They Sang as They Burned

I finished a novel about the Templars (1) the other day. In case you decide to read it, which by the way I recommend, I won’t unravel the plot too much. The Templars were a military order associated with the crusades and the protection of pilgrams. Much has been written about their legendary secrets, hidden treasures and religious artifacts.
One story indicates that the Templars had the bones of Jesus and the Gospel of Simon Peter which told of the death of Jesus as a man, not resurrected. The reality, according to the story, was later changed in the four adopted Gospels to make Jesus into a God. Without the resurrection, the entire mythos of Christianity would founder. So goes the story.
I began to think about this premise, and came to the same conclusion. Everything in Christianity is really dependant on Jesus being resurrected in physical body. But what if that didn’t happen? What if He died? And the rest was made up by subsequent followers to solidify their hold on the beginnings of a new religion? What if?
I guess it doesn’t’ t really make a difference. A belief in something by my definition is accepting as true without supporting facts. So actually true or not, the belief in a resurrected God is sufficient for all who profess the Christian faith. Others will demand factual demonstration and theory before any such “belief” is accepted as real. And, since the resurrection-or-not occurred more than 2000 years ago, neither the believers nor the fact demanders will ever be definitively judged correct.
Which leads to the Gospels (I know the definition of Gospel, so give me a break) According to Search. Simply this: the idea called Jesus emanates from within all of us, is a part of all of us, and can be found and used by simply looking for it. Some call it conscience, some moral compass, some claim to just know what is right while others seek guidance from without for direction. Whatever it is called, it provides a way to moderate the interactions with other humans and between humans and the rest of the world. It is an evolved characteristic of humans. The tendency of most humans to seek and create a supernatural being to oversee their lives is most likely a genetic trait. Not all of us have such a trait. Without the trait, belief in supernatural beings makes no sense. With the trait, anyone that doesn’t believe makes no sense. Chalk and Cheese.
What we have to do is put aside the diffenences and work together to keep the world alive and not slip into degradation and chaos. Believing won’t cure the problems, and knowing without action won’t either. Only identifying the problems of the world and acting, not praying, will help. Don’t forget the 1942 Loesser song “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition”. Or the phrase “the Lord helps those who help themselves”. These and others embody the solution to the seeming gulf: Engender both the religious and the secular perspective for success. Time to bury the hatchet and get going on solutions.

The Templars, by the way, were exterminated by "The Church", much like the Cathars. In 2 weeks I will stand on the ground where 200 Cathars were burned alive by "The Church". They walked into the fire willingly, and according to some reports, sang and smiled as they burned. Now THAT is believing. The Templars went down fighting for their order.

1. http://www.steveberry.org/berry-templar-about.htm
2. http://www.cathar.info/
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