Accidentally bombarded with literalism
Caution: My personal religious beliefs contained herein. I try very hard not to judge people's beliefs, but I fail at many things in life; please forgive me if I make you feel judged or excluded.
I know many of you who read my journal are either not (very) religious or spiritual but not Christian, etc., but I read something that bothered me deeply, so let me take a moment.
I was reminded of a Christian band (as in, a band of the Christian Rock genre, not a band who happens to be made up of Christian people) who I used to listen to and enjoy. While looking up current information on them, I found this:
http://defendingcontending.com/2010/02/28/david-crowders-crowded-theology/
This website seems to be run by, and frequented by, a number of well-intentioned, New Testament-following, scripture-based Christians who are so tied up in Biblical literalism that they adopt a holier-than-thou attitude and basically condemn all others, including many people whom I would consider to be Christian, e.g., the entire Roman Catholic church.
If you are not Christian, such a thought may not bother you (except perhaps the knowledge that there are people who are willing to judge you), but this bothers me for several reasons.
First, I believe we cannot and should not attempt to define one another's spiritual health. I believe that only God judges, and only He knows our souls intimately enough to do so. Our primary concern should be loving God and our neighbors, and by extension our own spiritual health. Matthew 7:4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
Also, I believe that love is first and final word of Christianity. I believe that God is love. I believe that our job on earth is to love Him and to love one another. Adopting the stance, "But allowing a brother to follow a false doctrine is not loving," is presuming that one knows the full truth of God's word and God's will, and I simply do not believe that we are able to realize these truths. Love means forgiveness and acceptance. Proverbs 17:9 He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. It also "keeps no record of wrongs," which these people are doing several times while publicly asking for forgiveness (prideful) and publicly pointing out others' flaws which, in their estimation, need forgiving. I believe that we are ALL sinful and ALL need forgiveness, and to enumerate our sins can easily be self-serving; to enumerate someone else's sins is not loving; a person's heart (i.e., in religious speak, the Holy Spirit) will let him know when he needs forgiveness.
But what bothers me the most is that these people seem to think that a person must literally interpret and follow the Bible, without internalizing (they attacked several comments that used the word "I" too many times without Biblical citations), mystifying (Catholicism isn't Christianity because of Mary and the Saints? They don't believe the New Testament? WhAt?), or mainstreaming (making "of the world") his beliefs. Otherwise this person is not Christian, and thus not saved. I am thankful for the preacher Jason, who made many arguments against this stance, and who adopts beliefs much more in line with my own (e.g., "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved," remembering that we cannot presume to judge a person's beliefs) and yet clearly has a very different theological standpoint. After a while, he backed out of the argument, agreeing to disagree (because, again, who can claim to know the full truth of God's word and His will? Are we more right than those who judge us? And also because the others would not let it go.), and simply clinging to hope that salvation is extended to those of us who walk a different path.
I know many of you who read my journal are either not (very) religious or spiritual but not Christian, etc., but I read something that bothered me deeply, so let me take a moment.
I was reminded of a Christian band (as in, a band of the Christian Rock genre, not a band who happens to be made up of Christian people) who I used to listen to and enjoy. While looking up current information on them, I found this:
http://defendingcontending.com/2010/02/28/david-crowders-crowded-theology/
This website seems to be run by, and frequented by, a number of well-intentioned, New Testament-following, scripture-based Christians who are so tied up in Biblical literalism that they adopt a holier-than-thou attitude and basically condemn all others, including many people whom I would consider to be Christian, e.g., the entire Roman Catholic church.
If you are not Christian, such a thought may not bother you (except perhaps the knowledge that there are people who are willing to judge you), but this bothers me for several reasons.
First, I believe we cannot and should not attempt to define one another's spiritual health. I believe that only God judges, and only He knows our souls intimately enough to do so. Our primary concern should be loving God and our neighbors, and by extension our own spiritual health. Matthew 7:4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
Also, I believe that love is first and final word of Christianity. I believe that God is love. I believe that our job on earth is to love Him and to love one another. Adopting the stance, "But allowing a brother to follow a false doctrine is not loving," is presuming that one knows the full truth of God's word and God's will, and I simply do not believe that we are able to realize these truths. Love means forgiveness and acceptance. Proverbs 17:9 He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. It also "keeps no record of wrongs," which these people are doing several times while publicly asking for forgiveness (prideful) and publicly pointing out others' flaws which, in their estimation, need forgiving. I believe that we are ALL sinful and ALL need forgiveness, and to enumerate our sins can easily be self-serving; to enumerate someone else's sins is not loving; a person's heart (i.e., in religious speak, the Holy Spirit) will let him know when he needs forgiveness.
But what bothers me the most is that these people seem to think that a person must literally interpret and follow the Bible, without internalizing (they attacked several comments that used the word "I" too many times without Biblical citations), mystifying (Catholicism isn't Christianity because of Mary and the Saints? They don't believe the New Testament? WhAt?), or mainstreaming (making "of the world") his beliefs. Otherwise this person is not Christian, and thus not saved. I am thankful for the preacher Jason, who made many arguments against this stance, and who adopts beliefs much more in line with my own (e.g., "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved," remembering that we cannot presume to judge a person's beliefs) and yet clearly has a very different theological standpoint. After a while, he backed out of the argument, agreeing to disagree (because, again, who can claim to know the full truth of God's word and His will? Are we more right than those who judge us? And also because the others would not let it go.), and simply clinging to hope that salvation is extended to those of us who walk a different path.