RE: Has anyone met a Christian?
January 5, 2018 at 12:22 pm
(This post was last modified: January 5, 2018 at 12:23 pm by Whateverist.)
(January 5, 2018 at 12:18 pm)drfuzzy Wrote:(January 5, 2018 at 9:18 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Christian simply means that you believe Jesus is the son of God who lived as a human among us and died and resurrected for us.
... anything beyond that just depends on denomination.
As for the New Testament stuff, very very few Christian denominations follow a completely literal interpretation of every single thing in the bible. Even New Testament. Christianity is not based on a word for word literal interpretation of every single thing written in the bible.
The Fundamentalists disagree with you. I was raised that every "jot and tiddle" was literal and if you doubted that you were sent to pray at length for your Satanic unbelief.
However, I do play for Catholic Mass. And yes, I find Catholic non-literal treatment of the book refreshing. They are a lot less likely to bash a person over the head with "the BIBLE says" than most. However, I was raised with the belief that the Bible IS the ultimate authority. So rejecting any part of it as authority, for me, rejects all of it. If you can say "this part is inspired but that part is historical fable" - - it seems like a slippery slope into the usual "this part means whatever I want it to mean at this moment".
Which takes us back to the reason there are so many different interpretations and so many different impressions of what a Christian life is.
It was interesting to hear from Khem that the earliest xtian theologies were allegorical and that the Catholics were the first to insist on literalism. Not that I can vouchsafe that factoid, but it did surprise me to read it since I think of Catholicism as being more allegorically inclined that the protestant crap we are constantly exposed to around 'Murica.
I don't care enough to research it myself, but I'm more than happy to hear both sides from anyone who thinks otherwise.
