Paul (Jesus, Mary & Lucifer VERSUS Paul of Tarsus & the Evil of his Church Book 2) (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

Other religions demand a leap of faith into airy space. The Church of the Army of the Tree of Life, that grows out of these books, requires no leap of faith - the proof of life, the wonder and incomprehensible beauty, is all about us, within and without us, every moment of the day. Hard science and mystical complexity past our understanding are there, standing before us, glistening in the sun, wondering at us while humans embrace old dried up doctrine and pitiful small stories.These are the ultimate hero's journey, into ourself and back to the larger world, embracing the larger world without doubts and without the small social stories. The Tree of life is the ultimate democracy, where all participate as themselves - a guerrilla army, where you choose your goals and life, not an old time religion army where you march in strict lines into the machine guns."The old man smiled at the child's delight and then looked quizzically at Lucifer, Mikhail, and the others. "Written on a page, it was, what Life is. But you cannot read the minds of the gods by their deeds, to cheat the pain of learning. Only experience teaches, and adversity teaches the best. Odin hung upon the cross for wisdom, so you hung upon a cross of indecision and confusion, as confidence turned to doubt. Had I not pushed the good to the absurd, would you have rebelled? Children must rebel to become adults. And now, are you elves? Elves are adults. And you must be adults, because there are new, bigger stories coming. Lungorthin and his people, the alien stories of the machines--perhaps, truly, aliens out there in the universe. How could you be ready to face all of this without having been challenged by failure? Was I unfair? Of course. Life is unfair. If I tell you, you listen but do not hear. Life is experience, not thought, and you had to grow the understanding, painfully, through every sinew of your body before you could hear. Had I not pushed you to the outside, would you have learned?"Lucifer and Mikhail looked shocked, but then shook their heads no.