I think that the answer that Faith gave to my last post is worth a new thread so at some point I’ll suggest an OP around her response.
First off, I would like to say that I have known many fundamentalist Christians, (those that believe that the Bible is word for word directly from God) in my life, and pretty much without exception my experience with them has been positive. The vast majority of them are busy serving others in their local community and serving others either directly or financially around the world. The point is that even though I applaud their life style I have great difficulty with their theology.
It is my contention that fundamentalist Christians don’t take Jesus seriously enough and instead make the Bible the focus of their faith. As I’ve said before it becomes Biblianity rather Christianity. In reality all monotheists worship the same God. The difference between the different faiths centres on the attributes that we ascribe to the deity that we worship.
It is my contention that Biblianity presents a very different kind of god than does the god that is testified to in Jesus Christ. The god of Bibilianity is a god that is able to command that justice is about an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth. This god is able to justify genocide. This god is prepared to harden the hearts of his chosen people by having them stone to death rebellious young people, prostitutes, or those that don’t follow Sabbath laws to the letter. The Christian god that we see incarnate in Jesus tells us that we are to forgive those that sin against us. The god that we see incarnate in Jesus tells us to love our enemies and says that blessed are the peacemakers. The god that we see incarnate in Jesus is a god that wants his people to have their hearts softened in their relations with others - a god that wants us to love and guide our young people in a way that they will grow up to be loving adults themselves — a god that forgave the prostitutes that he encountered and gave them a fresh start in life with a clean slate and a god that tells us that all of the laws are fulfilled by having a heart that loves unselfishly.
Yes, I agree that the Bible is a very special book and that in it we can find God’s testimony for us, spoken through the hearts, minds and imaginations of numerous authors and translators. That does not mean that the authors always got it right or even usually got it right. The entire Bible is both culturally and personally conditioned. If we take the Bible and allow God, through the lens of the teachings of Jesus to lead us through the truth of the whole metanarrative that is the Bible, then we can actually discern the message that God has for us in the Scriptures. If however, we treat it as literally word for word from God then we wind up with a god that is not only inconsistent but often cruel. Frankly, it is my view that Christians could justify a Christian jihad if they were to pull out of the OT some of the things that are attributed to god. Certainly all of the positive attributes are there as well, and Jesus based his teachings on that part of the scriptures. Loving your neighbour and loving your enemy can be found in the OT as well as in the NT.
My life is based on my Christian faith. I don’t pretend to have all the answers and I have no doubt that much of what I believe is wrong. My faith starts with the bodily resurrection of Jesus which gives credibility to the Gospel message that is ascribed to him in the Gospels and expanded on in the epistles. Although, I believe that the case for the resurrection is compelling I have to agree that it is still a faith. If I am wrong then so be it, but I will quite happily go on serving, as well as I can, the God that only asks that I humbly love kindness and act justly. (It sounds easy but I find that putting it into practice isn’t as easy as it sounds.
) That is the God I worship. I don’t worship God because He is all powerful; I worship Him because He is all loving. If I actually had to believe that God is sometimes the equivalent of the world’s worst dictators in advocating genocide and cruel gruesome public executions, then I would just accept that even though he is god I would have no interest in worshipping him and I’ll just accept the consequences. I think many people that understand Christianity to mean believing in an inerrant Bible have rejected Christianity for that very reason. It seems to me likely that they are closer to the heart of God than many Christians, but fortunately it is not up to mean to judge that one way or the other.
Edited by GDR, : No reason given.
Edited by GDR, : typos
He has told you, O man, what is good ; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8