AphroditeGoneAwry
failure to thrive
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2009
- Messages
- 5,585
- MBTI Type
- INfj
- Enneagram
- 451
- Instinctual Variant
- sx/so
So, I'm a born again Christian, newly. But I've always had problems with a hardcore literal interpretation of the bible when it diverged from known natural phenomena of life. I also am skeptical because for a few? decades after Jesus' crucifixion, nothing was evidently written down as a testament, making it obvious that verbal stories and scattered scribblings, from the hands of mere mortals, should at the most be rejected as a word-for-word literal tome form the lips of God, and at the least be used warily, with a discerning mind.
To learn more about Jesus, I embarked on an 11-week bible study called, "Jesus, the One and Only" with Beth Moore. I like her. She's an ENFJ and very into scripture and teaching; she can bring out nuances, sometimes even just hinged on the root of a word, and tie them in with our own psychological situations very well, which is why I really like her studies.
I could enjoy Jesus' history and words, and even works (though I agreed with my left brain that I wouldn't look too closely at raising the dead, and we could keep tripping along the bumpy Jerusalem road) as we went along week after week. But I knew it was coming. That moment where I would be confronted with the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ, the Messiah. For some reason I could accommodate the holy conception as coming from God (though I secretly think Mary was a victim of incest, if I were to be completely honest), and the beautiful, selfless life (my fav part) of Jesus. But for some reason, I cannot suspend my ability to disbelieve anymore, when it comes to Jesus' literal resurrection on the third day, walking around and 'appearing' to people for 40 days, then finally ascending in heaven, per Luke's account.
Can I be a Christian, believe Jesus was a special person who exemplified the notion of Coram Deo, was persecuted for his special, ironical belief in God and man's hatred, and ascended into heaven the same way we all will when we die?
Or does one have to believe in it all literally, hook, line, and sinker to be a Christian?
Love to All,
~A
To learn more about Jesus, I embarked on an 11-week bible study called, "Jesus, the One and Only" with Beth Moore. I like her. She's an ENFJ and very into scripture and teaching; she can bring out nuances, sometimes even just hinged on the root of a word, and tie them in with our own psychological situations very well, which is why I really like her studies.
I could enjoy Jesus' history and words, and even works (though I agreed with my left brain that I wouldn't look too closely at raising the dead, and we could keep tripping along the bumpy Jerusalem road) as we went along week after week. But I knew it was coming. That moment where I would be confronted with the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ, the Messiah. For some reason I could accommodate the holy conception as coming from God (though I secretly think Mary was a victim of incest, if I were to be completely honest), and the beautiful, selfless life (my fav part) of Jesus. But for some reason, I cannot suspend my ability to disbelieve anymore, when it comes to Jesus' literal resurrection on the third day, walking around and 'appearing' to people for 40 days, then finally ascending in heaven, per Luke's account.
Can I be a Christian, believe Jesus was a special person who exemplified the notion of Coram Deo, was persecuted for his special, ironical belief in God and man's hatred, and ascended into heaven the same way we all will when we die?
Or does one have to believe in it all literally, hook, line, and sinker to be a Christian?
Love to All,
~A