Dimensions of Faith: Musings of a Struggling Christian: How to Read the Bible

Showing posts with label How to Read the Bible. Show all posts

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Why I Hate the Bible commentary "The Message"

I have good reasons for hating The Message but I don't have time write them now. By coming up with the title of this post and the first sentences, I have committed myself to this future task. More coming. Later, tell me if you disagree.

Claims

This blog may be provocative emotionally, but my intention is to be provocative intellectually and spiritually. My aim is to examine belief structures, subcultures and Culture in general, Christian or otherwise. My aim is to examine the nature of faith and its role in contemporary society.

I am a Christian, although I might better say, I am still a Christian, but then I would need to define a “Christian” since that term is no longer commonly understood. Many times I have wished it could be as simple as “just believe the Bible” and you will get a Christian world view, understand life, have a great church and lots of Christian friends. But I have come across too many spiritual roadblocks in my 46 years as a Christian to believe that naturally happens. These stumbling blocks have been in myself, my Christian upbringing, in some Christian sub-cultures, and in the Culture at large (maybe not in that order). I can honestly say that I have been nearly tempted to give up my faith for all the confusion, or at least to give up on church. But instead, I have struggled deeply with my faith, have read numerous books from differing viewpoints, have spent time in prayer, have church hopped but have been a faithful church member for the last few years. From that struggle I have emerged, finally, a deeply committed, though still deeply flawed Christian. From this commitment has sprung my desire to write this blog. I am not writing it for myself or to chronicle my own spiritual journey. My sincere desire is to help anyone else who has had the same, possibly unacknowledged conflicts and struggles. I want others to find a way out of the maze like I am continuing to do. So I will become overt in my Christian apologetic as this blog evolves. I will come right out and tell why I am still a Christian in spite of everything, why Christianity is tenable, and how much the Bible and other Christians can be trusted. After that, I will write about the heart of the matter, Jesus Christ—who he is and who he is not. I welcome disagreement, debate and doubt if it is written in a thoughtful, sincere spirit.

Let's look at the church in modern America

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Why I Hate the Bible commentary "The Message"

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