A guy asked me about my faith recently. It led to quite a conversation. My beliefs have really continued to change as the years have gone on. Here was part one of my beliefs I wrote 5/12/15: previous blog It discussed creation, the bible, homosexuality, Jesus, etc....
Here is some of what we discussed:
1. Personal God, impersonal God, hands-on, hands-off:
I think that my traditional understanding has always been that we have a personal hands-on God. Pray and God hears you. Pray enough and you can change things. But the more I live and see and experience, I am starting to think that we have a personal God that is hands-off. In other words, the world was set in motion and now its going and he is sitting back watching. But I think there is a personal vesting or interest in our lives as well.
Thinking of God as a father to all of us, makes it easier for me to try to wrap my head and heart around things. If I raise my kids and send them off into the world, now life is up to them. If they do well, I celebrate with them. If they fall on hard times, I'm sad with them. But should I be getting involved in their problems? If I want them to stand on their own 2 feet, then I'd say no I shouldn't. They are always welcome to come over for dinner, but don't expect me to hand out $ to bail them out of problems. I have 3 kids, what if I had 3 billion? Then I kinda need to be rooting for them, but not living their lives. What if they beg me? Isn't this kinda like prayer? Does begging get me to intervene in their lives??? I mean it shouldn't. Maybe once in a GREAT while I might show up and do something completely unexpected. But it should never be expected.
And then when my kids are grown ups, am I punishing them ever for their mistakes? I'd say no. I'd say life and mistakes are punishment enough. I'm in their corner sitting with them in their mess, sad right along side of them. But I'm not orchestrating a punishment for their behavior.... There is a saying, "sin is its own punishment". I'm not ever withholding love or withholding protection anymore than I'm ever arbitrarily giving favor to one child over the other. So why would God be any different if I'm made in his image?
2. Animals versus humans....evil versus altruism.....consciousness versus instinct
As humans, we are animals. We're an animal with a brain that has evolved to have a consciousness. I think that when that happened, we became aware. We began to think about creation and the start of this whole thing. I'm not entirely sure how God may have begun to interact with us. I mean along with consciousness comes the yearning to know our creator and the desire to make sense of it all.
Science will tell you (pretty strongly) evolution has occurred, that there were other humans besides us (homo-sapiens). So what's the problem if a creator began the whole show and evolution took us to animals that became conscious-which would be in the image of God (the ultimate form of consciousness some would say)? It doesn't have to be an either/or.
So now evil as we call it, happens when we (sadly) embrace our animal nature and instincts. But what happens when we embrace our consciousness? Love, empathy, forgiveness, altruism. Those are very scarce qualities in the animal kingdom. They happen within family lines, but you never see a hyena calling over to the jackal to share the carcass. So are you a conscious animal? I am. So act like one, don't just act like an animal. Act with the gifts that came with the consciousness.
3. Other religious faiths:
I think that religion is a cultural phenomenon. I was born in a Christian nation. Go back 2,500 years and there was no such thing. What about those born in a Muslim nation? Hindu? Etc....
So what does that mean? I guess I don't really know. If my concept of us being children of God is accurate, then maybe the new command Jesus gave in John 13:34-35, (to love one another and that is how we will know that we are his followers), is the criteria we need to use to decide if we are indeed following God.
What about all the other extra stuff besides that? I don't know, what about it? I mean there are funny things about us humans that makes us exhibit a tribalism that causes us to want to be better/different than those "others". In and within all religious faiths a layer gets placed on top of loving one another. This succeeds in turning the focus into an "us" versus "them". The added layers might even be well meaning and well intentioned in order to "keep us on track" in our efforts to be loving.
But consider that if we are children of God. What kind of sense does it make for me to promote my kids to go off in three different directions of exclusivity (Christian, Jew, Muslim) if that is something that really matters? Unless maybe the only thing that "really" matters is not how they worship, but how they love??
Showing posts with label belief. Show all posts
Showing posts with label belief. Show all posts
Monday, April 30, 2018
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
What I believe
My daughter started asking me questions about God, heaven, evolution, etc....when my mother was dying last month. What I believe now is a bit different than what I once believed. I am going to write some of it down for me, her, and my other kids. I hope that my kids can take what I put forth and then engage in their own journey and find what they believe.
Let's start with this idea: I feel like I don't know anything for sure. If you want argue with me, don't. My favorite thing to say is, "You might be right". I think that faith is the absence of knowing anything for sure. If you "know" then you don't need faith.
Is there a God?
I believe that there is a God that created all things. The big bang may well have happened. I go back to the question of "what was before the big bang"? The universe arose out of nothing sounds an awful lot like a supernatural thing to me. So if I imagine that time and space are something that God is not bound by, then he has always existed, even before the universe.
