There is a dirty little secret about religion that I want to air out with you. It has dogged the steps of every kind of organized religion for 2,000 years.

It is especially relevant now because in our reading of other people’s mail, we have come to a very personal letter from Paul to Timothy, and this dirty little secret is discussed in what might have been intended as a private letter, but which has now been read by millions.

The faith of the Bible, whether it be Christianity or Judaism, is a deceptively simple faith. There is mystery to it, to be sure, because we are talking about things that transcend human experience. So why, then, do people understand it so differently? How come we don’t have one big religion?