“I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy.”
- GK Chesterton
When I was much younger, I tried to found my own religion. We all do at one time or another: how can I take what everyone is saying and combine it to map the ultimate way to live this life? But that would have been like founding my own reality. Alas, I do not think that is possible - no matter how many self help books and New Age teachers would say the contrary. Reality is contingent upon a Creator, of which I am forever indebted to.
I was watching this Sylvan Franklin video recently in which he starts the video off with “why I picked zen Buddhism instead of Orthodox Christianity”. I am going to reply to the video in written/video format, but this is not to attack Sylvan in any way, he seems to be a seeker of Truth on the path; he’s a talented programmer, and he’s much younger than I; when I was his age, I wasn’t pursuing truth in any capacity at all - much the opposite!
The core argument#
The central argument of humanity is thus: Absolute Truth either exists or it does not.
The statement that “absolute truth does not exist” is in and of itself an absolute truth, negating the argument entirely: It is an ultimate self-refutation.
Therefore Ultimate Truth both exists and is knowable: it is possible to have a personal relationship with Reality itself.
There is only one worldview that espouses that the Truth can be personally and universally knowable and relational. Christianity.
When I tried to found my own religion, I could not - because there are contradictions at the most fundamental level. Theology becomes inevitable and a necessity - for it is the study of Reality itself. If Reality is personal, then the only way to live in Reality is relationship with Him - God is Reality itself, Reality is a Person.
On “choosing” a spirituality#
Theology is ultimately a study of reality itself, so the argument I would begin with is that there is reality, then there are degrees of reality, and non-reality (Hell) entirely.
You “can” choose to live in reality or non-reality, of that I am certain - but the fact remains that if you want to live in reality, you are going to give up much to do so. Sylvan mentions the “benefits of religion” A. vs. religion B. - but this misses the point: if you want to live in reality where Truth exists (objective Truth) then you are not “picking a religion” - reality is making itself known to you, all else is a shrouded reality, or quite literally a non-reality.
He goes on to say that people in the West are drawn to religions of the East due to their “mystical” natures - but I would say.. Go to a TLM. He discusses Christianity losing its appeal because God has become a dumbed down representation of a man floating in the sky, to which I would reply “in what Christianity is this so?” People that see God as a “man in the sky” have lost the plot before the book has even been opened, and while I know it to be a common phenomenon, this is a subversion that serves certain groups rather than what Catholics believe.
I understand the fetishization of Eastern belief in the West (Alan Watts, Aldous Huxley et al.) because people want hacks—they want a spirituality that serves them, rather than demanding service. I fell into that for some time in my mid-20s: drugs, meditation, breathwork, attempting astral projection. All of these miss the point, and are dangerous spiritually. Demons do exist, and emptying yourself with no idea of what you are allowing in is at best misdirected and at worst, recipe for possession.
Religion as a “very powerful piece of human engineering”#
Arguably, what Christianity has done is built the Western world, the morality system, the legal system, the university system, So, yes, it has caused great engineering - because when you align with the infinite, infinite potential abounds. Hence the cathedrals of medieval Europe.
If your spiritual practice leads to the same behaviours, then “it’s just as good”#
Why?
Morality can be seen as a non-human construct - but there is a reason for it. Christianity says that because you, I, and everyone else is an “Imago Deo” - made in the image of God. If God is goodness itself, then it thus is apparent that goodness is written on our hearts, meant to be the ultimate target of all that we do, and to will Goodness in everyone around us.
On the existence of Objective Truth#
My reply to the video was simply thus:
One cannot “choose” Truth. As in computing, it is binary - either True or False. If you want the Truth, you find the Truth. You can “choose” a partial truth, but then you are settling for something that is less than the Truth.
If Truth (objective truth, not just subjective “your truth or my truth”) exists, then so too does God. Settling for less than Truth is settling for less than God - and we do this everyday by looking to finite things.
Religion/Spirituality is how to see reality#
What many people get wrong is that “religion” is a choice of that which “best serves the individual”. ie: I choose Christianity because it “benefits me” in some way.
This could not be further from the truth - in many ways by becoming Christian, you are actually dying a very painful death - one in which you are giving up everything you thought to be true through your whole life, to find that which actually is True.
On the Resurrection#
The most important and transformational argument of Christianity is that Christ was murdered, descended into Hell, and on the Third day, rose again. Thousands of martyrs have gone to the grave arguing that this happened. This is not metaphorical as Jordan Peterson has been discussing lately - it is the miracle on which all history hinges upon.
If the Resurrection did not happen, then Christianity is nothing. If it did happen, then it is everything.
Submission#
Ultimately, to find out who you are is submission not optimization or striving. You will only become that which you were meant to be, your Highest calling, if you go all the way down and give up your life to find life everlasting.
Atheism is inherently impossible in practice. You can claim to “not worship anything”, but everyone serves something. The functional atheist simply substitutes finite goods (career, sex, power, even “inner peace”) for the Infinite Good.
Atheists are still in relationship with Reality—just distorted reality.
If you want Truth, you cannot “choose” it like selecting from a menu—Truth reveals itself to honest inquiry. And sustained rational pursuit of Reality leads, quite literally, to Rome. Those who seek Truth will be given it. The question is whether you’re willing to walk the road wherever it leads.
As always, God bless, and until next time.
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