I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and I was saddened by your post. If you believe that our God is not a God of love, please read verses such as Romans 5:8, John 3:16, 1 John 4:8, Jeremiah 31:3, and more. To put "scripture" in quotes as you did shows your disregard for the truth of the Bible. I do believe that God is the moral authority in this world, not "consciousness", and not you, Caitlin. I know that God is our creator, our redeemer, our guide, and that His ways are above our ways.
I don't believe that you have the authority to disregard what's in the Bible because you don't like it, and that your definition of morality is higher than God's. True, I do not understand everything in the Bible, but I do know that I either trust God through all of it or none of it has purpose or meaning in my life or in this world. I choose to believe in God, my savior, the one who will never fail. Without Him I am lost.
Please seek a relationship with God through the gift of salvation given to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God doesn't say a book will fix us; He says a relationship with Him through Jesus is the way to salvation. It doesn't begin in Heaven; it begins in your heart as you accept His grace and mercy.
I have as much authority to disregard what's in "the Bible" as the people who created it had authority to label it the "word of God." You believe what's in the Bible is God's words because a group of men in the 4th century said it was -- not because it actually is. A set of historical records, legal documents, poems, letters, etc. that has been labeled the holy words of God/the "bible" does not make it so. It even says in Jeremiah, "‘How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?" -- if they were lying during the time of Jeremiah, what makes you think they'd ever start telling the truth?
I'm a follower of Jesus, too, and I live my life the way I believe he did: fearlessly, authentically, and unapologetically. I teach what I learn to others. I caution others about distortion and lies fed to us as truth. Any religion claiming that God is love but also that he requires BLOOD for us to be forgiven (or else we go to hell for eternity) is fear-based and false. God does not require ANYTHING but repentance (change of mind) for us to be reconciled to him. Why would Paul write to the Corinthians that Love keeps no record of wrongs if God requires payment for our sin? If it's not God who requires payment for sin, then who's demanding the payment? WHO wants blood?
It's wrong to assume if someone doesn't believe Jesus was a blood sacrifice for our forgiveness that they don't have a relationship with God at all. I DO believe God is Love -- literally -- and that's exactly why I don't believe in blood sacrifice. Love isn't transactional, period. Love doesn't require you to kill anyone to appease or forgive someone. If God is omnipresent, how can you say that God isn't inside of us, his own creation and that we have to invite God in? We simply need to become aware that God is within us for everything to shift and that's when repentance (change of mind) happens. When we know better, we do better.
The Bible is NOT a Christian book. Christianity is not Jesus' religion; rather, it's a religion ABOUT Jesus. Jesus wasn't here proclaiming the good news that we're sinners in need of him as a savior; he was proclaiming the good news that we are already connected to God within us. The religious elte were lying to us. And lo! and behold, they're STILL lying to us. There's a lot of the Bible that's useful and not necessarily untrue, but to say it's the supreme authority for what God wants or who God is is incredibly limiting and almost insulting. Rejecting the Bible as God's word is not the same as rejecting God. You can find value in it without idolizing it or giving it false authority in your life.
Caitlin, i like your writing. It's hard for someone like me, raised with less evangelistic frames around my religious life, to believe people think that the Bible is literal, when one of the purposes of Jesus' method of teaching was to imbue the kind of reasoning about the life of truth within a symbolic tale. It is also a reminder that despite the weirdness of these times, we have become much more humane. Finally the message is reaching us. Also, people seem to think that Biblical truth is 'the last word,' when beautiful wisdom and writings are available in other religions. Much as with politics, it's easier to debate than to spend time asking one's self, how do the teachings inspire my life, and how do i take a stand in modern culture that expresses inspiration as i actually experience it? If we made it personal instead of cookbook-style, we might discover a new quality of life.
Caitlin,
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and I was saddened by your post. If you believe that our God is not a God of love, please read verses such as Romans 5:8, John 3:16, 1 John 4:8, Jeremiah 31:3, and more. To put "scripture" in quotes as you did shows your disregard for the truth of the Bible. I do believe that God is the moral authority in this world, not "consciousness", and not you, Caitlin. I know that God is our creator, our redeemer, our guide, and that His ways are above our ways.
I don't believe that you have the authority to disregard what's in the Bible because you don't like it, and that your definition of morality is higher than God's. True, I do not understand everything in the Bible, but I do know that I either trust God through all of it or none of it has purpose or meaning in my life or in this world. I choose to believe in God, my savior, the one who will never fail. Without Him I am lost.
Please seek a relationship with God through the gift of salvation given to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God doesn't say a book will fix us; He says a relationship with Him through Jesus is the way to salvation. It doesn't begin in Heaven; it begins in your heart as you accept His grace and mercy.
God loves you.
I have as much authority to disregard what's in "the Bible" as the people who created it had authority to label it the "word of God." You believe what's in the Bible is God's words because a group of men in the 4th century said it was -- not because it actually is. A set of historical records, legal documents, poems, letters, etc. that has been labeled the holy words of God/the "bible" does not make it so. It even says in Jeremiah, "‘How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?" -- if they were lying during the time of Jeremiah, what makes you think they'd ever start telling the truth?
I'm a follower of Jesus, too, and I live my life the way I believe he did: fearlessly, authentically, and unapologetically. I teach what I learn to others. I caution others about distortion and lies fed to us as truth. Any religion claiming that God is love but also that he requires BLOOD for us to be forgiven (or else we go to hell for eternity) is fear-based and false. God does not require ANYTHING but repentance (change of mind) for us to be reconciled to him. Why would Paul write to the Corinthians that Love keeps no record of wrongs if God requires payment for our sin? If it's not God who requires payment for sin, then who's demanding the payment? WHO wants blood?
It's wrong to assume if someone doesn't believe Jesus was a blood sacrifice for our forgiveness that they don't have a relationship with God at all. I DO believe God is Love -- literally -- and that's exactly why I don't believe in blood sacrifice. Love isn't transactional, period. Love doesn't require you to kill anyone to appease or forgive someone. If God is omnipresent, how can you say that God isn't inside of us, his own creation and that we have to invite God in? We simply need to become aware that God is within us for everything to shift and that's when repentance (change of mind) happens. When we know better, we do better.
The Bible is NOT a Christian book. Christianity is not Jesus' religion; rather, it's a religion ABOUT Jesus. Jesus wasn't here proclaiming the good news that we're sinners in need of him as a savior; he was proclaiming the good news that we are already connected to God within us. The religious elte were lying to us. And lo! and behold, they're STILL lying to us. There's a lot of the Bible that's useful and not necessarily untrue, but to say it's the supreme authority for what God wants or who God is is incredibly limiting and almost insulting. Rejecting the Bible as God's word is not the same as rejecting God. You can find value in it without idolizing it or giving it false authority in your life.
Who has the authority to disregard what's in the Bible?
Caitlin, i like your writing. It's hard for someone like me, raised with less evangelistic frames around my religious life, to believe people think that the Bible is literal, when one of the purposes of Jesus' method of teaching was to imbue the kind of reasoning about the life of truth within a symbolic tale. It is also a reminder that despite the weirdness of these times, we have become much more humane. Finally the message is reaching us. Also, people seem to think that Biblical truth is 'the last word,' when beautiful wisdom and writings are available in other religions. Much as with politics, it's easier to debate than to spend time asking one's self, how do the teachings inspire my life, and how do i take a stand in modern culture that expresses inspiration as i actually experience it? If we made it personal instead of cookbook-style, we might discover a new quality of life.