How did the universe come to be?
God's creating all things may very well have been through an evolutionary mechanism, or it may have been through a creation mechanism, but more than likely a bit of both. The account in the bible about creation would seem to be a bit of a simplistic explanation to a guy (Moses) who wouldn't have stood a chance at understanding the way it really happened. I've told my daughter that God explaining to Moses the way he created things was a lot like what I used to tell her about where babies came from when she was 3. There was no way I could tell her the actual way it happened, it would've been impossible for her to fathom. If I stuck to my guns today on that story I told her as a 3 year old, she might think I was a nut job. Do I think that the universe was created in 6 days? No, probably not. Does the fact that it is described like that in the bible bother me? No. Seems a reasonable way to discuss it with someone who doesn't have a clue.
How do you know the bible is accurate and wasn't re-written?
I think that we've seen some fantastic information come out of the dead sea scrolls from the 1940's and 50's showing that things didn't change from the 2nd century BC through the version we have in the 9th century AD and now in regards to the old testament. Then there is minimal debate on the new testaments historical preservation. That said, there still is an issue with how to interpret what you are reading.
What in the bible is literal, figurative, true, false, whatever?
I believe that there are some Old Testament accounts that explain things in simple terms that are metaphorical or symbolic for simplicity sake. Things that would generally be true in principal but not necessarily in detail.
I see the 1st 5 books of the bible as a constitution for the new Hebrew nation. A manual on how to run a culture/nation that was issued to people who had been slaves in Egypt for generations and had no idea how to live free. This would be a rule book for this new society to preserve them together and teach them what is in their best interests. Is it applicable to us today? Some yes, some no. Honor your mother and father, sure. Stone your disobedient children, probably not...... This would be a case of applicable then, not now. Kept the rules in place and the society from acting up now didn't it? But is stoning our kids for today? No.
New testament. 1st and foremost I have one authority here, Jesus. What did he say, what did he do. What he said and did is as applicable and true today as it was then. It boils down to loving one another, period. Measure everything else in the new testament (or entire bible for that matter) in light of the words of Jesus.
Why the new testament? Why Jesus?
I believe that there was a need for God's true nature to be revealed. People were misunderstanding who he really was and what he wanted of us. Even now a lot of folks think there is a disparity between God of the old testament and Jesus in the new. Things just didn't come across completely accurate when the writers of the old testament put their pens down. So measure everything in the old testament against the nature of Jesus and if it doesn't fit, something was maybe misunderstood or we might be dealing with a piece that needs to be acknowledged as not understandable or applicable at present.
Why did Jesus get sent? 1. This is what God is really like and 2. He gave the new commandment of loving one another as a measure of if we are followers of God.
What is sin? What about homosexuality?
I've recently heard a good description of sin as anything that undermines love. Is eating shrimp a sin? Come on now, stop it!
So how does a monogamous homosexual relationship fall into this? I don't really know. I know its not normal biologically. But I also know that homosexuals can fulfill the criteria of following Jesus too. So how can I condemn them? How is promiscuous heterosexuality and homosexuality different? Maybe in context homosexuality in biblical times wasn't ever conventionally monogamous like it often is now. I don't know. I just know that if I'm to love my neighbor...then its not my job to worry about it.
What is heaven? Who goes to heaven?
I think that heaven is being in God's presence after we die. I don't know what that's going to be like or how that works, but I think it will be great. On the flip side, I think that if you do not go to heaven it means that you will be without God after you die. And that will be lonely, sad and not great.
So who goes to heaven.... I think that it is going to be a situation that comes back to what Jesus said will denote if you are his follower, your love for one another. I also think that it is up to God alone and we would be surprised at who is and who is not going.
The thief on the cross is a story that makes you think that if you just figure it out before you die, you're all set. I can't help believe that it has a lot more to do with the transformation in your heart and less about your words. And so deathbed conversions.....I just don't know.
What about people who are other religions?
Are Christians the exclusive holders of the ability to love? Can you deny Jesus with your words but follow him by your life? What happens then? Ghandi was a Hindu, a pretty loving one. I think we also know of plenty of examples of people denying him with their life but accepting him with words.
Ultimately I believe that Jesus truly is the only way to the father and to heaven, but I think that has little to do with where you go to church, how much you pray, and what you call yourself. It comes back to your love for one another.
Let's start with this idea: I feel like I don't know anything for sure. If you want argue with me, don't. My favorite thing to say is, "You might be right". I think that faith is the absence of knowing anything for sure. If you "know" then you don't need faith.
