Quote:
Originally Posted by Ataraxian
At that time I articulated to myself that I would accept the truth no matter what it was, even if it meant that orthodox Christians would consider me a heretic.
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A brief word on the truth, from a believer. There is a great scene in the last book of the Bible where John the aged apostle is bawling his eyes out because nobody can open the scroll.
"Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." Revelation 5:5
To me, this meant that the truth is known only to God, and to those to whom He chooses to reveal it. Jesus, of course, is the way for the believer to know truth. But each believer only gets a piece of the puzzle. We each have to come together and attempt to fit the puzzle together. So you have a piece, I have a piece, etc. Your experiences were of some great and mysterious purpose, and when you hold your light up for others to see it somehow blends with the rest to create a mosaic of reality which God only can compose.
So if any one claims a corner on the truth, they may be a tad presumptuous.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ataraxian
In the spirit of full disclosure, please know that I am an agnostic. This means that I don't care too much about theological disagreements ...
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After leaving the LC, I spent several years as an agnostic. I was so ingrained that what I was reading from a certain publishing house in California was "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" that when that collapsed pretty much everything did. Eventually I found God again, on terms not dictated by someone else. May your journey in search of truth be blessed.
On a related note, I also found in the book of Revelation that Jesus was called "the Faithful Witness". It impressed me with the idea that I, and you, and everyone else, regardless of claims to the contrary, is not a faithful witness. We are only "partly faithful". We are all compromised, at least somewhat. So we don't need to pretend to have all the reality at our disposal, neatly packaged in theological precepts. Just try to be nice to the person next to you, be willing to receive God if He/She/It/They show up, which may indeed be (at least partly) in that person next to you.
Anyway, I ramble, which is my disposition, but my point is that we all have a piece of the puzzle. Those who claim to have it all don't have very much. Those who admit they don't have much have a little more. But nobody save God is allowed to be a "know-it-all".