The Search: Looking for Truth in the Christian Religion

By Harvey Meredith

This story is an insight into the views and understandings of someone raised in a strict Catholic family, forced to learn a religion at the earliest age. This study was undertaken after a near lifetime of reflection upon the beliefs and the basis of his religious teachings. This exercise in researching the teachings of the Catholic Church and Christian religion in general, exposes the triangle of fear, guilt and doubt about the religion driven from Rome, that has cemented his personal beliefs. Living through the jungle of regimented hypocrisy, lemming-like beliefs and teaching tactics, has provided the incentive to personally investigate the subject of Christian religion and to learn as much as possible about the subject that has survived nearly two-thousand years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524515096

Harvey Meredith

Harvey Meredith was born in the depths of the Great Depression and experienced the school of "hard knocks" while growing up in a family of 13 children. He was trained as a research scientist and applied his training and experience in compiling this writing. He received a Ph.D. in soil physics from Purdue University. He is a retired Air Force Civil Engineer, attaining the rank of Colonel. He is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College, Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the Air War College. He served as Regional Director for the National Fertilizer Development Center and was Adjunct Professor, University of Minnesota, and a member of the University of Minnesota Graduate Faculty. He is the father of two children and six grandchildren and resides in Waco. Texas.

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THE SEARCH

Looking for truth in the Christian Religion

HARVEY MEREDITH

Copyright © 2016 by Harvey Meredith.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2016910791

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5245-1494-5

     Softcover      978-1-5245-1493-8

     eBook      978-1-5245-1509-6

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without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Website

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Rev. date: 07/05/2016

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1 In the Beginning

Chapter 2 Knowledge, Experience, and Beliefs

Chapter 3 Religion

Chapter 4 The Life of Jesus

Chapter 5 The Crucifixion

Chapter 6 Resurrection

Chapter 7 Christianity

Chapter 8 The Role of James

Chapter 9 The Role of Paul

Chapter 10 The Role of Peter

Chapter 11 Mary, Mother of Jesus

Chapter 12 Mary Magdalene

Chapter 13 Noah, the Ark, the Great Flood, and the Ark Encounter

Chapter 14 Mithra, Christianity and Jesus, Krishna

Chapter 15 The Jesus Seminar

Chapter 16 The Pope and Liberation Theology

Chapter 17 The Beginning of Life on Earth

Chapter 18 The Fertile Crescent

Chapter 19 The Sunset

A LIST OF RECOGNIZED PROTESTANT CHRISTIAN CHURCHES

The list could be expanded by incorporating such religious groups as the Hutterites, the Amish, the Mennonites, and many others that are not officially sanctioned as religions. It should also be pointed out that many groups form their own form of religion, separate and apart from organized religions. Many people conduct services in their homes or elsewhere without official incorporation. Anytime there are a group of people who are in conflict with an organized church, the potential for fragmentation is always available as a solution.

DATES IN THE PROGRESSION OF CHRISTIANITY

63 BC – Romans gained control over Jerusalem, a city of about one hundred thousand. Rome’s master tactician, Pompey Magnus, entered the city with his conquering legions and laid siege to the temple. (The city had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC)

4 BC – Birth of Jesus (no month, day, or year is certain). The date most scholars agree on.

4 BC – Death of Herod, king of the Jews, at the age of seventy, having reigned over the Jews for thirty-seven years.

18 AD – Caiaphas appointed as the high priest of Judea until 36 AD

26 AD – Pontius Pilate arrived in Jerusalem as the fifth Roman prefect, or governor, of Judea.

28 AD – John the Baptist began baptizing in the waters of the Jordan River.

30 AD – John the Baptist baptizes Jesus of Nazareth.

30 AD – John the Baptist is put to death.

33 AD – Jesus is crucified at age thirty-seven (4 BC–33 AD).

35 AD – Death of Stephen by stoning.

36 AD – Pilate exiled to Gaul. Joseph Caiaphas dismissed from his position as high priest.

37 AD – Paul (Saul) converted to the Christian movement and began preaching about the risen Jesus to the Gentiles.

48–50 AD – Paul’s first epistle, 1 Thessalonians, expressed no interest in the historical Jesus

