Just about every "believer" I have come across has gone back to
what they were taught or to the interpretations of the Bible they have
been taught for their reference points. I used to do the same myself.
So, most "believers" I've known have based their entire idea of God, and Jesus, on the god that has been made in the image of
man over the centuries.
What do you think would happen if you thought outside the box? Do you think God would be mad at you? No!
What would be wrong with finding God for yourself, with reading the Bible in a new light?
Why do you (who do) think you cannot stray from the "accepted" interpretation of every verse of the Bible?
Comments (12)
either that or apathy... "oh, i'm too weak or unworthy to read the bible, boohoo, pastor joe, tell me what this means, wahwahwah"...
the fascination with the supernatural is dead in today's world...
I think it's wise to question and weigh everything that we are taught and told to believe. But what happens if what you learn/see in self study lines up with the ideas that are taught and accepted, should they be negated because they aren't different? Is that bad? I would say even self study, and what we see for ourselves, should be weighed against the rest of scripture.
I understand what you're saying and agree, but I also think the idea walks a fine line.
If truth is absolute, then not everything under the sun can be truth, right? Eventually you will come to a point where either your beliefs line up with that which is accepted and taught, or you will come to a point where your beliefs don't.
That is something we are endevouring to find out. I have a feeling that there is a broad and wide range of options open for those of us who think outside the box. God is a big God and one size God does not fit all. Jesus was different to Peter, Paul and John. God was different to Abraham, Moses and David. Same love, same foundational rules, but different expressions and these men all saw God and Jesus differently. Why can't we?
A lot of how we see God is based solely on the superstitions we were taught as children, and they are not easy to break free from. I try every day to push the superstitions back even further. For instance, the whole idea that "you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why, Jesus is coming back tomorrow!" Well, I've heard that for 35 years and He still ain't here! So ... no more looking up. Which is Biblical -- the angel in Acts 1 chewed the disciples out for looking up instead of just doing what Jesus said to do.
I'm going to the KCM Ministers Conference next week ... and I'm wearing my clerical collar. I wonder how many people will ask me if "I've gone back to bondage" when to me, it's a symbol of breaking out to freedom? HA!
In my case, I was Baptist until I was 13, Assembly of God until I was 22, and Word of Faith from 27 until now (I was rank heathen between 22 and 27. Those are three different, sometimes conflicting, points of view. When Assembly and WoF clash, I fall back on being Baptist, which is simple -- Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That allows me to regather, kick out the Charismatic junk and see the truth, then go forward. But sometimes, the old fundamentalist bullshit rises up and tries to overthrow the freedom I have as a Charismatic. At that point, I want to throw it all down and go off and become a Wiccan! SOMETHING that makes sense! There must be at least 100 different theologies out there, all clashing, all claiming to be the only truth.
I guess this is what Paul meant by working out our salvation with fear and trembling.
I started reading my Bible at the age of 12. I am sure that you could say I was indoctrined with certain basic thoughts by then. But I would like to believe that it is possible to come to what the Bible is saying even if you have been biased by others.
RYC: You are not going to like the answer. They were kidnapped by a very bad man. I didn't focus on that part of the story. The boy who had been kidnapped and held for 3 years had to be convinced that his parents were looking for him. Apparently the kidnapper brainwashed him into thinking his parents weren't looking for him because they didn't want him.
I am sure we will find a nice little prison for that man.
One of the most useful bits of advice I ever received, I got when I was about 19. I had a roommate who was a 39 year-old blind Christian from India. He was working on his second master's, and his first or second doctorate. I used to get n long discussions about faith with him. It troubled me greatly that I had a strong inner drive to test and check out everything for myself, including all the things taught to me about faith which I doubted. He told m, basically, that God was not afraid of my doubts, but rather that He welcomed them.
I have come to see the sincere, honest testing and proving to oneself of their personal "articles of faith", if you will, is a critically important part of growing to know God. Without this, there is no depth or anchor to one's faith. It is fine as a beginnner, or a child, to have an older (in such matters) person give you what you need to start out. To be of any real use to God, however, one must be SURE of what they believe...I love that the Spanish word for test comes from the same root word for our word, "prove".
One will give their life over to that which they KNOW; not to things which are foisted on them.
Good questions, Karen!