(March 6, 2013 at 11:45 am)whateverist Wrote: So much crap, so little time.
While I appreciate the attempt to marginalize fundamentalism I think you could go a good bit further. If we are not to take every word of the bible literally, and I certainly agree we should not, how shall we read it? Anyway you like, but not literally.
I see no reason to understand heaven and hell in any way except metaphorically. Judgment, heaven and hell are all instantaneous and on going. Everything is transitory including the feeling of eternality. If the bible had any value at all it ought to allow those who read it to transcend it.
I take the Bible literally as far as what the Bible intends to affirm. I read all the judgements in the Old Testament and the miracles and I know that they are real because I have seen them myself. I have had God judge me before and have suffered harmful effects such as disabilities and lost jobs because of God's judgements. God does judge people. I do not consider myself a liberal Christian.
I absolutely see heaven and hell as being literal. I have a daily experience of heaven which is ecstasy that comes from being in the presence of God. I can tangibly feel God's love. Often I will see a visible image of a little child which the Holy Spirit imprints on my mind and I enter into a state of tranquility and joy as I experience the tangible presence of God's love. I spend one to two hours a day in this state every day. I believe this is what heaven is like, when people go to be with God and experience God's love. I do not know how I could live without this intense, specific and necessary comfort that I receive from the tangible presence of God.
I believe that the Bible was given to teach people complex things and that it uses metaphorical language. I know that it is inspired because I read the Bible and God speaks to me. God has spoken to me for many years consistently in the Bible, I read the Bible and I receive words, other people will confirm them to me, sometimes I receive revelations or images that go along with the words I receive from scripture. Once I had God show me thousands of images that covered my entire life and how God judged them. The supernatural parts of scripture are definitely real.
I believe what the Bible teaches is accurate, but I do not think that necessary means that the earth is young or that people are bound to follow every single detail of scripture. I do not know exactly where I fall here, there are a lot of different positions that Christians take, I would not necessarily say that I take all the positions that other Christians take but I know that there are Christians who are very orthodox that take these positions.
The Bible is a very deep and profound book that should not be marginalized. Fundamentalists have zeal that comes from a sincere desire to share the Word of God and a real love of God and tend to be decent people, however, that zeal for the Bible can lead them to forget the fact that the composition of the Bible was complicated, the Bible was not necessarily written with the same standards as the modern world and the authors of scripture did not necessarily know how to express any scientific truths at all (though they were inspired by the Holy Spirit, I do not think there is any place in scripture where the Holy Spirit actually teaches people how to think using scientific concepts).
The Bible is a book that is written for a specific group of people in a specific cultural context. That does not mean that people should ignore what it says, but I don't think it is necessarily easy to understand. The wise interpreter will consider what the Christian church has traditionally taught as well as use commentaries and Bible study tools to aid them in appreciating the complexities of Biblical interpretation.
Theology is a difficult subject and not for the faint of heart. It is very rewarding. As someone who has developed a fairly deep interest over my life in computer programming, politics, philosophy, music and intellectual history/education I would say that theology is far and away the most interesting and most rewarding of any subject I have seriously invested myself it. I think it is probably more interesting than anything else. I do not at all intend to say that people should think of the Bible as an inferior book because it is written in a certain cultural context and it is unlikely it is completely accurate in every detail it seems to affirm scientifically. It is a fascinating and incredibly deep work of art that has made it the most important book in history.
