Posts

Image
Discussing theology I wanted to call this, “Discussing Religion,” but then I knew some would disagree with the term, religion. As part of their training, Christians have been taught to deny that Christianity is a religion because it lumps the faith in with all other faiths. So, they call it a “faith.” I have managed to anger a few Christians over the last few years. All but disowned by a few of them. It angers them that I take exception to some of the Christian Doctrine. The question before us today is, “How do we grow and learn if we are unwilling to examine and discuss our beliefs even when some of the discourse goes against what we believe?” Many people put up barriers when someone espouses a difference in theology, a difference in beliefs about doctrine and the foundations of the faith. It is hard for people to look at the possibility that what they have believed all their lives or more recently come to believe may be wrong, as if the very existence of God and Jesus is at stake....
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
Tradition vs. Faith in God Tradition is the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation. Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Theology is the study of God, god, gods goddesses, that is what the word means god study. Christians love to condemn the Jew because they have deep rooted customs built around their faith. They are often blamed for trying to work their way to salvation because if their customs. We often forget that the Lord Himself gave the Jews many of these customs. But let us look at one tradition, the oral passing of the Torah, from generation to generation. Christians don’t do this. Instead, we teach bits and pieces, verses to our children that fit our beliefs. We then expect them to read the bible on their own. Christianity is built upon customs. There are no passages in the bible that tell us what we are to do in church; early church gentile fathers created them for us. Our hymns are traditions, the way ...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
To hear and to listen are not synonyms, there is a slight nuance to these words. One is more active then the other. One can be more involuntary while the other is actively natural and must be mastered to communicate effectively. The differences are, hearing is a process of perceiving sound, while listening is more of a thoughtful attention to what is being said. Hearing is passive, you may hear it but not understand, concentration is not necessary. Listening is active and requires concentration. Approaching the subject of Christianity and having ears. There are many references in the New Testament regarding having ears and not hearing, in some cases having eyes and not seeing. When Jesus spoke the parables of the mustard seed and yeast, both are tiny yet spread everywhere, thus the Kingdom of Heaven is like them. A tiny bit will go an exceptionally long way. However, prior to these parables he also spoke of a prophecy of Isaiah, “though seeing, they do not see, though hearing, they...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
Fallacy of Christian Doctrine The title alone is probably more than enough to get most people not to read this blog post. I get it. God created man in his own image which means he created us to be like him. We are driven to understand and to create. When we see something or find something new, we are driven to understand what we saw or found. We don’t like not knowing. God is one of those things we will never understand, except, and I do preface it with “maybe” the day we stand in front of him. Try as we might to explain as many aspects of God as we can, we still do not know if we are right. I have heard Christians say, “If this isn’t true, then the whole bible isn’t true.” They are predicating their belief based upon their doctrinal understanding of something in the bible. The Doctrine of the trinity is a fine example. Our so-called early church fathers had to deal with a balance. In Judaism there is but only one God, but now all of a sudden there is Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Two...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
This essay goes along with the previous blog, “God in a Box.” This blog is entitled “The Journey of Paul.” It spans 20 years, starting with my missionary journeys to China, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. Now it is covering my faith journey as in individual. I was telling my wife the other day, “If I had kept all the books I have read, I’d have my own little private library.” I’d have about 1000 non-fiction books, most on theology. So? What’s the point? Let’s see, in Judaism, the religious leaders created what was called the “Oral Torah.” These were spoken commentaries on the first five books of the bible, “The Torah.” These five books were committed to memory and transmitted from generation to generation, complete I might add. The Oral Law was also transmitted orally from generation to generation. However, due to various diasporas, religious leaders began to write the Oral Law down along with other commentaries which would later form what is called the Talmud. In Judaism, the Talmud is con...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
I once attended a class entitled, Creation vs. Evolution. I thought it was a given because the class was being taught by a group of Reverends, theologians, doctors, professors. I mean, seriously, thought this was going to be God created the heavens and the earth, hands down, discussion. I was surprised to find out it was not. However, the point of this is a presentation that was made by the eight professors teaching the class. They presented the eight models of God. Each presented a box into which they shoved God. In this case, eight boxes, but boxes, nonetheless. I don’t believe we can put the Lord in one or a million boxes. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Moses goes on, verse 26, Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.” There are three points to this. First, the concept that God created everything in six days, or not. Second, the plurality of “Let us, in our image.” Finally, the use of the words, image, and likeness. These are al...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
It’s a toughie I don’t know how to say it then just being blunt! I know of God. I believe in God. I worship Him, love Him, and praise Him. But I don’t know God. I’ve heard that small voice speaks to me several times, had prayers answered. I’ve studied Him, read His word, taught His word but there is one thing that keeps nagging at me. The more I know, the less I know. Knowing the Lord is like understanding not only the universe and Einstein his theory of relativity vs. quantum mechanics. Ain’t gonna happen. In other words, our intelligence and brain capacity are miniscule regarding what is needed to have the capacity to understand the Universe and the theories of how it operates. I have resigned myself to trying to understand what the Lord wants me to do. Nothing more. Having said that, man, since the beginning of dawn and believing in a God or gods, has tried to understand that higher power. In doing so, they have defined God/gods ad-infinitum. As it pertains to Judaism and Christi...
Post a Comment
Read more