A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
Re: What is being preached? December 19 letter.
The simple answer to your question is read the services column in The Herald, pick a service, go along, sit there and observe what is going on. I bet you a super-duper burga from the big “M” that, depending on where yougo, you will find a variety of messages coming from the preacher of the day.
From the narrow, conservative evangelicals, to the fiery, born-again believers, to the traditional, mainline Protestant-Catholic community, Christianity and all great world religions promulgate a central message in their doctrinal teachings and foundational faith precepts which acts as a moral, ethical and spiritual compass for their communities.
What you and others are challenging comes from an element who interpret their faith as being absolute, set in concrete, scripture is to be literally believed. Us against the world syndrome. They then become easy pickings to rebut and refute in a pluralistic, secular society because science, technology, and new-age scepticism rule supreme in the early 21st century.
The new-age mantra espouses there is no God. Humans have taken it upon themselves to be God-like; logic, knowledge and free will reign supreme; there is no place for the mysterious or supernatural to co-exist. Death is absolute and final; there is nothing going on after this life. Not quite.
In a few days time we here in Aotearoa (NZ) will again observe Christmas — a public, largely secular holiday that holds little or no special religious significance for many.
Consider this: we are more than the sum total of parts that makes us human. We are creatures made of flesh and blood and of spirit (soul). We are both human and spiritual beings.
A small child born into humble circumstances in Palestine over 2000 years ago reconciled heaven and earth with humankind when he was born, opening up new and exciting endless possibilities in this life and in the next.
