(I apologize that this and Monday’s post will be a bit late. I had a visit from my daughter and wanted to spend time with her.)

It was Sunday morning and I got on the Speed line at Lindenwold to go to Haddonfield for meeting. On each seat of the train was a Chick Bible Tract. This particular tract was titled ‘This Was Your Life’. The point of the tract is to convince readers that they are dammed unless they accept Christ as Lord and Savior.

I find it interesting that so many religions are so exclusive in their soteriology – or understanding of salvation. But this is exactly why we have had so many schisms and cults, or new religious movements for a more politically correct terminology.

Many people through the ages have thought that they had the one and only path to enlightenment, the one way to truth, the one path to God, the way to salvation, the answer. The writers of this tract and churches that pass them out will be of similar minds in this.

Some churches, such as some Lutherans, suggest that everything the Bible says is literally true, and that nobody needs any special knowledge or training to understand it. This is something that few scholars of the Bible would ever assert. There are reasons why people devote entire lives to studying scripture. It is impossible to understand a document without understanding the people and the context in which it was written. Even those who translate these scriptures bring their biases and preconceived notions along with them.

Beyond this are the claims that scripture alone should be out final authority. If we take this at face value, where does this claim come from? At least in Christian scripture, it is not scriptural. From A Biblical point of view, it is self – contradictory.

At one point, some years ago, I considered myself am atheist. Coming out of my last cult experience I wanted nothing to do with any god or goddess. The song Saved, which is the headline video for this post was almost an anthem for me. Another, while I was still a Pagan was Go Away Godboy by S. J. Tucker.

I was tired of Christians trying to “Save” me. I remember being part of that crowd when ‘leading a sinner to Christ’ was a noble thing. I remember more than a few church services where the topic was leading others to Christ, and that being a part of being a good and faithful servant. A church I visited once had a sign above the door as one left that said “you are now entering the missionary field.”

In Christianity especially, this idea of spreading the gospel is built-into what it means to be a Christian; it’s part of the “Great Commission”. Some Christians are willing to die, and proudly, in this act,being utterly convinced they are doing God’s work. This is just one fruit of life-long indoctrination.

My own idea of salvation has been tempered a bit by many experiences, as has been my understanding of God. Having been a part of many cults, abused or used in multiple religious groups, I’ve come to see the Divine as something that cannot be related ‘to’ someone by another, but instead must be experienced individually. You don’t get to know God by reading A Bible, or Koran, or the Vedas, or the Upanishads, or the Tao Te Ching. But as we all have some connection to God, each of these can help us see some aspect of God that was seen by another.

I don’t have, unlike whoever left that tract believed them self to have, an answer for anyone save myself, but I am willing to share my thoughts and experience. With that, I’ll leave you with a song from Damh (it’s Welch, and pronounced Dave) the Bard, called Save Me. I did a Pagan themed radio show for 10 years, and Damh is one of my favorite musicians. I expect you’ll see more of my favorite music from those days popping in this from time to time.