Posted by Dena on August 9, 2005, at 0:26:00
In reply to Re: Religious friends and my unease » Deneb, posted by Deneb on August 8, 2005, at 23:24:07
You're welcome!
Now, I can't speak for other religions, and I can't even speak for everyone in my own... but I can speak for me.
I'm a Christian, and modern era Christians have largely been taught that we "have all the answers", and that the Bible is the "ultimate answer book", and that if we spew enough scripture verses at someone, it'll stop them in their tracks and convict them that we're right, and they're wrong.
An overly simplistic and somewhat jaded response, perhaps... but not too far from truth, as I've experienced it.
I don't see the Bible that way anymore...
I do see it as a collection of books/letters/stories that were inspired by God, but He used the human writers (with each of their unique personalities to "flavor" the accounts).
But much of the Bible defies understanding... it's not an answer book in the way that many portray it to be.
It does answer (for Christians) how God loves His creation, including us, and how He wants to inter-relate with us... and the Bible is the story of that inter-relating throughout history (until 2,000 years ago).
I believe that there are times when the Spirit of God can "inhabit" the written words in the Bible, and cause them to speak directly into the heart of the reader/hearer ... as if He were having a one-on-one with that person. But that's something God does - not something we can drum up.
I guess that for some folks, they just don't know *what* to say to others, and so they throw out Bible verses like a sort of spiritual boomerang...
Ultimately, I believe that unless the spirit of God is "illuminating" the Bible verses, they don't make sense to us... they can speak to us on a spirit level, that can by-pass the cognitive mind at times...
Is this sounding like gobbeldy-g*ok to you? If I need to clarify anything, just let me know. I don't want to speak in "Stained-glass-ese"... I want to communicate, but words can be so inadequate at times...!
Shalom, Dena
poster:Dena
thread:538674
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20050510/msgs/539467.html