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In comes the attendant to ask if he’d like more wine.

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As if he were seated at the head of a table in some empty banquet hall.

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It’s impossible, anyway, all this talk. As if it could amount to anything more than one person addressing himself in a way that would allow him to be overheard.

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And, anyway, to question the worthiness of the work of any type of person, Christian or not, because of ordinary instances of sin, or imperfections in their personality, is not something I feel inclined to do; for while there may be some truth in what I have said, who is to say that some other truth, greater and more mysterious, and divinely wrought or intended, is not a consequence of, or participant to, the missteps that I have mentioned?

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Though it is true, as well, that Christianity is not compatible with every system by which a mind might organize the natural and supernatural realms, as they exist in themselves and as they would relate to each other. And that to compromise it for the sake of agreeability would not only be disingenuous, but would be to separate the faith from its reality, and all that is vital in it.

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That so often, through the centuries, Christianity has not lived up to this function is not, I don’t think, an indictment of it, but of those of its adherents who, through obstinacy or overconfidence, and, perhaps, too much of an emphasis on the trappings or externalities of the religion, have not only been careless with much of what is extant in the cultures of those regions to which they have journeyed, or made themselves present, but perhaps have also hindered the flourishing of the faith, by associating it with the disagreeableness of their own habits or tendencies. For Christianity itself is not a culture, but, in its inception in society, a scaffolding upon which all that is most beautiful and natural in a particular culture can be installed, and allowed to shine, and find its highest purpose, provided that the people to whom such a culture belongs see it that way (of their own volition, and nobody else’s) once the faith has been communicated to them.

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Nor is a Christian by necessity a colonizer, intent on the destruction of all original thought, and variety of culture, so that these things might be replaced with a monotony of expression and of lifestyle. For while Christianity is a religion of evangelism, and thus fulfills its purpose by making itself heard, and availing itself to everyone it might reach, its apostles should mirror, in their imitation of the truths of which it is in possession, the sort of love that seeks not to govern, influence, or control, but to sustain.

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Which isn’t to say, as some would have it, that to be Christian is to be indoctrinated, or brainwashed, or whatever other unhappy term might be employed as a descriptor, for the purpose of diminishing an entire faith tradition (which admittedly has been, and will continue to be, tarnished by the failings of many who would act in its name, but which itself is an expression of profound beauty and goodness), but that a Christian finds the fullness of their personhood not through the exercising of their volition for its own sake, or the sake of their pleasure (though at times pleasure might come to them, as a good in and of itself), but for the sake of God, whose will can be discerned, if not precisely known.

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This is where the mind that has allowed itself to be Christianized cannot help but recoil from received notions of ‘progress,’ and from the indiscriminate usage of it as a term in cultural discourse. And where also, perhaps, such a mind finds commonality with other faiths or ideologies only insofar as they do not regard, as instances of progress, the advancements by which civilization tends to measure itself, unless those advancements can avail themselves to the spiritual needs and moral complacency of humankind.

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What do we imagine would happen, anyhow, if we brought ourselves to some future where all that could be discovered had been discovered, and all that could be perfected had been perfected? Do we imagine entropy would cease, or that the susceptibilities of the human ego to its baser inclinations would vanish, or no longer influence us? So that some sort of utopia would commence? Or even a more modest arena of existence, wherein our curiosity was satisfied to such an extent that we did not suffer the tremors of our own restlessness?

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For although nature might be finite, in the sense that it is quantifiable, categorical, and may be bounded in space and time, the pattern by which it allows itself to be known suggests layer upon layer of complexity and meaning, as if the substance of creation, while not rebuffing our attempts to disclose it, is metaphysically infinite, and not unlike an adult to an inquisitive child, unreadable and silent, but also tolerant and encouraging of our character, the exercise of which is meant not so much to bring us into some final mastery, or ease of living (though surely it can contribute to joy, and relieve suffering) but to provide traction in our quest for individual and collective peace.

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Further, any science that would not exaggerate its importance, or the breadth of its applications, will recognize that the territory of its unknowing might always exist, no matter how far it expands the territory of its knowing; and that its integrity as a discipline is not decreased by admitting as much, though it may be decreased by denying it.

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In other words, religion is not so unsophisticated as its reputation in some quarters has led people to believe, and as those who are hostile to it as a matter of course would seem to want people to continue to believe. For in its most noble expressions it is no less in love with truth than is any other form of knowing; and it would not regard the faculty of reason as anything but an absolute gift.

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And so that, as well, if a contradiction seems to arise between reason and faith, either our reasoning is faulty, or (at least from a Christian perspective) we have erred in our understanding of the faith.

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So that any religion that regards truth as a unity must also hold that if something is shown to be true according to reason, it cannot be considered false according to faith.

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What people seem to forget, when they suggest the incompatibility of science and religion, is that any religion deserving of the name will recognize and cherish the so-called principle of non-contradiction, a metaphysical axiom that forms the basis of all science, and which states that a proposition cannot be both true and untrue, in the same way, at the same time (though at the quantum level we might find an exception).

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But yes…while Christianity extends into the incorporeal and spiritual, it is grounded in the corporeal and rational.

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Which isn’t to say that the extravagance of that work’s imagery, and the patterns of its numerology, do not contain within them a specific and immutable truth, but that the shape of a truth can change without losing its substance, proportions or effect.

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The Book of Revelation, for instance, finds its position as a canonical text among the scripture of the New Testament not through its literality alone (for it has none beyond what can be said of it logistically — that a figure known as John the Apostle, to whom are ascribed the writings known as Johannine Literature, did record, on the island of Patmos, for the benefit of his contemporaries and of the universal Church, a vision of cosmic and supernatural drama, relayed to him by what he maintains was an angel) but for how its symbology can be understood as communicating a truth whose investiture in language, in order to bear itself into the future, must retain some pliancy, latitude, and interpretive breadth.

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It is in such imaginings that Christian eschatology finds the relevance of its own articulations, though to say that the faith rests in them intellectually, or that their power as prophetic description, and religious wisdom, could function as a substitute for, or be exercised independent of, the rational use of our senses, would be to misconstrue what religion is, and what the Christian religion in particular understands itself to be.