Questioning Classic Christianity #4

Here is our fourth round of emails. the format is the same, my friend's email and my response:

Friend wrote on July 14, 2009

Scott,

Ah summer. So many mountains to climb and so little time to engage in lengthy e-dialogue on matters of theological concern...

In brief, some thoughts on each of your main points.

First off, I have to say I do take scripture seriously and think on one level I approach it similarly to you. I believe that many of the stories in the Bible are powerful and useful for understanding the character of God, the complexity of the human condition, and the difficulty and beauty of our journeys of faith. I try to read it similar to how you describe, with an open mind to how God might be speaking to me in my present situation. That said, on another level, I apply a rigorous and critical eye to scripture and to text in general be it Christian, Muslim, Hindu, secular or whatever. I am an equal opportunity believer and an equal opportunity skeptic.

As far as absolute truths are concerned, I am more convinced of absolute truth than at any point in my life previous. I view faith as a constantly deepening friendship, and as I have befriended God more deeply with the years, I am more convinced of God's reality. And it's not something that I simply hold intellectually in my mind, it's something I know in my heart, and have experienced in my body! I view this knowing as a friendship that grows more and more deeply as God reveals more and more of himself to me daily.

At the same time, I'm skeptical of the vast majority of bullshit that masquerades as truth from all quadrants of society and which comes out of certain sectors of every religious traditions. I believe that the journey of faith requires both a childlike simplicity and a mature skepticism. I will happily claim the name of doubting Thomas. I need to feel the holes in Christ's hands, and the sensation of his skin for me to be convinced. My measure for accepting truth is whether I can experience it personally and directly, and not have merely to only take another's word for it.

As far as the issue of textual transmission and accuracy is concerned, I certainly have heard and am impressed by the wide proliferation of the Christian scriptures. I would just say that I have no doubt in my mind that the other historical and mythic texts you refer to have drifted far astray from their original textual or oral form. I'd also be interested to compare the numbers on copies of religious texts from the other major religions and see if they in any way compare to those of Christianity.

As for learning Greek, how I would love to if I had a few hundred hours to spare, but don't realistically see it as a priority at the present time.

A few questions for you, since I fear our conversation is really little more than two occasionally bisecting monologues.

By what authority do you accept the Bible as true? So far you've based the authority of scripture on certain scriptures. If memory serves me correctly, that's internal logic, which doesn't go too far with me since I don't accept the veracity of those texts you base your claims off of.

I've been impressed to hear of your cross-church collaborations, which sound like they're bringing a lot of new energy and insight to Hope in Christ. I'm curious what your connections look like across faith lines and whether you're engaged in dialogue and learning with people of other religions?

And I'm interested to learn more about your faith journey in general. What was the turning point in your questioning and searching that led you to the place where you're now at? And what are the faith questions you are still asking and wrestling with today?

I fear we could go on lobbing theological arguments at one another indefinitely and do little more than wear our keyboards out in the process. But to hear about your present journey with God, now there is something refreshing and vital I am interested to hear.

As always, thanks for your patience as I am a great procrastinator when it comes to my email, especially when the temperature reaches about 70. And yes, feel free to post on your blog, and as I come to think about it, feel free to include my name as well if you wish.

Best,

Friend

My reply dated July 28, 2009

Friend,

I appreciate your honesty and your willingness to dialog. Also accept my apologies for anything which comes across as an attack on your struggle with he faith, or a demeaning of your reading of the Scriptures. That said, there is a fundamental difference in your approach and mine. You used the phrase I try to read it to see "how God might be speaking to me." And then you go on to discuss your critical eye of any and all Scriptures. Therein lies, the difference. I come with a fundamentally different belief than you. I do believe this is the word of God and so I also believe that God is speaking to me through the text. This isn't an anthropological text, it is a divinely sanctioned theological text. Sure it describes the complexities of the human condition, and the beauty and difficulty of the life of faith, as you mention, but it is not "useful for understanding the character of God" it is the very revelation of how God has chosen to be revealed. This is fundamentally different.

As you describe your life with God, i am encouraged, but I am also reflective that Jesus said, John 20:29 “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” You draw an unnecessary distinction between faith and experience. For you, as I understand your letter, experience is the final arbiter, but Jesus had a different way of seeing it. He validated the realm of faith without experience, trust without reason. That said, I believe every true believer has both at work in their life.

