Hi Dail,

The life and message of Jesus as you know it was officially canonized centuries
after Jesus by the Nicene Council. That is a historical fact. Recent archeological
discoveries have unveiled the Nag Hammadi Scriptures which, contains for
example the Gospel of Saint Thomas and the message of Christ in there
is totally different from that of the Christianity of Saint Paul. There are
also many historians who believe that Jesus went to India during his
missing years and was heavily influenced by Eastern Philosophy, and
when he talked about him being “God” and “Son of God” he was talking
in the same way as Eastern Philosophy does: that ALL of us are “God”
and “Sons of God”, obviously a blasphemy in Saint Paul’s Christianity,
but not so in Eastern religions.

My point being, the historical evidence of Jesus you base your faith on
is not as clear cut as you would like it to be. And even if it was, it doesn’t
allows us any objective reason to prefer it over the historical evidences of
other major world faiths like Hinduism (the oldest known religion), Buddhism,
Jainism, Islam, etc. A point that you fail (or refuse) to acknowledge.

I think we will not see eye to eye on this matter. So let us just agree to disagree.
To quote the Koran (even though I am not a Muslim):

“Let there be no compulsion in religion”

and

“To you is your religion and to me is mine”.

I have enjoyed thoroughly this conversation with you.

Best wishes,
Taz

I can relate to all you have said. I have not struggled to the degree you have
but many of my family are alcoholics, my wife included. Living with her and
suffering with her through recovery has revealed many of the struggles you
speak of.
On guilt I would like to submit another option…. Christ. I’m sure you heard it before,
but it was the answer to alleviating my wife’s guilt (and my own). Deepak is wrong to
say that you are wrong to feel guilt. You were created in the image of God, therefore
you have an image of how you should behave and guilt is a reminder that God is
Holy and that we have fallen short. If there is no God, Deepak would be right.
The beauty of it is, He knew we would fail and that would leave a problem
for us. He has provided the solution by paying the price himself!
Rejoice man! claim Him as your savior and release yourself of the burden of
guilt. At the same time you will establish a relationship with He who “owns the
cattle on a thousand hills”. You are his prodigal son!