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[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]] [[Image:CelticTrinityKnot_02.jpg|right|frame]]

[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]] [[Image:CelticTrinityKnot_02.jpg|right|frame]]

A century ago the German Protestant [[theology|theologian]] [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Adolf_Harnack_and_the_Search_for_Missing_Christianity Adolf von Harnack] set about on a quest to discover the "kernel" of Christianity beneath the "husk."  His theory was that obscured beneath the layers of church history and doctrine (the "husk") there must surely lie a simple teaching of Jesus (the "kernel").  In pursuit of this quest Harnack was compelled to take his investigation one level deeper and ask whether there is in fact a universal human experience that is the basis of all spiritual seeking and leads to the subsequent formation of religions.  So Harnack's quest became twofold: (1) to discover the essence of the religious impulse in general, and (2) to discover the essence of the simple message of Jesus that fulfilled that universal impulse.  Both preceeding and following Harnack, other Protestant theologians [notably Friederich Schliermacher and Rudolph Otto] have pursued a similar interest in the possibility of identifying a single underlying principle responsible for the genesis of human religions.  What I now offer here is presented in the [[spirit]] of that same quest.   

A century ago the German Protestant [[theology|theologian]] [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Adolf_Harnack_and_the_Search_for_Missing_Christianity Adolf von Harnack] set about on a quest to discover the "kernel" of Christianity beneath the "husk."  His theory was that obscured beneath the layers of church history and doctrine (the "husk") there must surely lie a simple teaching of Jesus (the "kernel").  In pursuit of this quest Harnack was compelled to take his investigation one level deeper and ask whether there is in fact a universal human experience that is the basis of all spiritual seeking and leads to the subsequent formation of religions.  So Harnack's quest became twofold: (1) to discover the essence of the religious impulse in general, and (2) to discover the essence of the simple message of Jesus that fulfilled that universal impulse.  Both preceeding and following Harnack, other Protestant theologians [notably Friederich Schliermacher and Rudolph Otto] have pursued a similar interest in the possibility of identifying a single underlying principle responsible for the genesis of human religions.  This article is presented in the [[spirit]] of that same quest.   

In addressing the subject of the origins of religion one is always in danger of offending the devout who believe that true religion originates only through [[divine]]ly given [[revelation]], or the [[skeptic]]s who maintain that religion is a human cultural product and thus heavily contrived if not outright [[fiction]]al.  My hope is that what I present here represents a "third way."  I will state in advance that my while my theory is fully humanistic and phenomenological, it by no means repudiates the possibility or [[reality]] of revelation.  I do claim, however, that religion as an attitude arises in the human heart prior to revelation, and insofar as revelations do exist they are, with few [[Sui Generis|exceptions]], sought and/or recognized by those hearts and minds that are religiously prepared for them, a priori.  

In addressing the subject of the origins of religion one is always in danger of offending the devout who believe that true religion originates only through [[divine]]ly given [[revelation]], or the [[skeptic]]s who maintain that religion is a human cultural product and thus heavily contrived if not outright [[fiction]]al.  My hope is that what I present here represents a "third way."  I will state in advance that my while my theory is fully humanistic and phenomenological, it by no means repudiates the possibility or [[reality]] of revelation.  I do claim, however, that religion as an attitude arises in the human heart prior to revelation, and insofar as revelations do exist they are, with few [[Sui Generis|exceptions]], sought and/or recognized by those hearts and minds that are religiously prepared for them, a priori.  

Most reflective persons will agree that established religions at a particular stage of development have a [[structure]] that is clearly an inextricable mix of [[history]], [[myth]] and [[ritual]]. Religions have wasted a lot of history as well as human lives in the [[process]] of bickering over which is true and correct, and in the struggle for dominance.  In particular, this struggle to establish one's own blend of history, myth and ritual as "[[truth]]" begs the question: Is there anything of substance underneath it all?  And if so, is that thing of substance common across the religions?  We recognize this, of course, as Harnack's question.  What follows is my own beginning attempt to answer that question.

Most reflective persons will agree that established religions at a particular stage of development have a [[structure]] that is clearly an inextricable mix of [[history]], [[myth]] and [[ritual]]. Religions have wasted a lot of history as well as human lives in the [[process]] of bickering over which is true and correct, and in the struggle for dominance.  In particular, this struggle to establish one's own blend of history, myth and ritual as "[[truth]]" begs the question: Is there anything of substance underneath it all?  And if so, is that thing of substance common to the various religions?  This, of course, is the question posited by "essence theology" and in the sections that follow we present yet another possible answer.

==Foundation==

==Foundation==

To begin our [[inquiry]], let's break the world down into its very simplest building blocks.  [[Science|Scientists]] tell us the world consists of only two things--[[matter]] and [[energy]]. The [[laws of thermodynamics]] tell us matter and energy are interchangeable and can neither be created nor destroyed. However, it has always seemed to me that there is a Third Thing. This Third Thing is [[consciousness]].  So at the very outset we are forced to ask ourselves, '''"Is consciousness, like everything else, constructed out of matter and energy, or it is something [[quality|qualitatively]] different?"'''  This is perhaps the most important of all human questions, and the answer is the key to everything we believe about ourselves.  

To begin our [[inquiry]], let's break the world down into its very simplest building blocks.  [[Science|Scientists]] tell us the world consists of only two things--[[matter]] and [[energy]]. The [[laws of thermodynamics]] tell us matter and energy are interchangeable and can neither be created nor destroyed. However, it has always seemed to me that there is a Third Thing. This Third Thing is [[consciousness]].  So at the very outset we are forced to ask ourselves, '''"Is consciousness, like everything else, constructed out of matter and energy, or it is something [[quality|qualitatively]] different?"'''  This is perhaps the most important of all human questions, and the answer is the key to everything we believe about ourselves.