06/26/26f - A Christian zealot enters my reality
One of my fantasies is that in the past year I have started to be more outgoing socially. Presently this new behavior manifests itself when I am at our neighborhood Y. I take the initiative to approach strangers to introduce myself and make small talk. The other day I made eye contact with a friendly looking tall man of medium build. We again exchanged first names and started chatting. I had exchanged names with him a few days earlier, but had forgotten his name. Silly me, his name is ‘John’ the same as my brother’s!
After making small talk for a while John asked, “Are you a Christian?” I replied with a long-winded answer about my various connections to various spiritual traditions. John then abruptly handed me a small 3x5 brochure that displayed, and then discussed, phrase by phrase, the St. James Bible verse attributed to the disciple John (John 3:16):
God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John then asked me to memorize this verse. I stammered a demurral but then agreed. John said he would ask me to recite this verse when we next ran into each other. As we were both on our way elsewhere, we parted.
Later, looking at John’s little brochure, I found that it’s five little pages consisted of short evangelical paragraphs about each of the phrases in this quotation.
So, a Christian zealot (I presume) has barged his way into my reality. It will be interesting to see what happens next. What sort of connection might I create with such a person? What is his reality like? When did he become a zealot (if that is what he is). What was his upbringing, background, education, vocation, and life experiences that shaped his mind? Will it even be possible to continue to create much of a connection?
From Dan via email:
Frank:
You always ask challenging questions and I have little doubt that John will be eager to talk to you about God's only begotten son as long as you will listen. Have you spent time pondering the New Testament? Does it embrace your own ideas? I find John 3:16 to be incompatible with The Second Commandment: Thou shalt have no other gods before me" Exodus 20:3 and Deuteronomy 5:7. I interpret many of the scriptures as based on ancient beliefs and not factual in the sense of concrete, objective, and verifiable statements. Put another way, the vast majority of humanity do not accept John 3:16 as fact, but an expression of faith in Jesus as the embodiment of the Eternal…maybe not distinct from the rest of us, just able to articulate fundamental truths.
Best
Dan
From JackD via email:
Frank,
This person seems rather aggressive. My feeling is they have very little true understanding of their own religion. It is easy to do minor research to see that they don't see that this is a universal sentiment across many religions.
1. Sikhism - God is love, and through love, union with God is attained.
2. Zoroastrianism - O Ahura Mazda, through Your radiant light You give life to all.
3. Kabbalistic / Mystic Judaism - The Holy One, blessed be He, is the light that flows to all worlds, giving life to all.
Unfortunately I think the person you are talking to will fall back on the God Told Me idea, missing the fact that most Protestant religions start with the basic primus that God is personal to each man or woman. They truly felt the idea "No man shall come between me and my god" thus they were extremely resistant to other people telling them how to interact with God.
Jack