Which is the set of questions you are asking me. What is the experience I have had to justify my belief. Let me outline it for you, but first a bit of history. I wasn't raised in the church, but came to Christ in late Jr. High after watching my parents accept Christ. There life was radically changed and so I entered in simply with the thought, "I'll give it a try." I began studying the Bible and took it as a self help book able to make me acceptable to God. That turned me into a class A hypocrite. I judged others who didn't make the grade and was lenient on myself. Classic phariseeism. Then in my freshman year of college, while studying and praying I asked God what he wanted me to do with my life. The response was audible and startling, "If you will follow me I will take you to the seven continents and you will have a tough life but you will enjoy it. If you don't follow me, you will just have a tough life."

I choose the former, not knowing what that meant but thinking I did. That led me to train to become a missionary in Africa. During that training I had a crisis of faith, and began questioning everything about the faith, including whether it was true or not. Here I was, preparing to go and teach people about Jesus and at the same time wondering if the Christian Gospel was true. I began exploring Orthodox Judaism and Buddhism. Both seemed more "achievable" for the disciplined soul and the adherents of each faith were far more moral and enjoyable a people to be around than most Christians. One day I cried out to God in the shower and said, "If I am to be a Christian, you better reveal to me what is true about Christianity before I finish my shower."

Now, I don't advise that line of interaction with the Almighty God, but He was gracious and in that moment I heard His voice again as He expounded the grace of the Gospel and the Love of the Father for me. He revealed how Christ completely atoned for all my sin past, present and future and made me full acceptable in His sight. That revelation, which is entirely consistent with the Bible, changed my person and freed me from having to be something to others. I was free in Christ to be whom God made me to be. I went and spent the year in Africa working with Animists and exploring their teachings and sharing Christ with them. The message is fundamentally different, as any animist will attest and as many did attest to me in the bush of Zambia.

Upon returning to the USA, I had another crisis of faith, mostly because I anticipated staying in Africa for 10 years but due to a variety of circumstances we were only there for 1 year. Sitting in the desert, I cried to God for direction and a future. This time, no voice, but a vision of stained glass which I recognized as my life falling to the ground and shattering, then a hand reaching in and picking up pieces of my life and remaking it into a new stained glass of His making. Not all the pieces were taken, many were left on the ground, but it was a comfort that my ways and picture of life was crashing in order for God's way and picture of life to be born.

Fast forward to the present. What am I learning? I am learning about a heart of thankfulness and seeing all the good that God has made available to us. I am also learning what it is to have God be silent. More than ever I know he is present, but more than ever he has quit answering my questions and is leaving me to simply enjoy his presence. To take direction from his word, for most of my questions can be answered from a study of the Bible. In fact, most of my questions about how to live, what to do or not to do are already expounded upon. Take for instance adoption. We are adopting, but i am questioning whether now is the right time. Truth be told, there is never a right time. But God has called his people to care for those at risk. You can read more about this in my earlier posting on Saul's rejection.

Or take my pride, my struggle with generosity. All of these I know the answer, deference to others and liberality with the gifts God has given. I don't need God to tell me what to do, I need to do it. Or maybe the next great question I have is how to raise my children to love the Lord. How to model a life of prayer to them, when I struggle with praying. These are all the questions I am struggling with. Totally different from you as a single person, I fear, but they are mine.

You ask by what authority I accept it as true. I accept it based on its own authority. Does it claim to be the word of God? Is it able to effect its claims? Yes to both. You may call it internal logic, but the simple truth is we always determine our authorities. One who doesn't claim it as authoritative does so on his own footing, with no more valid reason than his arrogance or intelligence or lack thereof. By what authority does anyone accept any authority as legitimate? It is by internal choice. For you to choose not to accept it means that you have set yourself up as the final arbiter of truth, a dangerous position since the human heart is easily swayed by our own desires, whims and fancies.

As far as current interfaith connections, I must admit that I am currently not involved in any people interactions with others of varying faiths. That is not to say that I have not been in the past. Before moving to Bellingham, I regularly met with 2 New Agers, 1 ex-catholic, and 2 agnostics. We had great friendship and discussion but frankly, we had very little in common related to spiritual faith. It looked like it on the surface, as far as hopes for peace, justice, etc. But the practice of these was vastly different. Peace is very different depending on the faith, and so is justice. Currently I read widely and am getting ready to start reading the Koran which I haven't read before.

As far as the textual history of other faith documents, I haven't done alot of reading myself on this. And I will now that you have raised the point. But my initial search for websites has led me to the following:

Related to the Koran
John Gilchrist's Jam' Al'Qur'an: the codification of the Qur'an Text ...Read more