Poll for NotReady

[Taraz]

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Don't get me wrong, I like yours (and Sullivan's) better... but it bears little similarity to what's in the bible. I'm not sure Christians are allowed to rewrite the fundamental rules as they see fit and still call themsleves Christians.

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They've been doing it since the creation of Christianity, so I don't see why they should stop now.

I don't really understand why atheists (or theists for that matter) say that you can't pick and choose from religions. Everyone picks and chooses. Either you do it yourself or you have your pastor do it for you. Personally, I think independent research is often more valuable than doing what people tell you to do.

(To go off on a tangent: This is also why I think think the idea of Biblical inerrancy is retarded. The interpretation of religious texts has been changing since the inception of religion. Why should religious folk stop now? Just because they are scared of "making God smaller" because maybe he didn't create the Earth in a week?)

[bigpooch]

"But you're gonna have to serve somebody..."

[NotReady]

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"But you're gonna have to serve somebody..."

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"It might be the devil(he can be fascinating, he can be dull, he can ride down Niagra falls in the barrels of your skull), it might be the Lord"

[PairTheBoard]

"May you stay forever young"

PairTheBoard

[PairTheBoard]

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Actually, that's Sullivan's viewpoint. However, I think you might be suprised at how many Religious or Spiritually Inclined people basically agree with it.

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I dunno, it sounds nice and all - but it seems a little new-agey. It also sounds a lot like people inventing their own religion whenever they find things they don't like about the original one.

Don't get me wrong, I like yours (and Sullivan's) better... but it bears little similarity to what's in the bible. I'm not sure Christians are allowed to rewrite the fundamental rules as they see fit and still call themsleves Christians.

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This same complaint was leveled at Jesus. He was accused of breaking the rules. His response was that he did not come to abolish the Law but to Fullfill it. What are Christians to make of that statement in light of the fact that many of the old Jewish laws were dropped as Christianity developed. Eventually, Sacrifice of animals was no longer required. Circumcision was no longer required.

Once the Scriptures were laid down and cannonized they became fixed. So what changes? The scriptures don't change. The Truth they try to point to doesn't change. Christ doesn't change. What changes is our understanding of these things. And why shouldn't it change? Has not our understanding of everything else progessed in the past 2000 years? Why shouldn't our understanding of the Truth the scriptures try to point to progress? Why shouldn't our understanding of Christ progess?

I think the understanding you glean from reading the Bible depends on the Spirit in which you read it. It depends on the attitude you bring to the study. Your understanding is contingent on your perception of the world derived from modern thought.

As I read the Bible I find plenty of support for Sullivan's view. In fact, it's a little hard for me to understand how others don't. The way they throw Scripture around to justify their views just puzzles me. I don't see anything like what they Proclaim is implied by the Scriptures they quote. The best I can think of in response is to suggest they meditate on the core message of Jesus - the primacy of life lived in the spirit of love, compassion, and empathy. Then read it all again in that context and in that spirit. They might also take into account everything we've learned about the world in the past 2000 years. They might also take into account the cultural environment in which the Scriptures where written.

Just because the Church proclaimed that no more Scriptural revelation of Truth be accepted as cannonical does not mean that God stopped speaking to the hearts of Christians when the last book of the Bible was written. Nor when now entrenched hard hearted theologies were proclaimed. The Love of Christianity is infinite with infinite potential to soften hearts and increase their capacity for that Love. With greater love in the hearts of believers comes greater understanding of Christ, greater understanding of Scripture, and the Fullfillment of old hard hearted theologies by way of Christlike Love Filled ones of New Creation.

According to Christianity, Christ ushered in a New Age. So the New Age is nothing new to Christianity. It has been unfolding for 2000 years and is just as young today as it was then. That is the miracle of the Resurrection. It is a religion that is forever young.

PairTheBoard

[vhawk01]

Yeah, and look what happened to Jesus.