49 AD – Jews rioting because of Chrestus were driven out of Rome by Claudius the Roman emperor.

50 AD – Quelle (Q), or source makes no mention of Jesus before baptism by John the Baptist.

62 AD – James, brother of Jesus, is stoned to death.

66 AD – Jews rebel against Rome in Jerusalem

66 AD – Paul beheaded in Rome

70 AD – Jerusalem destroyed by Roman soldiers, Titus’s army. Mission to the Jews abandoned. Christianity transformed into a Romanized religion.

70 AD – Gospel of Mark is written, there is no mention of Jesus’s birth or resurrection.

90–100 AD – Gospels of Matthew and Luke are written.

100–120 AD – Gospel of John is written.

325 AD – The New Christianity. The Nicene Creed was approved by nearly two thousand Roman bishops, Emperor Constantine’s council. Jesus was declared the literal Son of God, Light from Light, true God from true God begotten, not made, of the same substance as the Father. (This resulted in a thousand years or more of unspeakable bloodshed in the name of Christian orthodoxy).

325 AD – Mary’s virgin birth of Jesus, incarnate of the virgin Mary, declared at the First Council of Nicaea.

354 AD – December 25 is referred to in Christian documents as Christmas day for the first time.

395 AD – Orthodox Christianity made official religion of the state (Rome).

398 AD – Roman bishops canonize what would become known as the New Testament. Over half of the twenty-seven books making up the New Testament are by or about Paul.

431 AD – Mary as Mother of God (Theotokos) becomes an article of faith and is confirmed by the first Council of Ephesus.

533 AD – Perpetual Virginity of Mary affirmed at the Second Council of Constantinople

649 AD – Perpetual Virginity of Mary reaffirmed at the Lateran Council

787 AD – Perpetual Virginity of Mary reaffirmed at the Second Council of Nicaea

1537 AD – Perpetual virginity of Mary is declared as an article of faith, Smalcald Articles

1854 AD – The Immaculate Conception is stated in Ineffabilis Deus, an encyclical by Pope Pius IX.

1945 AD – The Gnostic writings called the Coptic Scrolls are discovered in Upper Egypt, near the town of Nag Hammadi.

1950 AD – The Assumption of Mary is stated in an encyclical by Pope Pius XII.

1950 AD – The Dead Sea Scrolls are found hidden in a cave near Qumran in the Judean Desert.

CHAPTER 1

In the Beginning

As one reaches the sunset of life, memories of the past linger. Religion was a monumental issue in my early life, and it is a big part in the lives of the people of whom I care about the most.

It will be helpful to understand my mother’s concept of the holy Roman Catholic Church and how I was raised by the reading of the summation of the catechism’s teachings by Fr. W. G. Most and how my mother viewed everything about the Catholic faith’s teachings.

Father Most defines the Magisterium or the teaching authority of the Church in quite clear terms. He states that by the Magisterium it is meant that it is the teaching office of the Church. It consists of the pope and the bishops. Christ promised to protect the teaching of the Church: He who hears you, hears me; he who rejects you rejects me, he who rejects me, rejects Him who sent me (Luke 10:16). Now, of course, the promise of Christ cannot fail; hence, when the Church presents some doctrine as definitive or final, it comes under this protection. It cannot be in error; it is infallible. This is true even if the Church does not use the solemn ceremony of definition. In the day-to-day teaching of the Church throughout the world, when the bishops are in union with each other and with the pope and present something as definitive, it is infallible. (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium). It was precisely by the use of that authority that Vatican I was able to define that the pope alone, when speaking as such and making things definitive, is also infallible. Of course, this infallibility covers teaching on what morality requires, for that is needed for salvation.

A theologian who would claim he needs to be able to ignore the Magisterium in order to find the truth is strangely perverse: the teaching of the Magisterium is the prime, God-given means of finding the truth. The task of authoritatively interpreting the word of God, whether written or handed on [Scripture or Tradition], has been entrusted exclusively to the living Magisterium of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.

