"When the early Christians entered into religious world of Roman Empire, they associated themselves intelectually with its political critics. "Religion" at that time, was not considered as a source of truth about reality, but as the realm of poets and those who sought ways of interpreting the rites, myth, and symbols that expressed the people's sense of identity, meaning, and purpose.
"Rationality", the way to discover "the truth" of the universe, had nothing to do with religion. Christianity, of course, saw itself as the fulfillment of human religious needs, but only because it was the way of grasping the "truth". That is why the early Christian thinkers were considered "atheists" allies of the rationalists who sought to "demythologize" religion.
Christians today face a similar situation. Christianity is "acceptable" as a private religious option, as a way of expressing and dealing with the omotions and conflicts that characterize human "interiotity". It is even possible to accept Christianity as a way of dealing with a "Mystery" that transcends human life, as long as it is seen as one of many possible ways of responding to this Mystery.
For others, Christianity is valid as a moral force for good in society, as an inspiration for human creativity and works of compassion. Problems arise when Christians insist- in the words of Tertullian- that Christianity is the following of Someone who did not come to teach us an ethical social behavior, but the Truth of God's creation.
This is what provokes opposition to Chriostianity, from its beginning until today. This claim of Christianity is seen as a temptation to intolerance and social divisiveness, all the more so when "truth" is defined not by reason but by Power.
It is absolutely essential not to reduce the Christian message to the ethical system or a way to express the perception of transcendence, of , of mystery, of the "unknown". The Gospel is not merely a proposal about "values" to guide our lives. "
There is more on that, but I thougt it was very strange to come to think about it since Peter, Vesuvius, I, Lizzy- all of us were talking about it in some ways.
at the end he says-" The truth of reality is a Person, discovered not by arguments, but trough the event of a human encounter in which all desires of the human heart are fulfulled. It is this that prevents the Christian claim from being an intolerable presumption. When we encountered Christ, we discovered ourselves as human".
Shalom- WO-
? Are you suggesting that the only way a heart can open is through God/Jesus?