Is there a God?
I believe that there is a God that created all things. The big bang may well have happened. I go back to the question of "what was before the big bang"? The universe arose out of nothing sounds an awful lot like a supernatural thing to me. So if I imagine that time and space are something that God is not bound by, then he has always existed, even before the universe.
How did the universe come to be?
God's creating all things may very well have been through an evolutionary mechanism, or it may have been through a creation mechanism, but more than likely a bit of both. The account in the bible about creation would seem to be a bit of a simplistic explanation to a guy (Moses) who wouldn't have stood a chance at understanding the way it really happened. I've told my daughter that God explaining to Moses the way he created things was a lot like what I used to tell her about where babies came from when she was 3. There was no way I could tell her the actual way it happened, it would've been impossible for her to fathom. If I stuck to my guns today on that story I told her as a 3 year old, she might think I was a nut job. Do I think that the universe was created in 6 days? No, probably not. Does the fact that it is described like that in the bible bother me? No. Seems a reasonable way to discuss it with someone who doesn't have a clue.
How do you know the bible is accurate and wasn't re-written?
I think that we've seen some fantastic information come out of the dead sea scrolls from the 1940's and 50's showing that things didn't change from the 2nd century BC through the version we have in the 9th century AD and now in regards to the old testament. Then there is minimal debate on the new testaments historical preservation. That said, there still is an issue with how to interpret what you are reading.
What in the bible is literal, figurative, true, false, whatever?
I believe that there are some Old Testament accounts that explain things in simple terms that are metaphorical or symbolic for simplicity sake. Things that would generally be true in principal but not necessarily in detail.
I see the 1st 5 books of the bible as a constitution for the new Hebrew nation. A manual on how to run a culture/nation that was issued to people who had been slaves in Egypt for generations and had no idea how to live free. This would be a rule book for this new society to preserve them together and teach them what is in their best interests. Is it applicable to us today? Some yes, some no. Honor your mother and father, sure. Stone your disobedient children, probably not...... This would be a case of applicable then, not now. Kept the rules in place and the society from acting up now didn't it? But is stoning our kids for today? No.
New testament. 1st and foremost I have one authority here, Jesus. What did he say, what did he do. What he said and did is as applicable and true today as it was then. It boils down to loving one another, period. Measure everything else in the new testament (or entire bible for that matter) in light of the words of Jesus.
Why the new testament? Why Jesus?
I believe that there was a need for God's true nature to be revealed. People were misunderstanding who he really was and what he wanted of us. Even now a lot of folks think there is a disparity between God of the old testament and Jesus in the new. Things just didn't come across completely accurate when the writers of the old testament put their pens down. So measure everything in the old testament against the nature of Jesus and if it doesn't fit, something was maybe misunderstood or we might be dealing with a piece that needs to be acknowledged as not understandable or applicable at present.
Why did Jesus get sent? 1. This is what God is really like and 2. He gave the new commandment of loving one another as a measure of if we are followers of God.
What is sin? What about homosexuality?
I've recently heard a good description of sin as anything that undermines love. Is eating shrimp a sin? Come on now, stop it!
So how does a monogamous homosexual relationship fall into this? I don't really know. I know its not normal biologically. But I also know that homosexuals can fulfill the criteria of following Jesus too. So how can I condemn them? How is promiscuous heterosexuality and homosexuality different? Maybe in context homosexuality in biblical times wasn't ever conventionally monogamous like it often is now. I don't know. I just know that if I'm to love my neighbor...then its not my job to worry about it.
What is heaven? Who goes to heaven?
I think that heaven is being in God's presence after we die. I don't know what that's going to be like or how that works, but I think it will be great. On the flip side, I think that if you do not go to heaven it means that you will be without God after you die. And that will be lonely, sad and not great.
So who goes to heaven.... I think that it is going to be a situation that comes back to what Jesus said will denote if you are his follower, your love for one another. I also think that it is up to God alone and we would be surprised at who is and who is not going.
The thief on the cross is a story that makes you think that if you just figure it out before you die, you're all set. I can't help believe that it has a lot more to do with the transformation in your heart and less about your words. And so deathbed conversions.....I just don't know.
What about people who are other religions?
Are Christians the exclusive holders of the ability to love? Can you deny Jesus with your words but follow him by your life? What happens then? Ghandi was a Hindu, a pretty loving one. I think we also know of plenty of examples of people denying him with their life but accepting him with words.
Ultimately I believe that Jesus truly is the only way to the father and to heaven, but I think that has little to do with where you go to church, how much you pray, and what you call yourself. It comes back to your love for one another.
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