One part that seemed absent from your overview is the issue of judgement. I would say the central aspect of Christianity is that God promises to forgive sinners on account of Jesus' death and resurrection alone and only. Eastern traditions or psychedelics do not make the same promises, and many of the issues you highlight (moral relativism, we are god, we are illusory, monism, etc) stem from us trying to hide from the fact we are sinners, justly accused and facing judgment.
I would argue that the 'maybe monism, maybe dualism,' doctrine of the Trinity, Chalcedon, and all of the rest stem from trying to make sense of the mechanics whereby 1) God comes down to us humans, becomes incarnate, forgives sinners, gets murdered, breaks death, and lives and 2) how God makes that promise of forgiveness real to sinful humans today.
Good stuff. Helps me build out a proper taxonomy.
This is an excellent essay. Thank you.
Good analysis!
One part that seemed absent from your overview is the issue of judgement. I would say the central aspect of Christianity is that God promises to forgive sinners on account of Jesus' death and resurrection alone and only. Eastern traditions or psychedelics do not make the same promises, and many of the issues you highlight (moral relativism, we are god, we are illusory, monism, etc) stem from us trying to hide from the fact we are sinners, justly accused and facing judgment.
I would argue that the 'maybe monism, maybe dualism,' doctrine of the Trinity, Chalcedon, and all of the rest stem from trying to make sense of the mechanics whereby 1) God comes down to us humans, becomes incarnate, forgives sinners, gets murdered, breaks death, and lives and 2) how God makes that promise of forgiveness real to sinful humans today.
Your terror of annihilation is worth examining more deeply. Nothing persists forever.