I was baptized in the Catholic Church when only a few days old, which is typical of most children born into Catholic families. I was next to last in a family of thirteen children, born during the depths of the Great Depression, in early 1931. My mother was German, mentioned only to reflect the intensity of which she addressed everything about life and her religion. My mother was Catholic first, last, and always. She embraced the concept of spare the rod and spoil the child. The rod played a large role in learning in the family as well!

The primary purpose in life for my mother, in addition to being a mother, was to live and enforce the Catholic doctrine. My mother embraced the Catholic religion and all that it encompassed. In the Catholic Church, sin is big. There is original, venial, and then there is the big one, mortal sin. Among mortal sins, as we were taught, was missing church on Sunday. It was up there with murder. Weather was no excuse, and only a severe illness would be justifiable as a reason to miss church on Sunday. There was a special spelling for fun in my mother’s world; it was spelled s-i-n! To earn heaven, we were to live hell on Earth! Everything about life was to be made difficult.

Along with attending church, it also meant that we were on our knees a lot at home! My mother did not invent praying, but we thought she did judging by the time we participated in prayer at her insistence. We prayed before and after each meal. We were on our knees each night before bedtime. During Lent, we were on our knees to recite the rosary aloud each night. We also were in church once a week during the Lenten period to participate in the Stations of the Cross. On your knees and reciting the rosary was punishment for anything so determined! When it came to praying, attending church and Catholic school, anything to do with the Catholic Church, we did it better and more often than anyone. One might say, my mother was German driven and the rest of us were German pushed. My father was known to utter, Religion crazy! Our typical day was stretched to the limit. We were dairy farmers, which meant we were in the barn at five thirty in the morning. We walked to school from our rural farmstead in time to attend mass each morning before school. After school, the routine was repeated. The evening chores left little time for any other activity.

Sin was big around our house. My mother could find sin with almost everything. To be reminded of sin seemed to be as important as inhaling oxygen. She firmly instilled the triangle of fear, guilt, and doubt. First there was fear, and then there was guilt—never a shortage of either. Between what we were taught and what was real created serious doubt in our minds. After growing up in such a household, the lasting scars of fear and guilt require decades to unravel. As an adult, one is granted the remaining days to study, learn, adjust, sort out, and finally determine a philosophy that is sane, realistic, and normal!

There are generations after generations of families that call themselves Catholics. None were the equal of my mother, but Catholics just the same. If one happens not to accept and practice all that the Catholic religion demands, there is always confession. Confession was always there to relieve one of the serious burdens of sin. Of course, along with this relief came the price of penance.

Martin Luther was the first to break from Catholicism and survive. There were a number of issues for Luther, a highly educated Catholic priest. One issue that received the attention of Martin Luther was redemption: a transfer of gold and silver made up for personal misdeeds and guaranteed salvation. Martin Luther was to be admired. He showed great courage to split from the Catholic Church and was extremely fortunate to escape from the Crusaders to live another day. It was after this time that other protestors of the Church fragmented. The wheels began to come off the single Christian (Catholic) view: one way or suffer the consequences. Christianity, heretofore Catholicism, prior to the action of Martin Luther, was governed from Rome with the same authority of the Roman Empire—ruthless, governing every segment of life.

The Catholic religion addresses heaven, purgatory, and hell in almost every breath. Heaven is up, hell is down, and purgatory is somewhere in between. Hell is a burning inferno ruled by the heat-tolerant Satan. Purgatory is hot, but maybe one has a chance of escaping upward. Heaven is perfect paradise forever.

We are taught that our bodies die but our souls live on for eternity. Our souls ultimately receive judgment and then are designated to one of the three (or two in other religions) areas. We are told that we will be reunited with our loved ones and that everything will be perfect forever in heaven. (That is, if one makes the cut!) What does a soul look like? Who has ever seen one? How will souls recognize each other when they are reunited? We are told that souls are invisible! They are like a sightless cloud. They make no noise, they cannot be seen, and they cannot be heard. Yet they can burn in hell eternally or rejoice in heaven where everything is glorious and happy. It is unbelievable perfection. I, for one, believe I have been lied to, and I have reason to be angry for it.

