On God - What to do with Jesus?

So far in this conversation, Norman Mailer seems to be making up his views on God and the universe as he goes along. I'm all for the wide-open approach to seeking truth, but it should go somewhere. As we discover truth and yield to it through application, we should start to find some answers that make sense. To just settle in with a few strange assumptions about God and the nature of things seems unsustainable and unsatisfying to me.

It is interesting that Mailer feels that Jesus Christ is necessary for humanity. He says, "Jesus as a principle of love, compassion, forgiveness, and mercy is something we can all comprehend. We feel it in ourselves. We feel it in the best part of ourselves, the gentlest, richest, most generous part." This seems to be a common feeling for many. I've heard others say they are ok with Jesus, but not God. The Holy Spirit is at work in this world drawing people toward Christ. We instinctively know love and mercy; generosity and goodness are what we were created to be. Rather than following Jesus through until one knows God as the loving father he is, many stop short seeing God as wrath without mercy, law without Christ the fulfillment, and justice without grace. 

Mailer goes on to say, "But organized religions repel me because of the philosophical inconsistency of their God before whom they prostrate themselves, God the Almighty, God the All-Powerful." I'm not sure organized religion has ever been a reliable path to knowing God. If you follow the human side of the equation, you will always find inconsistencies and confusing self-serving impressions of God.

My advice to anyone seeking God as Mailer was, is to pursue Jesus Christ. Hold loosely to what you know and what you discover. Keep moving forward and you will find and know God in a personal way. I promise you, at some point, all the puzzle pieces will fit perfectly into place. Eventually all the seeds of self will fall into the ground and die so they can be resurrected to new life.

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