Worlds Apart

I would like to think that I have developed a reasonably strong argument for personal experience as the bedrock of theology, as the means by which we experience God as God experiences through us. Where religion seems to be fundamentally at odds with this approach is its insistence upon mediation to authenticate or validate the experience. In other words, religion attempts to define the parameters of who, what, where, why and how a genuine “interaction” with God occurs. Priests, shamans, and witch doctors all claim, by virtue of the religious tenets to which they subscribe, that the direct personal experience of God is limited to those who are ordained, called, etc. When someone like Jesus of Nazareth comes along and proclaims a relationship with the Divine that is so intimately personal as to refer to God as “Daddy”, the religious establishment goes bonkers. While it is true that Martin Luther espoused the priesthood of all believers, the Christian brand of religion has steadfastly maintained that there are some who are “better connected” with God than others. This may serve to explain why—at least in my experience—so few churches genuinely focus on theology.