Searching - My Journey Along a Spiritual Path

As I mentioned in my previous post, the Bible is a collection of 66 “books” (73 in the Catholic version), although none of these could truly be considered books as we understand the term today.   Rather, they are letters or short stories written by a variety of authors, in most cases decades and even centuries after the events which they attempt to describe.   I will concentrate almost exclusively on the New Testament, as that is the definitive and often authoritative collection that is part-and-parcel of the Christian church and faith.   The majority of the New Testament consists of Paul’s letters – including the disputed ones – and the four gospels.   I have already presented a timeline for those writings.   Nearly all the other letters and books were likely written between 70 – 100AD, some 40 – 70 years AFTER Jesus’ ministry.   The books dubiously ascribed to Peter (almost certainly NOT the apostle Peter) weren’t written until 100 – 150AD.   The N...

W ho wrote the Gospels and the New Testament? The foundation of any discussion of Christianity must stand on the figure of Jesus.   He is the central character of the four gospels, and the primary subject of most of the other letters and writings found in Christianity’s New Testament.   It was his teachings and ministry that caused a small group of first century Jewish followers to radically reinterpret centuries-old Jewish teachings and, over time, helped found a new movement completely separate from traditional Judaism and whose adherents eventually became known as “Christians”.     After centuries of internal struggles and external (and sometimes internal) persecutions, this new faith – or at least the ultimately dominant sect of this faith – was to become the official religion of the once-hated Roman empire and its teachings and methods spread around the globe.   Today, Christianity in its huge variety of forms is considered the largest religious group in ...

Being born into a Catholic family and reared in the faith, I was exposed to the Catholic Bible from a very early age.   While I do not recall my parents reading the Bible to me, they both would reference it when they wanted to impart a valuable lesson or story.   The earliest recollection I have of the Bible is from my doctors and dentists’ offices.   While waiting to be seen by the doctor for what seemed to be an interminable amount of time – something that still hasn’t changed in 60+ years – I would eagerly grab the richly illustrated children’s Bibles that seemed to always be amongst their collection of magazines and reading material to browse.   I vividly recall being amazed at the beautiful artistic renderings of Noah in his Ark battling oceans of rain and perilous waves.   I was soothed by the images of baby Jesus in the manger surrounded by his adoring parents and apparently equally adoring farm animals.   I was terrified by the incredibly unsettli...

These questions and doubts bounced around my mind for a long, long time … decades upon decades.   Was I the only one having these questions and doubts?   I didn’t hear anyone else inquiring about this or raising these subjects in class.   Was I a freak?   Had Satan (is he / it real?) gotten a hold of me and was deceitfully and with sinister delight filling me with evil and sinful thoughts, even worse thoughts than when I admired that infamously saucy Farah Fawcett poster?     But who could I talk to?   Who could I ask?   To my recollection, all of my religion classes were led by Catholic priests or nuns.   I certainly couldn’t ask them lest I be considered an evil-minded, misguided, devil-indwelt heathen.   Plus, those nuns were known for taking sadistic glee in smacking misbehavers with a sturdy ruler or yardstick.   Spanking was still allowed in school, and I certainly didn’t want my bum bruised.   Oh, the shame!   Wha...

PART 1 Critical thinking has been defined – at least by Google AI -- as “the intellectually disciplined process of actively analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing information to reach reasoned, objective, and sound judgments . It involves questioning assumptions, identifying biases, and using logic to assess evidence, moving beyond simple information recall to deeper understanding. ”     I think most everyone would agree that critical thinking is an essential part of growth and, indeed, being human.  It allows us to carefully and cerebrally analyze a topic, statement or assertion and make an informed determination as to its truth or falsehood.  This type of thinking and decision-making process allows us to navigate through an infinite number of daily tasks, dilemmas and situations and make informed, well-thought-out decisions and judgments.  Without critical thinking, we would be doomed to persistently believing lies, half-truths and false assertions and prem...