Thank you again for sharing your story! I'm so curious if you've dug into Thomas and Mary Magdalene (and other books left out intentionally)? What is your view on Jesus today? So many questions! If you started a group cohort for us to gather and talk through these things, I'd be so in. I love hearing people's perspectives.
I just listened to a podcast where the guest shared what his domino was—evolution—and it got me thinking about mine. I was able to look past the judgmental God, original sin, and even hell. Those were things that contradicted my biggest belief that God is good. At a young age (7 years old), I believed the OT was written more like fables because that's how Jesus taught. I went to a private Catholic school and asked my teacher, a nun, about Noah. She leaned down to me and said, "You know, not every story in the Bible is literal." I can see now that I studied the Bible with confirmation bias, allowing purpose and hope to stand out while dismissing anything that referenced judgment, quite literally not allowing it to land at all.
The key thing I thought defined being a Christian was believing in Jesus. period. I was ok with not understanding everything because God is bigger than my humanness. Then, when I found out there were different theories of atonement, that was my domino. I didn't really understand why he died, it was more that I believed he tore the veil so that we could be in relationship with him. When I read the different atonement theories, I realized there was not one that I identified with. It's funny how we can all have different things that begin to crumble everything else. So again, I thank you for sharing yours with us here.
Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness. These are the discussions I was afraid to have before I retired. Part of that was my projection. My colleagues would not have recoiled with my changing perspectives. But I never game them the chance to respond.
Your questions all point back to the battle with scripture which I illustrate. It generates far too many questions and far too answers depending on the denomination. This creates that cognitive dissonance with the Bible that is as much a part of faith now as any other doctrine.
I did read the Gnostic gospels and others (Elaine Pagels is an incredible historian who has written extensively about them including Thomas). They are great for recreating the multiplicity of religious currents that began to surround the figure of Jesus.
As for Jesus, I'll repeat what I said before. He is a figure I could not deconstruct out of, but not as a savior, but as a man. We spend a lot of time fighting about that figure. My fight is over. Now I'm just intrigued by a portrait of a simple carpenter from Nazareth who had the guts and the words to call out two empires, a religious one and a political one.
I'll be writing about that in future posts. And yes, some group discussions are on the way. Trying to get the ideas out for now.
Legend is a great addition to the CS Lewis quote.
<<training your pastors>>. :-)
Thank you again for sharing your story! I'm so curious if you've dug into Thomas and Mary Magdalene (and other books left out intentionally)? What is your view on Jesus today? So many questions! If you started a group cohort for us to gather and talk through these things, I'd be so in. I love hearing people's perspectives.
I just listened to a podcast where the guest shared what his domino was—evolution—and it got me thinking about mine. I was able to look past the judgmental God, original sin, and even hell. Those were things that contradicted my biggest belief that God is good. At a young age (7 years old), I believed the OT was written more like fables because that's how Jesus taught. I went to a private Catholic school and asked my teacher, a nun, about Noah. She leaned down to me and said, "You know, not every story in the Bible is literal." I can see now that I studied the Bible with confirmation bias, allowing purpose and hope to stand out while dismissing anything that referenced judgment, quite literally not allowing it to land at all.
The key thing I thought defined being a Christian was believing in Jesus. period. I was ok with not understanding everything because God is bigger than my humanness. Then, when I found out there were different theories of atonement, that was my domino. I didn't really understand why he died, it was more that I believed he tore the veil so that we could be in relationship with him. When I read the different atonement theories, I realized there was not one that I identified with. It's funny how we can all have different things that begin to crumble everything else. So again, I thank you for sharing yours with us here.
Lucy,
Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness. These are the discussions I was afraid to have before I retired. Part of that was my projection. My colleagues would not have recoiled with my changing perspectives. But I never game them the chance to respond.
Your questions all point back to the battle with scripture which I illustrate. It generates far too many questions and far too answers depending on the denomination. This creates that cognitive dissonance with the Bible that is as much a part of faith now as any other doctrine.
I did read the Gnostic gospels and others (Elaine Pagels is an incredible historian who has written extensively about them including Thomas). They are great for recreating the multiplicity of religious currents that began to surround the figure of Jesus.
As for Jesus, I'll repeat what I said before. He is a figure I could not deconstruct out of, but not as a savior, but as a man. We spend a lot of time fighting about that figure. My fight is over. Now I'm just intrigued by a portrait of a simple carpenter from Nazareth who had the guts and the words to call out two empires, a religious one and a political one.
I'll be writing about that in future posts. And yes, some group discussions are on the way. Trying to get the ideas out for now.