The Church does not permit priests or nuns to marry. This raises the serious question of normalcy. People look at Church scandals, and they ask burning questions: who are these men who claim to speak the truth about Christ and yet lie to cover up the illicit sexual activity by their own clergy? The greatest story ever told turns out to be the greatest story ever sold! Contraception is outlawed by this church in the twenty-first century. Increase and multiply and produce more souls for heaven! Expect the haves to care and provide for the have-nots. Starvation, disease, illiteracy, abject poverty—these provide the path to heaven for Catholics, riding the freeway of faith and salvation as taught by the Catholic Church. Catholics who follow the teachings of this church are doomed to poverty. This church is responsible for the horrendous poverty and illiteracy in Central and South America, one of the few places where Catholicism is still followed as Rome teaches it. The twisted and warped views of this church persist in the twenty-first century. Liberation theology defines modern Catholicism as it is portrayed by the current pope.

There was a beautiful sister in my family. When she was growing up, the pressure was on to have a daughter or a son enter the nunnery or the seminary. This was one of the ways for a mother to earn her wings to heaven. This is a form of redemption in the Catholic Church that Martin Luther might well have addressed. A child growing up in a large Catholic family would desire to do most anything to please the mother. What better way to please your mother, serve your church, and your fellow man than to serve in the ministry or nunnery. It is certain that the earlier, the younger, and the more innocent that one enters the convent or seminary, so much better it is for them. (Before finding out what life is really about and never having a real opportunity to participate in reality!)

My sister entered the nunnery after finishing grade school. She finished high school with the nuns and, following her final vows, attended nursing school and became a specialist in X-ray technology. She made my mother extremely happy. She was a prisoner, took a vow of poverty, and served as a slave to the Catholic Church for the remainder of her life. She was sent off to faraway North Carolina, where she ministered to black patients in a charity hospital. The distance was too great for family to visit her.

Today there are about 4,200 religions, each with equal importance in terms of the congregations they serve. There are about 41,000 Christian denominations, of which 217 were in the U.S. and Canada in 2006, listed in the Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches. In the United States, according to the Pew Research Center, between 2007 and 2014, the Christian share of the population of the United States fell from 78.4 percent to 70.6 percent. The Catholic share of Christianity dropped from 23.9 percent to 20.8 percent while the Protestant membership dropped from 51.3 percent to 46.5 percent. The percentage of unaffiliated increased from 16.1 percent to 22.8 percent.

When one grows up in a family that attends church regularly, the emphasis is on learning the religion. This starts at an early age, and the emphasis includes all of the stories of Bible history. These include stories that many might judge unbelievable, but they are not questioned. Not by the parents and certainly not by the children. These stories become factual, and they are handed down generation after generation without question. The many stories in Bible history have been repeated for nearly two thousand years; the many miracles are to go unquestioned, and belief and faith are to be the guides to salvation. One might wonder about certain parts of a religion or parts of the Bible or Bible studies, but to question, analyze, and formulate a different view is not acceptable. Yes, one might ask a simple question and receive a simple response, one that is acceptable!

To question the dogma and beliefs is quite a different story. For the most part, few would take on the task for fear of being ostracized, first of all, by their own immediate family. The first response would be the typical question, Who are you to question anything that has been accepted for almost two thousand years?

What would be the purpose to question anything so wrapped in dogma and history? What would one hope to accomplish? If one personally feels that they have been lied to or filled with untruths, how does one start the search for answers?

Truth is a stubborn thing! Where would one find truth dating back two thousand years? That becomes the task, and the solution may or may not be rewarding or fulfill the expectation desired. But one should try just the same!

To begin, one needs to broaden research beyond the realm of the typical church documents that have been available and which were relied upon to support the Church’s teaching in years past. New and recent publications certainly would be the most productive research sources.

