Sunday noitcelfeR
It surprises a lot of people to know I'm a firm Christian.
But not THAT kind of Christian.
To me, there are four great commandments: Love God, love your neighbor, love one another, and judge not.
My two favorite Jesus teachings: Follow me, and None of your business (or, What's it to you?).
A lot of people hammer down on John 3:16, and overlook John 3:17: For God didn't send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be save through him.
Then I go to where Jesus uses grammar to turn us on our heads: I am the way. Which is like saying, "Take Me Street."
This isn't to say I ignore the rest of the Bible. I know what the Bible is: a collection of myths, legends, lore, history (such as it was recorded by the winners and losers), poetry, some fiction, apocalyptic writing, prophecy (which does NOT mean predictions of the future), gospels, letters, and essays. I never take it at face value in English because English didn't exist at the time. As it is, the Greek and Latin have a few flaws in them too.
But here's the thing: Everything comes down to the four great commandments and the two teachings.
No religion, just love.
That's why I'm a Christian. And that HOW I'm a Christian.
I removed the other comment so I could fix the typos. Here it is again: I've been reading the bible because the Lord wants me to study the bible. I tried a bible study group for 3 years but it was way too much info too fast, although I did learn a lot, especially about St. Paul, who I had issues with before studying him. I had judged him before knowing what he went through, and what he sacrificed to proclaim and announce Jesus Christ the Messiah. And I wonder if his saying women should not have power or authority in church was written after he died, because when he was alive he worked with many women and I believe he treated them as equals. Studying on my own during isolation has been enlightening. I resist so much of the bible and want to fight it, being a late in life born again Christian, as a science fiction writer, feminist and science minded person. But I'm finding the things that appalled me fascinating. When we relax our observance of God and renounce sin we are only so good. But when we ignore sin and do not build a life around integrity what does our society become? Where are those who observe Lent? Those who take time to be thankful for our many blessings? Everyone takes our prosperity for granted and they do not thank those who provide their sustenance, let alone thank God or Jesus. Without religion does our society become glutinous, greedy, pleasure seeking for the sake of pleasure, only? And then a plague hits us that takes away our ability to smell or taste food if we survive it. It sounds like a biblical plague. But I don't blame God even if it is God's doing. Could it be some clandestine self full-filling prophecy? I don't blame God because God is Love. And those innocents who've died will find eternal rest or be brought back to life if that is God's will.
ReplyDeleteI think those problematic passages like Paul's advice to the women of Corinth are only problematic if you think he meant them for anyone other than the Corinthians. People read the Bible cold, and a text without a context is a pretext, as Manfred Brauch would say. In Corinth, it was against the law for women to hold positions of authority. The women who followed "the Way" (as Christianity was called) felt they were "set free from the law," so they began preaching and teaching. Paul was telling them not to break their city's law.
ReplyDeleteIt's like having kids. I could tell one kid he has to practice piano because he wants to major in music, but the other one doesn't because the other one doesn't like to play piano and want to be an engineer.
A book that's really helpful is Gordon Fee's "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth." Very helpful not just for understanding the Bible, but also your own faith.
Thanks for writing!
That's very illuminating, Ef, pun intended, about St. Paul. I'm glad he cared . Back then it could have proved fatal for those women. I will have to put that Fee book in my cart to be read. I was in the middle of reading Pamela Eisenbaum's, Paul was not a Christian, a while back when I was delightfully interrupted by Lawrence Schoen's recent publications and Robert J Sawyer's, Oppenheimer book, as well as a few others. And I haven't had time to get back to it, but hope to this summer. Maybe at the beach if I'm ever so lucky. I enjoy talking about the bible and history. Let's do this again.
DeleteAlways happy to talk intellectually about the Bible. I grew up Catholic, and in my house that meant you didn't read the Bible; you kept in in a nice case and stuck it on the shelf. When I was twelve, I took it out of its case and started to read it, and my mother hit me and took it away. "You want to know what it says, go ask Father Rigney." Instead, I went to the library and read through the whole thing and, man, did I have questions for Father Rigney then! But when I asked them (at that point I was fourteen), he told me to sit down, shut up, and quit asking stupid questions, or get out. So I got out.
DeleteI was very fortunate to meet a deeply faithful Christian woman in college who had a much different background in her religion: none! She basically said, "You believe in God. Just give credit where credit is due, and God will show you what you need to know." That's how I fell out of the "Jesus Fan Club" type of Christianity and fell into the "Jesus Street" discipline, leaning more on the Spirit of God and exploring what God is saying today, to me.
Wouldn't the beach be great??
Yes. I need the beach. I haven't gone body surfing in ages! Despite being sunny and not a cloud in a spectacularly blue sky, it was 49 in the car today! It was sooo cold , too cold. Not cold like this past weekend but still. I have a lot of X Catholic friends who are now atheists. I don't want to say bitter atheists. More like, twisted sense of humor about the Christian religion, kind of atheists. I was nominally raised Protestant by two atheists who went to church because that's what folks did in the 60s. They went to church. And our first church in Colonie was full of nice folks but the one in Clarksville was a hellfire and brimstone sermon kind and our folks pulled us out of it. It's unfortunate that Father Rigney wasn't the, get down on your knees and wash the feet of the poor and humble, kind of priest. I have a lot of other thoughts and opinions on that and will probably pm them to you. I'm Episcopalian and it fits me better than when I was Presbyterian. I hope it warms up soon. I'll let you know if we have plans to go to the beach this summer!
Delete