One of the side-effects of our cultural default to suspicion is a love of new theories that undermine established ones.
We are predisposed to believe new ideas in contrast to old ones.
This, of course, doesn't make sense intellectually, but it is an observable reality; I constantly meet people whose framework for understanding history is someone in Idaho, locked in their attic, furiously blogging, spewing conspiracy theories about the 'real' history of ____________ (fill in the blank with their particular axe to grind).
I can't tell you how many people I meet who are willing to assert the most bizarre hypothesis; Jesus was a woman, Jesus never existed, Jesus was Hindu (often the same person will wheel out several opposing hypotheses without concern for their contradiction!).
But this doesn't mean that we should take the opposite approach either!
We must continually look with fresh eyes upon the evidence we have before us. I find it laughable that intelligent people would question the existence of Jesus as a historical figure; not because I hold firm to the doctrines of faith, but precisely because the historical record demands the presence of Jesus!
However, if we are to look at what the historical record indicates, then we must be willing to make hamburgers of some sacred cows...
What if it turns out that the comforts and meanings that we derive from our faith in Christ (as we received it) stand in antithesis to the aims of Christ as we discover them in pursuit of truth? Surely we must recognize this a legitimate possibility, after all we must see that the reality of God must be orders of magnitude beyond our concept of God. Will you let go of your concept of Christ, in order to embrace Christ Himself?
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I WILL!!! (that was a world mandate "I will")
In all seriousness though, I see Christ as I see heaven. I don't have to know everything about Him (though it would have been amazing to be a part of His time on earth) to know what He did for me. I don't need to know what heaven is like to know that it is beyond imagination.
Even as a secular man I had a deep respect for Jesus. I might not have believed everything in the bible about Him but any man that would love, teach and sacrifice like that is an amazing human being. I couldn't even argue that when I didn't believe in God. Did He marry Mary Magdelene? Was He the son on God? Did He walk on water? It didn't even matter. He was an amazing man any way that you cut it. The rest of it is just minors to me. I'm going trust in scripture but follow what He puts in my heart above all else.
How is life my brother? I'm sitting next to Dave in our living room right now on our macs. He says hi. Be blessed my friend.
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