell right away two things: he was not prepared to hear my views, and he would simply discount them. So, why waste his or my time? And, later, his behaviors and words confirmed what I first saw. Among his literalist views was that man - meaning "male" - is superior to women, and women are the main problem in our world. Why? He believed literally that God made woman from Adam's rib; so, man is in God's image but woman is not.
No, it is not an act of unlove to refuse to share your religious and spiritual views and practices with someone who is not prepared to receive graciously, and honor your journey of faith. Sometimes we need to politely say, “No, ...” Likewise, literalists can be toxic personalities, and we need to be careful the kinds of pesons we closely associate with and share our spiritual experience with.
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BONES TO TEST OUR FAITH
A Christian scholar who held the Bible
to be literally true
was once accosted by a scientist who
said, “According to the Bible the
earth was created some five thousand
years ago. But we have discovered bones
that point to life on earth
a million years ago.”
Pat came the answer, “When
God created earth five thousand
years ago, he deliberately put those
bones in to test our faith and see
if we would believe his Word
rather than scientific evidence.”
Further evidence of rigid belief leading to reality distortion.
*Story and closing comment by Anthony de Mello. Song of the Bird.
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Some persons are very literal about being very literal. Literalists in religion are persons who have no intent to question their beliefs. They speak of faith, but do not exercise the faith to be open to Truth. They can always use the Bible to prove the Bible, or quote church tradition, to prove their point. To argue with them means three things: you can not win the argument, they are never wrong, you will always be wrong if you differ with them. So, here is some sage advice: Never, no never, argue religion with a literalist. Why? For one thing - You are wasting your time.
©Brian Wilcox, and OneLife Ministries. 03/18/2010
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*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian Kenneth Wilcox, SW Florida. Brian lives a vowed life and with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis. Brian is a member of United Communities of Spirit: A Global Interfaith Initiative, for advancing the cause of understanding and peace among persons of different faiths and beliefs. OneLife Ministries seek to share this spirit of unity among all peoples of faith and humanity as a whole.
*Brian welcomes responses to his writings at briankwilcox@yahoo.com . Also, Brian is on Facebook: search Brian Kenneth Wilcox.
*You can order his book An Ache for Union from major booksellers.
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