apexcone

I’m here and believing, the real question is what are we believing in ? 

It’s bern real 👍, almost no pain whatsoever, 3 pain killers from day 1, scare almost completely gone, 9 days later 

T

Sitting resting after my Hernia surgery yesterday. Fortunately I'm having very little pain just some stiffness. Enjoying being waited on hand & foot by my 2 ladies. 

Just watched this and had a good laugh.

Great questions. It's only when one gets free of the religious bondage within evangelical Christianity that these questions can be asked. Just had a good laugh to myself wondering what response you might get at your local evangelical Bible study if you asked the group whether or not they thought Jesus masturbated. WOW. My best guess would be duck before the bullets start going off in your direction. OUCH. 

About 40 pages into this great book. Spong is such an inspirational author. I love the way in which he builds his argument. Cant wait to get back at it later today. This is the 3rd book I've read of his, his writing has had a huge impact in my life and enabled me to navigate my way out of Fundamentalism. 

I agree. We came to faith in a fundy group. Our lives were a disaster the group offered security and a rock solid foundation and as you said never needed to question anything, just agree. But as time went on I had questions, that's when the problems started. DONT ask questions this is "GODS WORD" Its a deception on a grand scale. That's why I feel sorry for them 

22 hours ago, Burl said:

Some parts are more factual than others.  The key seems to be understanding the context of the people who wrote it, what it meant to them, and what they were trying to communicate.

Yes I totally agree, context, culture and world view is paramount to understanding 

As an ex literalist & fundamentalist I realize 1st hand why its so important for some folks to believe the Biblical account is factual. in my opinion what that insistence produces is argumentativeness and strife To me the whole concept of literalism misses the point, so instead of this amazing book (The Bible) becoming a source of spiritual inspiration it becomes a weapon and a debating platform on whether or not its literally true. 

For me rejecting literalism for the heresy it is has increased my faith, made me less judgmental and open my eyes to a spiritual dynamic in my life rather than arguments, debates and strife over whether of not the text is factual.

For me as an ex, I feel sorry for the folks who in my opinion have been hood winked, sadly some of the most closed minded people I know are fundamentalists.

I think there are a lot of people like myself, Bishop John Spong calls us "Christians in Exile" I for one walked away from evangelical fundamentalism, and found myself developing a deeper spiritual life.

4 minutes ago, romansh said:

People will believe what they believe ... they have no [free] choice in their beliefs. Is discussing people's beliefs and asking questions about what might seem as incoherence unreasonable? Or are they simply looking for reinforcement for their beliefs?  

Peace, joy and contentment? If that is what one is after, then fine. Why not chase after understanding? Why chase after anything?

Im not so sure that having understanding brings internal satisfaction. If it did then everyone who had understanding/knowledge would be in a good place, but as we both know that is not the case. My conviction is that man has an inner longing to find something that for most is missing in their lives, we all know that materialism & the intellect cant fill that void 

Apologies I should have used the word "if one" rather than your.

It's interesting how quick misunderstanding takes place on forums. 

I think that there are many people out there who have their faith in their faith/beliefs, I think to some degree I was one of them. Christianity ends up being about believing the corporate message.  Once you start with the Bible as the infallible word of God, its difficult to disagree, because if I do, I'm not disagreeing with whoever I'm disagreeing with God. 

For me this is about allowing people to believe whatever they want. My question is: "is it working for you" Is it producing peace, joy and contentment"

my first impression of your comments is they rather judgemental

I guess if you've got your faith in any of the above systems you mentioned  you're in trouble already. 

On 29/03/2018 at 5:11 PM, thormas said:

Spong's writes for those who have lost faith and those who accept modern insights and have questions/concerns about Christian doctrines, dogma and Biblical analysis yet still believe there is something more to the human experience (i.e. divinity). So, those who don't feel comfortable or, better, are not satisfied with traditional understandings and are not simply tied to the familiar but to new takes or insights offered by Spong (and others).  

I'm not sure that Spong's book is for those who've lost their faith, I think its for those that have a strong faith but have rejected literalism. I for one have not lost my faith but I have certainly walked away from literal fundamentalism. I find his books insightful and faith inspiring. It's not about the doctrine its about the story and what speaks to your heart.

I'm not sure. I guess one of the questions we need to ask is, why did the early disciples follow Jesus? From what I've read none of them sounded very religious other than Paul. I think they were attracted to the power He had in His life. Today its very hard to consider Jesus without dialling up the Bible, Church or religion. 

For me the issue that makes people religious is: dogmatism. I was on a "Christian Forum" and the 1st time you mentioned anything that people didn't agree with, meaning there didn't understand you got send a page of scriptures to back up there position. My response to that is: "Get a Life"

1 hour ago, romansh said:

And how should we divvy up the suffering?

When I suffer you can pay, sounds fair to me. 

We have followed the case with interest. Our situation is a little different. Firstly no kids involved, and Coco is my wife's Japanese girlfriend, so legally it leaves me out the loop, as legally i'm still married to 1 wife. It just so happens that they are both bi-sexual. Its been working well for several years and neither of us plans on walking away.

15 hours ago, romansh said:

Well I am not a Brit (though I could pass as one) who spent all his formative years and then some in Birmingham. I think what you say is true for Alberta could be said of B'ham and I suspect much of the world and at times myself.

 

OK I won't be able to rib you about the NDP being socialists then.

"The underlying principle of socialism is the equal sharing of suffering"

I'm in the process of reading Biblical Literalism, (A Gentile Heresy) by John Spong. Its a great book, as an ex fundamentalist this book confirms my rejection of literalism which started several years ago. Other great books Iv'e read in the past few years are:

Hand Me Another Brick                                    Charles Swindoll
Open Marriage                                                   George & Nina O’ Neil
Love Wins                                                           Rob Bell
Sexual Liberation                                               Raymond Lawrence
Leaving Christianity to Follow Jesus             James Jones
Why I’m an Atheist Who Believes in God       Frank Schaeffer
The Four Agreements                                       Don Miguel Ruiz
Battlefield of the Mind                                     Joyce Meyer
What is the Bible?                                             Rob Bell
Sex at Dawn                                                      Christopher Ryan & Cadida Jetha

All the above are highly recomended.

Terry

Mr Trump appears to have a real struggle with those that disagree with him, lets home Mike Spence hang around. 

T

Food rationing could start soon. I'm a Brit living here since 2005. Love lots about living here but some of it not so keen on. Im sorry to say that this is a province that is partially filled with not very bright people. 

Terry

Isn't balance the hardest thing to find. the US needs the diplomat, it also needs the out the box business man/women, sadly both come with lots of baggage and it's usually the baggage we dont like. Often politicians are bound up with a fear of man and become a political juggler and the entrepreneur business man is usually a narcissist, bully and one man band. Hello Mr Trump 

Maybe what you guys need to run your country is a sharp business man/politician. Sorry they dont exist. Last time you had the politician now you got the business man/loose canon. OUCH. 

Watch this space. God bless America. Yea, right..........

Doesn't seem to be much action on this forum. 

Terry