RE: What beliefs would we consider reasonable for a self proclaimed Christian to hold?
March 4, 2018 at 11:45 pm
(This post was last modified: March 4, 2018 at 11:45 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
(March 4, 2018 at 8:19 pm)stretch3172 Wrote: I guess I'll throw in my two cents. According to the evangelical view, there are certain core beliefs on which Christianity simply must stand, including the authority of Scripture, the depravity of man, and the death and resurrection of Christ, without which Christianity itself is meaningless (1 Cor 15:17).That's one of the more interesting things about evangelicals, in my opinion. Broadly, accurately describing evangelicals together as a whole is elusive beyond a collective reverence for magic book, and theres a greater difference between sub-sets than their church music - let's not be curt, lol. In any case, it would seem that if there were anyone who could draw meaning out of it...even if it weren't literally true in every jot and tittle, it would be them. Yes, ofc, a collective belief of evangelicals regards the authority of scripture..but former evangelical atheists are no less impressed with the contents for having lost their faiths. So, too, there are many atheists who find utility and meaning in the narrative. It stands to reason, then, that the nature of it's authorship may be an explicit article of some faith..but the authority of the contents can be and probably is being derived from more than the mere belief in god or magic books..when it comes to magic book.
Christ's parables are certainly not considered less accurate or meaningful for having been fanciful stories godman supposedly told crowds to teach them important theological lessons. If the entirety of magic book was as god's parables (jesus being his platonic socrates), or if there were no god at all..and these were stories we told each other about life, love, and everything, we would still be looking at a work of great literary significance for many people. The kind of work which informs the lives of people regardless of belief.
The irony, for me, is in seeing people who would have to be the books biggest fans and allies treating it as though pseudonymity would be an irredeemable state of affairs. As if LOTR wasn't written by tolkein, it would not still be LOTR.
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