Life, The Universe, And Everything = 42
So, about religion.
I started as a Christian, or at least thinking that I was. I went to Sunday school and sermon and listened to all that was said with my family. And I believed it. To me it just 'was.' I never questioned what I was learning or ever sought a different point of view, there was no need. Moses parted the Red Sea, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and the Earth is only 6,000 years old. These were truths that did not need to be questioned.
But I realized a couple years ago that for my whole life I just took it all for granted. I believed it but I didn't really BELIEVE it. I had been treating Christianity (mostly the history of it containted in the Bible) like another subject to be learned about in school instead of a way of life. I hadn't yet given myself to Jesus Christ in hopes of salvation by admitting my sins as a Man. And that is the essence of being a Christian, so was I really?
At this point, the usual story goes that so-and-so decided to accept Christ into their heart and become a Christian and live a life glorifying God. Well, I didn't do that.
I began thinking. Alot. I studied and I researched and I listened to what other people had to say. I'm still doing that and I don't expect to stop anytime soon. There are always questions that need answering. And it's hard to put into words where I'm at right now, but I'll try.
In short, I believe in God but I am not a Christian. There is a gut feeling I have, one I think everyone does. It tells me there is a God, but it also tells me to take everything I see and hear regarding him with a grain of salt. More than that, how about an entire Dead Sea full of salt? I've become that skeptical, but there are good reasons.
One of the basic principles of Christianity is that Man is imperfect and born into sin, and because a life of sin results in eternity in Hell, Man must seek forgiveness through Jesus Christ to be saved in Heaven. Beyond that, Man must WANT to seek forgiveness, because that is how you truly accept Jesus Christ. Simple enough.
Well, those words were written in the Bible by the hand of Man, not God. Were they divinely influenced? Maybe. But the words are still the work of Man. And because Man is imperfect, his words are imperfect. His thoughts and his perceptions and his beliefs are imperfect. Most importantly, his image of God is imperfect. How does an imperfect being comprehend the desires of a perfect one? Hows does he even begin?
Add to that 3,000 years of translations and tangent denominations and here we are in the year 2007. I have heard the words of one man claiming to speak for God denounced by another claiming to speak for God. I have seen verses of the Bible used by different people who are both Christians to justify opposing ideas and truths about Christians. The very word "denomination" implies different interpretations of the Bible and how to worship God the 'right' way. I was told that I need to read the Bible to discern who else is reading the Bible the wrong way. And what if I read the Bible the wrong way?
Seeing these contradictions made me realize one thing. All this extra stuff, everything that has been added on in 3,000 years, it's all bullshit. All of it. Every Christian I talked to said the same thing, "You will find salvation only through Jesus Christ." But my Baptist friend also said I had to give up drinking and cursing. And my Catholic friend said I had to go to confession, and mass, and hate gays. Then my Presbyterian friend said I just had to have a good relationship with my pastor to know God. So, my Christian friends, WHICH ONE IS IT?
The very existence of these denominations is proof enough that not one of them have actually tapped into the 'best way' to be a true Christian. The very notion that people have different perspectives of God and Christianity and salvation is even more proof that Man has got it all wrong and has been doing so from the very beginning. What does that mean in the end?
It means that the only thing that matters is the relationship you yourself have with God, and nothing more. No other person can tell you how to do that. Because like you, they came into this life completely unaware. Like you and me, they learned of God from their elders and them from theirs and so on. The multitude of things that a Christian may do in worship are traditions and rituals of Man passed down and altered over the ages. Does God pay less attention to you if you do not close your eyes while praying? Will God be unhappy with you if you go to church on Wednesday night instead of Sunday morning? Is there anything that you can or cannot do as a human being that will make God love you any less?
No. At least according to the Bible. And all we've got to go on is the Bible. Even if we KNEW that every word within was true beyond a shadow of a doubt, the very fact that the Bible says Man (the very scriptor of the book itself!) is imperfect invalides the assumption that the Bible is the only true Word. And in doing that, it invalidates every word spoken in the name of Christianity since the last words of Revelations were penned. Yeah, I just said that.
And that is why I believe in God but am not a Christian. So I will worship in my own way, because it is my way. I do not wish it to be your way and I certainly don't wish to preach my way as the true way to God. I am told by other people, all created in the eyes of God as equals just like me, that I am to be and act a certain way to be a Christian. And after 26 years of hearing so many different versions of what it means to achieve salvation, I don't even know what a Christian is anymore, and since the only source we have on the subject is two thousand years old, I don't think you do either.
