NOTICE
If your faith is easily shaken, if questions or doubts about your faith tear you up, or if you hold the strong belief that we shouldn't say anything to discourage others from our faith, then consider yourself notified.
Now that that's taken care of....
I want you to admit something. This is something that has taken me many many years to admit. I want you to admit that Christianity really does seem like fantasy. I believe admitting these points may strengthen your faith. As I have found in my own life, if I can hold dear to that which sounds incredible, then I must truly believe. Stay with me here.
THE BIBLE
We believe in a book gathered from manuscripts thousands of years old. We believe it holds the key to all our understanding. We believe so blindly, we stake our eternal self on it. We rationalize every argument against believing in it. Nevermind the controversies of extra books in some versions: theories that the early Roman Catholic Church doctored the bible to fit their needs, burning down the biggest library (at the time) in Alexandria to protect their alleged doctored bible. We believe and hold on to it despite the clan who claim to have wrote it, the Jews, to be in total disagreement with us as to the outcome.
We can't even agree what's literal and what's symbolism. Does the bible show the 6000 yr timeline of our earth? Can it? Did the flood cover the entire earth? Or just a portion of it? Does not the book of Job blow your mind? What's going on there? How about Song of Psalms? Who put that in there? Where did those people come from that Cain hooked up with? Why are the prophecies so hard to understand? Why can't we decipher Revelations. Admit it, this book is controversial to say the least.
JESUS
Am I the only one that can admit the whole idea of Jesus seems strange? I've yet to get my fingers around "not worshipping other Gods before me" but yet trusting that Jesus is God incarnate on earth who now is our mediator to God. So God sent his son, or his self, to die for our sins, so that this son, or his self, would be the one to present us as righteous to God, or himself? It's confusing to say the least. I've used a lot of double talk and danced around this issue. But it remains that we definitely seem to pray to three separate entities, yet teach as they are the same. Does it not sound a little like we have a couple of gods and we really work hard to convince ourselves we don't.
SALVATION
Before Jesus, it was the slaughter of animals. Then Jesus was slaughtered for the final sacrifice or atonement. Does it not seem strange that God would set it up so that first: slaughter after slaughter was our way to set things right with God, and second: and now we picture a dead figure on a cross when we think of our own salvation. I tell you, the Catholic Church remains loyal not to let that image die. Basically death surrounds our salvation.
Here's a list of other things we could expand on:
- Creation (young earth) vs. evolution: does the young earth have time for the dinosaurs?
- Freewill vs. predestination: it seems these are at odds, then you have folks say it's both. hmm
- Does it not bother you that Godly men walking with God could be either side of an issue like above?
- How about the hundreds of denominations? Can't we all just get along?
Folks, I just simply want us to view this faith in what we have simply as what it is....faith. Hopefully, admitting some of the points above will only expose how solid your faith is. Hang on to that which is essential. Don't sweat the stuff we can't seem to agree on even after 2000 yrs.
Gen 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
9 comments:
Great post. I think that we beleive in very little if we don't take the time to struggle with our faith.
That's pretty much my point, Rodney. Thanks.
but you forgot about the virgin birth and is it just me or does Revelation kind of remind you of Lord of the Rings? I think it just all the horse stuff reminds me of the wraiths.
Hey, God can handle the questions. Personally, I've always said that if I could figure out everything involved in God's plan and in God Himself, then I wouldn't be impressed. He'd better be bigger than we can imagine or He's not worth a thing.
The one little correction I have is that we have faith in things we cannot know, but it is an informed faith. It's not as if a binding with 66 books suddenly appeared and we gave it our undying committment. We know what went into putting it together. We know the history. And we realize that it has been passed down to us from generation to generation so well that every new manuscript portion we find only proves the accuracy of what we've had all along.
It's not really a blind leap of faith. We can see a little bit. :)
lil sis, I don't think it's entirely coincidence that LOTR resembles some of the gospel.
rev-ed, I could go on and on about some of the aspects which solidifies my faith. You are correct, I think, in that His ways are not ours.
I forgot to check but you sound intp. I admit to walking into that scary white room, and really looking at this. I have believed that the only thing that kept me in my faith is the fact that so many many times God has proven Himself. and not a little grace that says "but Who else has the Words of Life?"
The truth is stranger than fiction and no where else do we see this as much as in our Faith. We just keep finding it true... and that has to be God's grace, and like all such things it turns circular when we try to explain it.
I need to check if you're blogrolled. You are an interesting guy.
ilona,
Truth certainly is stranger than fiction. I think there lies the rub. To try to rationalize it only makes it seem stranger.
I hear what you are saying, but some of the things that we chalk up to faith, don't need to be so blind. I have been amazed at how many things can be answered with a little research. Especially the areas of creation and history of the world...
Dig deeper... Question more. I can't believe you have the ability. Question whether Hell is an Eternal Concentration Camp and you have been supporting the wrong side. You may just have it in you to destroy the eternal contestation camp. Think. You know the truth if you try. Join us and free those in ALL concentration camps. That is real love. You can destroy that eternal concentration camp. All people are not born deserving death, but rather life. Maybe you can be more moral than God and say "if hell exists. I would rather go there and destroy its walls or suffer trying than exist in heaven."
Post a Comment