R. E. Markham
To: Potential Readers of Ultimate Mystery
As a child, I asked questions which changed my outlook on life forever. Why am I here? Why is anything here? If God is responsible for everything, why is there even God?
My experience of these imponderable mysteries and my subsequent exposure to the findings of modern science led me to question many beliefs taught in my fundamentalist church and to maintain a skeptical atttitude toward dogmatic convctions of any kind.
My essays will stimulate others to examine their own convictions about central Christian concepts and themes and will suggest what all might do to reduce conflicts among religions, to lessen the tension between religious and secular beliefs, and to lower walls which divide us. Given global warming, diminishing resources and the ongoing proliferation of weapons, our very survival may be at stake.
R. E. Markham
A long-time professor of interdisciplinary studies at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, R.E. Markham's eclectic background includes studies in political science, sociology, philosophy, general semantics, Zen Buddhism, history of science, developmental psychology, and the theologies of Paul Tillich, Nicholai Berdyaev, and Thomas Merton. Ultimate Mystery: Why it Matters is the culmination of his lifelong endeavor to deal with the conflict between his Protestant upbringing and the findings of modern science
Chapter titles are as follows: Mysteries, God as Ultimate Mystery, Radical Jesus, Redefinining Heaven and Hell, Sin and Salvation in a New Light, Soul?, Are There Moral Absolutes?, Thoughts on Christianity, Why It Matters. Appendices include a sample sermon and an interpretation of the Lord's Prayer.
Excerpt from "God as Ultimate Mystery"
For me, God is not some supernatural Being having human characteristics. God is not a supreme law-giver, a decider of who will live and who will die, a dispenser of justice. God is ineffable, invisible, yet mysteriously present within. We cannot “know” God, we cannot “touch” God. Any attempt to define God, limits God. God transcends our three-dimensional ways of experiencing and therefore surpasses all understanding, yet we can still be inspired by the immanence of spirit. Ironically, only by acknowledging the limits of our understanding can we be aware of mystery and it is this mystery that I choose to call God; God is ultimate mystery.
Excerpt from "Radical Jesus"
We need to put much more emphasis on Jesus’ transformational messages. It isn’t necessary to worship him as a god. Christians can explore new interpretations of Jesus that are solidly grounded in the best scholarly research. Jesus can “come alive” again, not as a resurrected spirit but as the inspirational model of what it means to live freely, creatively, and courageously.
Excerpt from "Why It Matters"
Imagine a scenario a hundred, fifty, or even twenty years from now if technological advances have not been able to meet the needs of a burgeoning world population, if global warming has occurred, if the world's natural resources have been sharply diminished, and when destructive weapons have become more and more prevalent. Imagine a world in which current ideological differences remain and individuals and groups,each of them convinced they have the truth, scramble to garner whatever resources remain in the effort to ensure their survival. I fear the possibility of widespread violence under these conditions, and this prospect makes me want to shout "WE CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN!"
