Notes on: Authority: The Core of Religion The issue of authority did not come out of the blue. It's a recent baby step in the process of "cleaning house" - organizing the clutter left after decades of thought. I've had a lot of time to read lately, including Buddhist, Taoist and Christian writings. I've been increasingly annoyed at the tone of these writings: "This is the way things are". Content either comes directly from the source (such as Jesus or Buddha) or from "authoritative" commentator, such as St. Paul. The validity of these writings depends completely from authority of the writer or the authority he quotes. There is much ancient wisdom to be found in the "scriptures", but also a lot that is plainly unacceptable to the modern mind. And, of course, there is the elephant in the room. The fundamental assumptions underlying all of these writings - so fundamental to be not worth questioning or even mentioning - is the existence o

There are many reasons why humans are attracted to the idea of a spirit-filled Universe. "Theory of mind", which gives he brain a perception (not just a "theory") that other beings are conscious and act with intent just as we do. These days, we see this as a brain function that does not reflect reality, just as the illusion that things get smaller as they move away from us. Even our modern, scientifically-trained minds make us see life where there is movement. Another consequence of they way we are built is a survival strategy that involves manipulation of the environment (tool use being the most obvious aspect of it). We expect to control the world around us and we are frustrated at the limitation of our power to do so. It is easy to imagine that the world can be (or actually is) controlled by a mind and a mind can be persuaded to help us do things we can't do for ourselves. The illusion of time is strong in the human brain. We don't remember the past as

See also, " What, If Anything, Is a Christian? " To most people who identify themselves as Christians, their religion is "based" on the life and teachings of the historical Jesus Christ which, in turn, are a continuation of the story told in "The Bible", viewed as one "book". This view is incorrect for many reasons. The life and teachings of Jesus are based on Christianity, not the other way around. We know absolutely nothing of the life and teachings of Jesus except from the point of view of the early Christian Church. The accounts in the New Testament are written to illustrate specific interpretations of His life and acts. For example, Mathew is concerned to show Jews of his time that Jesus is the Messiah. His arguments make no sense to a modern reader and they were vigorously denied by Jews at the time ("Christians" advancing this view were pursued as criminals by the Jewish authorities of the time and stoned to death as heretics. In