The Rant Institute

  It is said that Christianity does not have a single, universally accepted account of sin, human nature, or salvation. Nor does belief in original sin necessarily require believing that human beings are devoid of goodness, dignity, or the capacity for moral development.  The first point means that the story that claims to point toward an objective universal unchanging truth actually embodies and operates in a mostly subjective ever changing way.  The second is that, while Christianity as a story does not require believing we are devoid of goodness, dignity, or the capacity for moral development, it does require us to believe our ability to properly exercise those things requires submitting to an education process in the same way that getting better at mathematics or grammar require training.  But here's the tension: If human beings require education, correction, and transformation to develop their moral and spiritual capacities, does that necessa...

 If an intelligence infinitely greater than our own exists, and intentionally created us with the cognitive limitations that prevent us from fully comprehending its nature, intentions, or purposes, on what grounds do we assume that we possess such specific knowledge of what it wants from us?  How do we reconcile the possibility that an intelligence infinitely beyond our comprehension would have created beings incapable of reaching universal agreement about its existence, nature, or intentions, with the certainty with which some of those beings claim to know precisely what it expects of them? Why would we assume that such an intelligence wants some of its creation to recognize a particular understanding of its nature while knowing that the limitations inherent in that same creation, as well as the subjective and infinite creative powers such creatures were designed to possess, would prevent many others from accepting it? And if disagreement is an inevitable consequence of the c...

There is something fundamentally strange about the way humanity approaches the concept of God. We argue about “His” existence, debate “His” intentions, attempt to establish “His” characteristics, and construct elaborate systems of belief around what we claim to know about “Him.” Yet, when pressed to explain precisely what God is, let alone why we so often provide a gender that is different from the one we more readily associate with giving birth, we frequently arrive at an answer that seems to transcend the very boundaries of human understanding. Perhaps this is not a coincidence. Perhaps the concept of God, as humanity has constructed it, is inherently beyond our ability to define with any meaningful degree of accuracy or precision. Or perhaps the problem is that we have created a definition so expansive, so abstract, and so resistant to contradiction that it can accommodate virtually any conceivable understanding of existence. God is frequently described as “being” itself, the underl...

Human beings have repeatedly demonstrated that we can construct explanations that are coherent, persuasive, and apparently comprehensive while remaining mistaken about fundamental aspects of reality. Throughout history, ideas once regarded as compelling explanations of the universe - like the idea that planets moved in 'perfect' circles - have been revised or abandoned as our knowledge has advanced. This history should give us reason to question not only the conclusions we draw, but also the confidence with which we draw them. Our understanding of the universe is necessarily limited, not merely by what we have yet to discover, but potentially by limitations in our own cognitive abilities and conceptual frameworks. We cannot even be certain that we can identify all the limits of our knowledge, because our ability to determine the limits of our knowledge is itself constrained by the very knowledge and cognitive abilities whose limits we are trying to determine. Ther...

 Do numbers exist? Do ideas? Does perfection? And since people disagree, how can we know?  Anselm’s ontological argument attempts to establish God’s existence through reason alone. God is defined as “that than which nothing greater can be conceived.” Anselm argues that such a being cannot exist merely in the understanding, because a being that exists in reality is greater than one that exists only as an idea. Yet this reasoning conceals a fundamental problem: it assumes that existence in reality is a superior condition without adequately establishing what kind of existence can meaningfully be attributed to the God it seeks to prove. The problem becomes particularly striking when the argument is considered within the context of classical Christian theology. God is not understood as a physical object or even as a particularly powerful mind within the universe. God is uncreated, immaterial, and independent of the created order. God has not simply existed for an infinitely long ti...

Truth and meaning can be enemies—but they can also be partners. At their best, they function like a heartbeat: systolic and diastolic, contraction and release. One grounds us in reality; the other animates that reality with purpose. They are like a married couple on a dance floor. Sometimes truth leads, sometimes meaning does. Harmony doesn’t require sameness—only coordination. When the rhythm holds, movement feels alive rather than forced. Carl Jung called this process individuation : the integration of what is known with what is felt, of fact with value, of the conscious self with what lies beneath it. But like a shadow that doesn’t always move in perfect unison with the body, truth and meaning can fall out of sync. When they do, illusion begins to grow—quietly, like mold in a dark basement. Jung called this the shadow : not evil, but unacknowledged reality. Transcendence is not escape from the shadow, but its integration—where truth and meaning converge rather than compete. Diss...

 what is love? there are two kinds: conditional and unconditional. in unconditional love, you can share with someone your darkest secrets and doubts, and know they will never use them against you. How do you know they won't?  Because those darkest secrets and doubts only make the person love you all the more. By doing so, those secrets and doubts become a playground for reinventing yourself.  in conditional love, sharing your darkest fears and doubts means living in fear they may one day use them against you. How do you know?  Because those darkest secrets and doubts are what you hide, even from yourself. They are what you are ashamed of, and steer clear of.  the former grant you the freedom to be whoever you want to be. the latter forces you to be who and what someone else wants you to be One is the only possible way of exercising free will, and the other is a necessary exercise of faith.

 I was raised Catholic.  That means I am "unworthy." Or so they tell me.  What am I so "unworthy" of? The full forgiveness of God.  They tell me God "loves" me.  Why else would He do to His own son what He should rightfully do to me? But even the torture and murder of His own son is not enough for God's love to fully forgive and "cure" me.  Forgive and cure me for what? For being born with the stain of original sin on my soul. That means I was necessarily born less perfect than Jesus. It also means I was born into a species that so offended God that, rather than choosing to get over it, He decided instead to ensure the stain of that offense attaches to every member of my species He creates, but for Himself, and then requires us to spend our life asking for forgiveness for the unavoidable results of having been born with such a stain.  And then, God measures our behavior by the standard of himself as Jesus, even though God designed us with a f...