Thursday, April 08, 2004
I wonder how many people have heard of the "Urantia Book." The Urantia movement, if there is such a thing, claims the book was the product of supernatual beings influencing Wilfred Kellogg (of the corn flake family) between 1912 and 1955. The book describes the organization of the Universe and God/Jesus. The section of the book that covers the New Testament reads like fan fiction, filling in all the gaps in the Gospels. Read a critique, if you want. There's a lot of fan fiction out there, written over 2000 years, to read about Jesus. Check out "The Infancy of the Lord." And the earlychristianwritings site also contains many books that never made their way to the Bible.
I did a final project once, when I was working toward a Masters in English (gave that up), that different arts, reflecting the talents of the artist, are used to reflect the same thought, the same truth. So if a person is a poet, she perhaps writes a poem about God, like Louise Gluck. If a person is a novelist, perhaps he writes a little fiction about what Jesus was like as a child. If a person is a painter or a sculptor... well, you get the idea. We sift through all these writings and poetry and artistry seeking inspiration and truth. Sometimes we find it, sometimes the connection just isn't made.
But faux religions like Urantia and Scientology go beyond fan-fiction. They propose to be the divine word and they end up turning people's heads away from God instead of enlightening.
I did a final project once, when I was working toward a Masters in English (gave that up), that different arts, reflecting the talents of the artist, are used to reflect the same thought, the same truth. So if a person is a poet, she perhaps writes a poem about God, like Louise Gluck. If a person is a novelist, perhaps he writes a little fiction about what Jesus was like as a child. If a person is a painter or a sculptor... well, you get the idea. We sift through all these writings and poetry and artistry seeking inspiration and truth. Sometimes we find it, sometimes the connection just isn't made.
But faux religions like Urantia and Scientology go beyond fan-fiction. They propose to be the divine word and they end up turning people's heads away from God instead of enlightening.
