Adelaide
07-21-2013, 01:15 PM
The sudden realization that this belief is patently and irrefutably false, that the Bible is replete with the most blatant and obvious errors and contradictions — just as one would expect from a document written by hundreds of different hands across thousands of years — left me confused and spiritually unmoored.
And so, like many people in my situation, I angrily discarded my faith as if it were a costly forgery I had been duped into buying.
I began to rethink the faith and culture of my forefathers, finding in them a deeper, more intimate familiarity than I ever had as a child, the kind that comes from reconnecting with an old friend after many years apart.
Meanwhile, I continued my academic work in religious studies, delving back into the Bible not as an unquestioning believer but as an inquisitive scholar. No longer chained to the assumption that the stories I read were literally true, I became aware of a more meaningful truth in the text.
Ironically, the more I learned about the life of the historical Jesus, the turbulent world in which he lived, and the brutality of the Roman occupation that he defied, the more I was drawn to him.
The Jewish peasant and revolutionary who challenged the rule of the most powerful empire the world had ever known became so much more real to me than the detached, unearthly being I had been introduced to in church.
Today, I can confidently say that two decades of rigorous academic research into the origins of Christianity has made me a more genuinely committed disciple of Jesus of Nazareth than I ever was of Jesus Christ.
I have modeled my life not after the celestial spirit whom many Christians believe sacrificed himself for our sins, but rather after the illiterate, marginal Jew who gave his life fighting an unwinnable battle against the religious and political powers of his day on behalf of the poor and the dispossessed – those his society deemed unworthy of saving.
How to lose Christ (and find Jesus) - CNN Belief Blog (http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/20/losing-christ-and-finding-jesus/?hpt=hp_c3)
I follow this section of CNN somewhat regularly because it often has interesting takes on religion and spirituality. I found this piece to be particularly interesting. The author considers herself to have grown up in a household of "lukewarm Muslims and exuberant atheists" and was an immigrant from Iran during the time of the Iranian revolution. She speaks about her mother and family having to hide her religion (Islam) because in the 1980s "Muslim was like being from Mars." So she described religion being almost entirely removed from her life... except for Jesus, because he was absolutely accepted by Americans. So her article goes on to explain how she felt more American by accepting Jesus. But in turn, her beliefs about who and what he was changed.
Anyways, very interesting article. I'm curious to see what other members think about it. I personally obviously do not think about Jesus the same way Christians would.
And so, like many people in my situation, I angrily discarded my faith as if it were a costly forgery I had been duped into buying.
I began to rethink the faith and culture of my forefathers, finding in them a deeper, more intimate familiarity than I ever had as a child, the kind that comes from reconnecting with an old friend after many years apart.
Meanwhile, I continued my academic work in religious studies, delving back into the Bible not as an unquestioning believer but as an inquisitive scholar. No longer chained to the assumption that the stories I read were literally true, I became aware of a more meaningful truth in the text.
Ironically, the more I learned about the life of the historical Jesus, the turbulent world in which he lived, and the brutality of the Roman occupation that he defied, the more I was drawn to him.
The Jewish peasant and revolutionary who challenged the rule of the most powerful empire the world had ever known became so much more real to me than the detached, unearthly being I had been introduced to in church.
Today, I can confidently say that two decades of rigorous academic research into the origins of Christianity has made me a more genuinely committed disciple of Jesus of Nazareth than I ever was of Jesus Christ.
I have modeled my life not after the celestial spirit whom many Christians believe sacrificed himself for our sins, but rather after the illiterate, marginal Jew who gave his life fighting an unwinnable battle against the religious and political powers of his day on behalf of the poor and the dispossessed – those his society deemed unworthy of saving.
How to lose Christ (and find Jesus) - CNN Belief Blog (http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/20/losing-christ-and-finding-jesus/?hpt=hp_c3)
I follow this section of CNN somewhat regularly because it often has interesting takes on religion and spirituality. I found this piece to be particularly interesting. The author considers herself to have grown up in a household of "lukewarm Muslims and exuberant atheists" and was an immigrant from Iran during the time of the Iranian revolution. She speaks about her mother and family having to hide her religion (Islam) because in the 1980s "Muslim was like being from Mars." So she described religion being almost entirely removed from her life... except for Jesus, because he was absolutely accepted by Americans. So her article goes on to explain how she felt more American by accepting Jesus. But in turn, her beliefs about who and what he was changed.
Anyways, very interesting article. I'm curious to see what other members think about it. I personally obviously do not think about Jesus the same way Christians would.