And I'm fine with that.
I started as a Christian, or at least thinking that I was. I went to Sunday school and sermon and listened to all that was said with my family. And I believed it. To me it just 'was.' I never questioned what I was learning or ever sought a different point of view, there was no need. Moses parted the Red Sea, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and the Earth is only 6,000 years old. These were truths that did not need to be questioned.
But I realized a couple years ago that for my whole life I just took it all for granted. I believed it but I didn't really BELIEVE it. I had been treating Christianity (mostly the history of it containted in the Bible) like another subject to be learned about in school instead of a way of life. I hadn't yet given myself to Jesus Christ in hopes of salvation by admitting my sins as a Man. And that is the essence of being a Christian, so was I really?
At this point, the usual story goes that so-and-so decided to accept Christ into their heart and become a Christian and live a life glorifying God. Well, I didn't do that.
I began thinking. Alot. I studied and I researched and I listened to what other people had to say. I'm still doing that and I don't expect to stop anytime soon. There are always questions that need answering. And it's hard to put into words where I'm at right now, but I'll try.
In short, I believe in God but I am not a Christian. There is a gut feeling I have, one I think everyone does. It tells me there is a God, but it also tells me to take everything I see and hear regarding him with a grain of salt. More than that, how about an entire Dead Sea full of salt? I've become that skeptical, but there are good reasons.
One of the basic principles of Christianity is that Man is imperfect and born into sin, and because a life of sin results in eternity in Hell, Man must seek forgiveness through Jesus Christ to be saved in Heaven. Beyond that, Man must WANT to seek forgiveness, because that is how you truly accept Jesus Christ. Simple enough.
Well, those words were written in the Bible by the hand of Man, not God. Were they divinely influenced? Maybe. But the words are still the work of Man. And because Man is imperfect, his words are imperfect. His thoughts and his perceptions and his beliefs are imperfect. Most importantly, his image of God is imperfect. How does an imperfect being comprehend the desires of a perfect one? Hows does he even begin?
Add to that 3,000 years of translations and tangent denominations and here we are in the year 2007. I have heard the words of one man claiming to speak for God denounced by another claiming to speak for God. I have seen verses of the Bible used by different people who are both Christians to justify opposing ideas and truths about Christians. The very word "denomination" implies different interpretations of the Bible and how to worship God the 'right' way. I was told that I need to read the Bible to discern who else is reading the Bible the wrong way. And what if I read the Bible the wrong way?
Seeing these contradictions made me realize one thing. All this extra stuff, everything that has been added on in 3,000 years, it's all bullshit. All of it. Every Christian I talked to said the same thing, "You will find salvation only through Jesus Christ." But my Baptist friend also said I had to give up drinking and cursing. And my Catholic friend said I had to go to confession, and mass, and hate gays. Then my Presbyterian friend said I just had to have a good relationship with my pastor to know God. So, my Christian friends, WHICH ONE IS IT?
The very existence of these denominations is proof enough that not one of them have actually tapped into the 'best way' to be a true Christian. The very notion that people have different perspectives of God and Christianity and salvation is even more proof that Man has got it all wrong and has been doing so from the very beginning. What does that mean in the end?
It means that the only thing that matters is the relationship you yourself have with God, and nothing more. No other person can tell you how to do that. Because like you, they came into this life completely unaware. Like you and me, they learned of God from their elders and them from theirs and so on. The multitude of things that a Christian may do in worship are traditions and rituals of Man passed down and altered over the ages. Does God pay less attention to you if you do not close your eyes while praying? Will God be unhappy with you if you go to church on Wednesday night instead of Sunday morning? Is there anything that you can or cannot do as a human being that will make God love you any less?
No. At least according to the Bible. And all we've got to go on is the Bible. Even if we KNEW that every word within was true beyond a shadow of a doubt, the very fact that the Bible says Man (the very scriptor of the book itself!) is imperfect invalides the assumption that the Bible is the only true Word. And in doing that, it invalidates every word spoken in the name of Christianity since the last words of Revelations were penned. Yeah, I just said that.
And that is why I believe in God but am not a Christian. So I will worship in my own way, because it is my way. I do not wish it to be your way and I certainly don't wish to preach my way as the true way to God. I am told by other people, all created in the eyes of God as equals just like me, that I am to be and act a certain way to be a Christian. And after 26 years of hearing so many different versions of what it means to achieve salvation, I don't even know what a Christian is anymore, and since the only source we have on the subject is two thousand years old, I don't think you do either.
And I'm fine with that.