To raise questions about any facet of faith and belief brings raised eyebrows, suspicion, and distrust. Upheaval within families can result in disassociation. People take their faith and beliefs seriously. It is the substance that guides their daily lives. Unwelcome questions, for the most part, are non grata.

Churchgoers of all denominations are dedicated to their Christian beliefs, but through different conduits. At some point, there must come a time when each of us asks questions within ourselves.

For my part, I want to search for the truth, or at least some truth, if it is possible after almost two thousand years since the crucifixion of Jesus in Jerusalem about 33 AD. At age eighty-five (in 2016), it is likely not the most opportune time to initiate such a search. I have lived a long life, and I clearly remember most of the Bible history stories. I have always considered them unbelievable, but the thought of questioning such topics was out of consideration. Today, I am older; the historical resources are more abundant. Research has been conducted and published by people with sufficient courage to weather the wrath of the Christian hierarchy and, most of all, their immediate families.

In spite of knowledge of these risks in advance, the quest for answers persists. It appears to be a worthy goal to review the origin of Christianity, how a mission of Jesus of Nazareth and Jerusalem became a Roman religion, dominated by the Roman Empire.

We should not forever be required to believe all that is taught, but to challenge, investigate, and examine. We should be allowed to apply the rules of criticism and evidence. These same means provide the credibility by which all other facts are attained.

We are told that Jesus of Nazareth was a person who died on the cross because of his convictions. His dislike for the corruption in the synagogues and ruthlessness of the Roman rulers was just. Christianity is credited as the outgrowth of the mission of Jesus of Nazareth. It is of interest to learn of the early religion, founded by a humble peasant, and how Rome gained control. All of the popes, cardinals, and bishops came from Rome. It was the Roman Church, governed by the Roman Empire with the murderous ruthlessness that governed the masses under its control. What happened following the death of Jesus in the development of Christianity as a form of religion is best described as arbitrary human invention.

CHAPTER 2

Knowledge, Experience, and Beliefs

Knowledge: Man comes into the world with little knowledge except for what he has learned by being inside the placenta. How much knowledge a newborn infant has acquired is difficult to record via any test results. It is recognized that a newborn child might recognize sounds, but it is questionable if there is much of what might be called hardcore knowledge. Because these types of studies are always ongoing, this should not be a point of argument. It is known that humans do not have instincts as the animal kingdom. Man must learn essentially everything he will ever know. This learning starts immediately, and knowledge accumulates. The beauty of this process is that once knowledge is gained, it builds upon what is already known.

Experience: There is no substitute for firsthand personal experience. In personal conversation, as stories are revealed, there may be a large difference of opinion in how one views a claim based on street wisdom. Doubt becomes a weighty factor. Evidence in support of a claim ultimately must pass the test of one’s knowledge and personal experience. In large measure, confidence from what one previously has experienced is used in determining what might be believed.

Incredible events are often relayed from someone else, but unless we, as individuals, can verify the claim, it might be difficult to believe them. The evidence is weighed, and based on our personal experience, we are in the position to accept or reject certain facts. In these circumstances, the burden of proof is shifted to the presenter.

Beliefs: Doubt is not an unusual human reaction. Ultimately, the view that is accepted must be based on what one views as factual when weighed against reality. Faith is an entirely different argument. To be a believer and to uphold long-held traditions and concepts requires one to believe all things because they are said to be true. Faith may be defined as the acceptance of that which we imagine to be true, that which we cannot prove. Every religion describes God through metaphors (a figure of speech, a term or phrase applied to something not literally applicable, an allegory, an abstract or spiritual meaning through other forms, the treatment of one subject under the guise of another), and exaggeration. The period stretches from before the time of the early Egyptians through modern, current Sunday school. Metaphors are a way to help our minds process what might not be capable of being processed. Faith is strengthened as one believes literally in their own metaphors.

A child raised in a family is taught what the parents know. Quite often, this knowledge is never tested. The child becomes a parent and passes on the same knowledge to his children. This chain may remain unbroken for hundreds of years. Someone else from an entirely different background might come to be associated with individuals from these families and decide to place the same faith in the newly gained knowledge. Generation after