Well, I'm back, and despite the complete lack of anyone even finding this blog, I shall continue in earnest!
This week I've been mostly mulling over the idea that I'm pretty certain of what I don't like about this Christianity lark, but seem to clam up when I try and work out what I do like about it. Any time I try and sort this out, I usually get mired down in circular arguments about truth, faith and whether or not we're even supposed to like religion in the first place. Then I usually remember that the main reason I still go to church is that I enjoy it, and the whole merry cycle starts again.
Even more unfortunately, one of the few things I do fervently believe about religion is that it should be a personal experience, with each person taking away from it whatever spiritual enlightenment that they want. Of course, this again descends into what spiritual enlightenment I want to take away...need I say more?
I can't find much help in any creeds, as these usually make most references to the Western view of God (see my first post). Where, then, can I find inspiration for basing my actual set of beliefs?
To start, I may as well use the ideas of what I don't like to work some sort of process-by-elimination:
First of all, the bible is not the unadulterated word of God. I'm sorry to those of a more fundamentalist nature, and you're perfectly welcome to your beliefs, but having done a year of bible study as part of my RS course, it becomes more and more obvious that 'History' just didn't work in its contemporary form 2,000 years ago.
Here's where we can get to what I do believe: The bible is, in places and with the proper care, a fantastic and fascinating read. A book doesn't have to be the direct word of God to be useful for our spiritual lives, and I've found a great deal of comfort in reading the Bible before.
I'll leave it at that for now, hopefully will be back tomorrow with whatever I've been musing about since then. I welcome any of your comments (feel free to flame me out of existance if you so wish), and look forward to seeing you again soon.
FiF
About Me
- Fried-in-Faith
- United Kingdom
- I'm a supposed Christian, but really have no idea what to believe, hence this blog. I'm trying to work out my faith, though with no particular aim in mind. See my first post for a more accurate (I hope) description.
3 comments:
If we can't believe that the Bible is the unalterated, true Word of God, what else do we have - nothing. If the God of the Universe cannot make sure that we get His Word in the way that He intended it to be, then He isn't much of a all knowing, all powerful God is He?
Thanks for you honest comments nd your 'searching' heart.
I'm from an evangelical background, and I'm trying to work out what exactly it means for the Bible to be the "word of God", to what extent and what sense it's true, and so on.
In your paragraph beginning "The Bible is not the unadulterated word of God", I think you confuse two different issues. You say that "history" just didn't work in its contemporary form 2000 years ago, by which you seem to be referring to the way that people didn't write "objective history" by modern standards. But whether something is the word of God and whether it's written to modern historical standards are two different things. My working understanding of the Bible is that it's true when understood on its own terms. If it isn't meant to be history in the modern sense, then that doesn't mean the Bible is wrong, just that it's saying something different. The Bible could be both the word of God and not be "history" in the modern sense.
So I think you need to distinguish between the way in which the Bible is written, whether it is all divinely inspired, and whether it is true and accurate. The three are interconnected but not identical.
I definitely disagree with the idea that "religion should be a personal experience, with each person taking away from it whatever spiritual enlightenment that they want." Religion by that definition is something fundamentally self-serving and narcissistic. It seems to me that religion should be something that takes us beyond ourselves, that isn't just about our own pleasure, but to following a God who is greater than us and dealing with people as people rather than as objects to be used for our own benefit and pleasure.
Everyone has a god. A person's real religion, their real God is whatever they find their greatest pleasure in, whatever is their highest goal and fundamental orientation. It may be family, success, honour, nation, or whatever. For most people in our Western culture, it's all about the self; many people follow God only for the benefits that serve their self. People may profess belief in God, but their real god is themselves.
To really be able to engage with reality, with other people and with God means recognising that life isn't all about our self. It seems to me that authentic Christian faith involves trying to make the Christian God your god, making him your greatest pleasure and joy, your highest goal and orientation for your life. Unless you break out of a self-centred view of religion, then I don't think you're really going to be believing anything different from the status quo around us.
Hi Caleb, thanks for Commenting!
I get what you mean about 'the word of God' and 'historicity'. With hindsight I was muddling the two terms; I'm new to this whole blog thing, and fairly new to this whole 'theology' thing as well. I think my beef was more with the idea that everything in the bible 'happened' rather than everything in the bible is 'the word of God' (I wrote half an exam on the distinction yesterday, so it's a bit firmer in my head). Thanks for pointing it out.
When I say that religion should be a personal experience, I don't mean it in the sense that religion should only be for the spiritual enlightenment of the self, but rather that we have our own goals in religion, be they selfish or otherwise. I agree with you that a self-serving religion can be pretty gosh-darned sad, but I still hold firm to the belief that 'Religion should be what you want it to be'. I know this throws up inevitable difficulties, but it's where my mind is at the moment. It may change, you never know. In fact, this blog has been flagging for a while (mainly because of revision etc) but I'm going to carry on as much as I can. The whole aim was to work out what it is that I believe, and I'm clearly not there yet.
Thanks for your thoughts!
FiF
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