(V): "I was asking if you got it through the interpretation of passages."

I got it through the 'interpretation' of one passage. You know, the one where Jesus says he stands at the door, and if anyone hears his voice etc etc etc. It's kind of hard to misinterpret that one, wouldn't you say? What do you think it means? Also, you said "passages" (I interpret that to mean more than one) so what other passages do you have in mind, and how do you interpret them?


I assume you are asking me where did I learn about mysticism. My first encounter with mysticism is experience with it. When I started believing in God I went to various churches and meeting places. I wasn't aware of how many different denominations and cults there were claiming to be Christ centered, or included Christ in their philosophy. One time I talked to someone who started off claiming to have an IQ of 170. That should have been my first clue that something wasn't right with him. He told me the Bible was one of five books (representing five major religions) he reads, because they all (collectively) represented what he believed. I told Mr IQ of 170 it didn't make sense for him to include the Bible in that group, and explained why. And all he needed to do to see if this was true or not was to read what his Bible says about it. Mr IQ of 170 didn't like that, not one bit... because I was right. My average bowling score at that time was well over 200, so take THAT Mr IQ of 170!

Anyway, I did encounter some mysticism along the way, and wasn't fooled by that either. Most of it appeals to "religious" emotions and less to rational thought. That's how I saw it. The answers to my questions weren't really answers, they were mostly word pictures that started and ended with the same 'answer'. I was expected to find the meaning of all that somewhere in the haze conjured up for me to look at.

My search was for a comprehensible God, not for a religious feeling or some hazy philosophy that can't stand up to scrutiny.

I may not have an IQ of 170, but I wasn't interested in trying to make sense of nonsense through the sheer power of me little intellect. Very smart people can devise very smart looking ideas, but I'm interested in something more than indulging in an intellectual exercise... I don't need a bigger brain so I can be kept busy with bigger ideas.