I’ve been saying this for years, ever since I discovered Jordan Peterson.
The gospel is true because it works.
And that’s not a reductionist argument. Nor does it mean there’s not a literal truth involved.
In fact, I would say there MUST be a literal truth undergirding the moral truth because I simply do not believe that goodness comes from lies.
Religion is our attempt to explain the logos, or the divine order of being, through narrative. Maybe we do it incompletely, or without much precision… but if it works, if it produces goodness, there is truth.
“Well, why not just write out the moral truth in a kind of moral code? Why put it in a narrative?”
Because true morality cannot be completely codified into a system of rules. It must be embodied… We must see the logos born out in living beings before we can extract out the essence of it and explicate what is going on.
But then, is there a difference between mythology/fiction and religious stories?
Yes.
Religious truth is at level deeper than mythos. Fiction reflects the deeper religious truth.
Because again, underneath all of it- if it be true- there must be a literal truth.
Religion is where the narrative truth and the material world touch.
And that, my friends, is exactly what happened with the condescension of Christ.
Christ is the ultimate example.
He is the Word made flesh.
A literal person who perfectly embodied the logos.
He is the literal truth.
Why Mormonism may be true.. a take from a pragmatist