Salvation - a User's Manual and FAQ's

Musings on The Word of God And a Coffee Maker

Last Spring, two of our daughters bought My Dear Wife and I a Tassimo Coffee Maker.  At first, I did not want to abandon our drip coffee maker that makes 6 full cups in one go, for a machine that could do a Latte (even though I love Latte's) or hot chocolate, or specialty or normal coffess and even tea.  But over time it has grown on me, and the old coffee maker sits in the cupboard.  But, this coffee maker has some tips in the useful owners manual, which are helpful if you want it to work properly. 

Also, there are at the Tassimo site, Frequently Asked Questions and appropriate answers that are available for further edification.  The owner's manual predates the FAQ's, and over time the FAQs have come from someone trying to do something unusual, or usual but not fully documented.

As I lay in bed this morning about 3 am, it dawned on me that Christianity is a lot like our Tassimo.  Like the Tassimo, Christianity was an invention if you could call it that, at least for purposes of this article.  Where the Tassimo was invented by some pretty smart German engineers, Christianity was the brain child of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  The Tassimo is a way to brew hot beverages, whereas Christianity is a way of life meant to keep us from having very hot beverages and everything else hot in the hereafter.

The Tassimo comes with an owner's manual that included the things the inventors and manufacturers thought we needed to use it effectively to do what it was designed for.  But, it was written at a point in time, when Tassimo's were first coming to market.

Christainity has an owner's manual as well.  That manual is The Holy Bible.  Parts of the Bible were in fact written prior to the creation of Christianity (what we know as the Old Testament), and so they set the stage for Christianity in its early use.  But, much of the owner's manual was written long after Christianity was created by Jesus.  It was not an after thought, but came about because the inventor was no longer physically on site to guide the users of Christianity.

Before the Owner's manual was completed for Christianity, there was actually an FAQ of sorts.  The leaders of the Church (being the leaders of local churches) gathered to discuss what was happening.  There they tuned some of the practices, and appointed people to provide guidance to users of Christianity.  In fact, much of the owner's manual in the case of Christianity was letters written to respond to Frequently Asked Questions posed by early Christians.

Christianity is much more complex than the Tassimo.  As well, since it was a way of life, and not a coffee brewer, people who disagreed with it didn't just pitch their Tassimo, or not buy one.  They tended to murder the Christians to show their displeasure, which is a little more radical display of feelings.

Over time the FAQ's grew and the concept of the Magisterium of the Church came to being.  Though it was not a new concept, and is supportable from the Bible, it was a way of documenting things so that they would be available for all.

Just a thought!!