Reminders of Faith

There was a time where I might have wondered where my faith was. Or if I had lost it. I went through a phase where I really had to find it for myself. Not based on anything other than scripture. Wow, was that a struggle. Still is.

I'm pretty sure it was a few years after Sunnydale joined the military. Once we left the safe haven of "home" it was a much larger world than I ever knew it to be. And I thought I had tested the limits when I was a teenager! *laughing* I found that I was a little angry. I was angry at the life I grew up in.

Wait a sec and let me explain. I absolutely love the Lord and I am so excited about being a part of His ministry. But I've had to go through so much to get where I am. And it isn't over yet. That's the story I want to share tonight.

I'm now a firm believer that sometimes you have to lose something in order to appreciate it to it's fullest extent. Most people would probably associate that to a spouse or girl/boy friend.But I'm talking about faith. What you believe and why do you believe it. I believed everything my parents taught me when it came to church and the Bible and everything in it.

Borg would have considered me in the "pre-critical naivete". *scoff*

If you know me well nowadays, you'll know *exactly* how I feel about Marcus Borg and all the Christian people he's leading astray.

Anyway, so I began asking questions and mostly just listening and reading. Until one of the Chaplains I work with severely challenged my thoughts when he proposed to me that the Bible not be writings based on factual history. *what*??? This spun me...yep...You guessed it...Right down the "slippery slope to heresy" *grin*

Just kiddin. However, I did go through a pretty traumatic experience with the whole thing. I spent weeks reading all the books I could get my hands on. Johnson's "The Creed", Marshall's "Why the Jesus Seminar couldn't find Jesus" and a ton of things online. I printed out things periodically and handed them in to this Chaplain as my "defense". *laugh*

In case you don't know about the war out there with Robert Funk and his delusive followers such as Marcus Borg here is an example of what Borg believes...

The Bible as Word is symbol and metaphor.
His approach (and that of current biblical research) is Historical-Metaphorical.
The bible is not written for us or to us.
It is a mixture of memory and metaphor.
The bible is (David Tracy) "a religious classic."
The Historical metaphorical approach is the ability to hear the stories as true without
worrying about their historical accuracy.
A major need in the church and in education is help the people move from
A. A pre-critical naivete, thru
B. Critical thinking (How much do I take with me into adult life) to
C. Post-critical naivete: that is, able to hear as "true" events not factual.
"Now I don*t know for sure whether it happened this way or not, but this story is true...."

Now, through all the studying I've done (and I'm not done), I have come to my own conclusion. Which I am proud to say is truly my own conclusion that I worked hard for and not the conclusion of anyone else.

Obviously I strongly disagree with Borg. While I am respectful of his knowledge of the scripture, I am disappointed in his lack of sheer faith. Somethings got to be said for believing what is written. And I believe that Timothy warned us of such deceivers coming.

I also know that when I say to one of my 4 children "Tell me THE TRUTH, I want to know exactly what happened" I mean it.

Truth = Factuality

Borg would disagree.

So in all of this, I may slightly disagree with some of the beliefs I was brought up with. But I'm sure that it isn't anything essential to salvation. Mostly tradition disputes. The root is the root and to that I am sticking. I believe that I was taught in truth and in love.

I also believe that there are a lot of things that we argue over, things that sincerely bother us, that are not important issues for God. I think he wishes sometimes we'd put away the bickering and just worship him in freedom and love.

I wonder what he thinks of Borg. Probably something way out of the box and completely love inspiring. I'm not that wonderful. I feel a great deal of frustration to the teachings of Borg. A wise man told me not too long ago not to be frustrated, but fascinated. It changes your perspective greatly. I am having a difficult time finding anything fascinating about Borg's theology.....Then again, it did capture my attention. And I certainly know a lot more now than I knew 6 months ago.

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