>>17870876 (OP)I haven't been a Christian for a long time, but for me the imagery of it has maintained a strong appeal on a sort of archetypal subconscious level. The idea of the world as a story with a clear beginning and an end, the universe being spoken into existence, the flood, the tower of babel, a people escaping oppression and wandering in the wilderness, the giving of the law on the mountain, the stories of Elijah, Jonah, Job, David, Daniel, Solomon, some of the psalms and the prophets... the idea of a god becoming human or a human becoming god, the secretive messiah who paradoxically saves the world by being humiliated and killed only to be vindicated by resurrection, the moral program of suicidal or nearly suicidal altruism, the idea of the Holy Spirit, the world ending in a dramatic apocalypse with a final judgment, heaven and hell, and so on.
Something about it on the level of imagery just really resonates. But of course there's also a lot that I don't find so appealing, like very often the details behind the imagery (e.g. the actual contents of the law, which are less than impressive), all the internal dissonances (though I think they actually make it more memorable, if uncomfortable, as a believer, like you're always trying to solve a puzzle in the back of your mind) and in the way the whole thing is so easily weaponised by people who want to use it manipulate people, feel superior to others without good reason, promote irrationality, or otherwise weaponise it.
