Posted on 04/15/2010 6:05:20 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
I find the entire story to be a fascinating allegory of mankind's suppression of the knowledge of God. About self-deception. About the painfulness of the truth about us as humanity...we are the villains.
Now, I am sure that Dennis Lehane never intended this tale of a deluded U.S. Marshall to be seen for anything more than a thrilling exploration of one man's painful journey towards the truth. This should be obvious. But it does not take a great deal of effort, in my opinion, if you possess a robust Christian worldview, to see the allegory.
You see, like Teddy, we are not the hero of the story; we are the villains. We are the antagonists working against the grain of the universe. We are the ones who rebelled, we are the ones who bear the tremendous weight of evil and sin from the Fall.
This is a painful truth; the existentialists, the poets, the scientists, and the scholars have constructed a new and elaborate narrative which allows humanity to suppress the truth of our villainy. The new narrative tells every person that they are the hero of their life's story, that they are not the enemy, that this morality which we appear to be born with is something of an illusion. The new narrative says that God is bad, man is good, and that by the help of science and politicians, we can create the eden which God failed to secure in the Beginning.
So mankind knows the truth - that we're the enemy...However, this is far too painful to come to terms with. So now we are deluged with false religions, philosophies, tales of humanity's exploits of greatness, of the failure and badness of God - all of which reinforce this delusion...
(Excerpt) Read more at bringthebooks.org ...
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness...
Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
~ verses taken from Romans 1
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