UntoHim
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If there is a God of the Universe, surely he has the last say in what is and what is not truth. If the Judeo-Christian scriptures are the Word of God, and if Jesus Christ was God’s son, then it makes a lot of sense why, in his last prayer to the Father, he prayed “sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth”. What can “sanctify” us…what can make us holy…what can bring us as close to God as we can be? Truth. And what is truth? “Your word is truth”. So really there is no way to get around it. If you do not want to accept the Bible as God’s word, then all the talk and fuss about religion, Christianity, the Church, Martin Luther, Protestants, authority, etc, etc, is just much ado about nothing. Just sayin…
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In my view, the Bible is nothing apart from the purpose for which it was created. It was NOT created to be a tool of men so that they can create their own interpretive fantasies. And Christianity is full of teachings of an imaginary nature. Surely even Christians can see that not all of this fantasizing has hit upon objective truth.
I think you’ve guessed I’m in no way a Protestant (nor Orthodox/Catholic). I don’t believe in the Protestant idea of Sola Scriptura. The Bible is nothing in and of itself. Apart from the living Word of God, Jesus Christ, the Bible is just another compilation of writings written by men. And when Christians interpret the Bible, that’s exactly how they’re treating the Bible. As if it’s only the writings of men. I don’t believe that of the Bible. Not yet.
The purpose of the Bible is to be a tool of Jesus Christ, not an interpretive tool of man. Jesus Christ uses the Bible to teach those who are his own, those who are in Christ. Through the Holy Spirit. Very much a supernatural experience. Just as is walking by and being led by the Holy Spirit. When Jesus teaches, if one interprets what they’ve been taught, the benefit of the teaching is lost. Simply because the teaching has been replaced by the interpretation. What is real has been replaced by the imaginary.
Regarding objective truth, I don’t really like to discuss the matter with Christians, especially Protestant Christians. First, because so many variations of objective truth exists in Christianity. And second, because I believe that for the one who is in Christ, a person is objective truth, not a writing or an idea. And Jesus Christ is that person, not a human ruler of a particular Church. And I believe there is only one way to experience that person. Through the Holy Spirit who indwells all who are in Christ. Through walking according to the Holy Spirit who indwells.
The only reason I doubt what I believe is not because of Atheists. I’ve never found Atheist arguments persuasive. Christian arguments is another matter. But not in the way they intend. Christianity as it exists today is the most persuasive argument for the non-existence of the supernatural. You needn’t say it. I realize that’s something that Christians can’t acknowledge.
When Protestants look at “sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth”, they see the Bible. When Catholics look at that phrase, they see “the Church”. When an Eastern Orthodox looks at that phrase, they see Tradition. When I look at that phrase, I see Jesus Christ, and what he is saying through the Holy Spirit. John in Revelation makes it clear that what Jesus is saying and what the Spirit is saying is one and the same.
Hearing what the Spirit is saying to the ekklesia – is far different from understanding the Bible through the lens of some method of interpretation. The practice of Biblical interpretation is bad enough. It replaces objective truth with something out of the imagination. But when that practice involves the allegorization of the Bible, as with Witness Lee, a whole mythology is created. Then the most that can be said is that most myths have some basis in truth. Either way, the practice, which is of the mind alone, not having a thing to do with the Spirit as some Christians seem to think (showing more than one spirit is involved), leaves the supernatural behind for something natural. And under those circumstances, human rulers are indeed necessary. For a human endeavor is all it is.
And here is where I have to question the Christians. Do they believe in the existence of God? Do they believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected and is alive today? Do they believe the Holy Spirit is real and indwelling them today? Most Christians would answer without a doubt in the affirmative. While simultaneously, their thoughts and actions would answer in the negative. Christians considering human authority necessary to those who are in Christ is just one example of not believing in the supernatural where the rubber meets the road. Their practice of Biblical interpretation is another. Such are a practical denial of supernatural reality in their lives. And that is their witness to the world. The world doesn’t even have to interpret anything so as to disagree with Christians. They can see what is really real to Christians for themselves.
I attend a Christian denominational Church because it’s the only thing available in my area. And then only because I believe that I’ve been taught by Jesus Christ that the reality that is in Christ is a community endeavor and only individual in that context. But I’m not affiliated with any Christian denominational Church in any formal sense. Other than having been born into one.
MacDuff