Since I was a little girl, I’ve always loved reading. The way an author could weave words together to create a world my mind could escape to was always fascinating, and as I got older, words became even more meaningful. I learned that the purpose of vocabulary wasn’t just to know a lot of words for the sake of knowing them. The purpose was communication; to have the tools necessary to be able to say exactly what I was thinking or feeling at a given moment. As such, I try to be very intentional about saying what I mean and meaning what I say….and that is why I could no longer continue calling myself a “Christian.”
A label is “a descriptive or identifying word or phrase,” and the purpose of any kind of label is generally to provide additional information about the person or thing it is being used to describe. A lot of people don’t like being “labeled”, and I get that. Labels can be restrictive and even inaccurate if applied incorrectly. However, I do think they’re useful when they’re used correctly because an accurate label can tell you a lot about a person without them having to say much at all. And I think, in the context of spirituality, calling yourself something is supposed to do just that: give context about who you are and what you believe in. So what exactly is a “Christian” and why isn’t that an accurate reflection of my beliefs?
A Christian is “a person who has received Christian baptism or is a believer in Christianity.” I think this particular definition is important, because I think people like to classify themselves as “real Christians” based on a very broad conception of what it means to be a “follower of Christ.” However, what “following Christ” actually looks like in practice depends on who you ask, and I think we need to be more intentional about defining how much of “Christianity” is actually a reflection of Jesus.
Christianity is “the religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible as sacred scripture, and professed by Eastern, Roman Catholic, and Protestant bodies.” Christianity is the largest religion in the world with over 2.4 billion adherents worldwide. There are 30,000 different groups, branches, or denominations that fall under the banner of “Christianity”, and more than 1,200 in the United States alone. 30,000 groups of people reading the same book, examining the same beliefs, and coming to very distinct conclusions about what it all means. Most, if not all, of those groups teach that they have a monopoly on “the truth” and anything that conflicts with “the truth” is inherently false. That in itself was reason enough to make me stop and think for a second, because using such a broad umbrella to describe the beliefs of that many people is bound to create some confusion.
Further, I don’t think enough attention is given to the second half of the definition. I think a lot of people stop at “the religion derived from Jesus Christ” and don’t necessarily understand how much of what is “derived” from Jesus Christ gets filtered through the Bible as professed by Eastern, Roman Catholic, and Protestant bodies. Now, don’t get me wrong. Most people who read any kind of “holy text” just do the best they can to understand what someone who lived thousands of years ago was trying to communicate. That isn’t the problem. The problem is taking something that was originally communicated by an imperfect human being, translated multiple times by multiple imperfect human beings over a period of time spanning hundreds of years, interpreted by multiple imperfect human beings, millions (if not billions) of whom cannot reach any remote sort of consensus on what’s actually being communicated, and then calling any of of those interpretations “absolute truth” as it pertains to a supposedly infinite God. Even if all of that boils down to some basic belief in Jesus’ role as the Son of Man and His blood as atonement for sin, how that belief ultimately translates to the life one lives and the way one treats the people they encounter, particularly people who don’t identify as “Christian,” often presents a stark contrast to the Spirit of the Man that person is supposed to be representing.
Let’s just be honest for a second, okay? If “just” believing in Jesus was really enough (John 3:16-17, anyone?), why is there a need for tens of thousands of different denominations and doctrines? Why isn’t it enough to just say “I’m a Christian” as a full expression of your beliefs? Or, if calling yourself a Christian only communicates that you believe in Jesus, why do so many people feel the need to follow up a statement of “I’m a Christian” with a long list of things they don’t agree with or subscribe to? If being a Christian were really just about Jesus, wouldn’t the teachings, the culture, and its standing in the world reflect that?
A popular argument I encounter often (and one that absolutely drives me crazy) is that people are imperfect and any group of people coming together is going to have its flaws, which is true. However, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot believe in a theology that hinges on reaching a state of spiritual perfection and then blame your humanity for your group’s inability to achieve said perfection, especially as you put your “truth” on a pedestal over those who don’t aspire to the same standards you do. You cannot say “God is all-powerful,” “God can do anything,” or “God is not the author of confusion” and then argue that God is “still in control” of mediocre institutions that often cause more harm and damage than they do good. You cannot say “nobody is perfect” when someone tries to hold you accountable for your shortcomings as people fill your pews (or watch your services online) week in and week out just to hear how terrible they are and that they haven’t “overcome” yet because their faith isn’t strong enough. You can’t tell people to have a “real” relationship with God just to dictate what that relationship and the fruits of that relationship are supposed to look like. You can’t scare people into submission to what you believe is the truth by insinuating in any way, shape, form or fashion that disconnecting from toxic, dysfunctional people automatically means disconnecting from God. You cannot center yourself as a victim when people who have been marginalized, abused, and left spiritually destitute by your institutions aren’t interested in hearing your version of the gospel. You can’t call that “Jesus” when what you’re reaping isn’t something He would have sown.
You might be thinking, “So what’s the answer? If Christianity is so bad, what are people supposed to do?”, but that’s not a question I can answer for you. I don’t believe you can call yourself a “Christian” and separate a pure belief in Jesus and His sacrifice from the harm Christianity has caused and continues to cause so many throughout the world, but that’s me. I cannot call myself something that isn’t a truly accurate reflection of what I believe and the God that I worship. Personally, I just did the work to find a label that did accurately communicate what I believe. I’m a Christocentric Agapist, which means that I believe that love is the highest moral imperative and that my belief in love is centered around my belief in Jesus…and only that. There are no boxes I have to fit into. There is no long list of doctrines I have to adhere to. I can ask as many questions as I want and I don’t have to limit myself to one perspective in my pursuit of the answers. I can say, “I don’t know” if I don’t find the answers right away, or if I don’t find them at all. I can say, “I don’t think I need to change this,” or “I know this is a problem but I’m not ready to change it” without feeling like I have to stay away from my spiritual community until I’m ready to live my life on their terms. I don’t have to worry about whether I’m doing everything “right” or who is going to judge me if I do something “wrong.” My beliefs aren’t reflected in the clothes I wear, the day I worship on, the kind of food I eat, or the doctrines I claim. My beliefs are reflected in how I try to treat the people I encounter on a day-to-day basis, the kind of person I try to be, and the peace I have within. I’m not perfect, but it is a keen awareness of just how flawed I am that allows me to have compassion for the imperfect people I can relate to and that allows me to pray that God gives me compassion for the imperfect people I struggle to have compassion for.
I do not believe in a theology that hinges on a state of spiritual perfection. I believe in a theology that teaches that Jesus lived a perfect life to pay the penalty for sin so that I could live a life of gratitude, compassion, empathy, and security in the fact that I am loved wholly and completely by an infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing God who has not only began a good work in me, but will see it to its completion. On God’s terms. In God’s time. All I have to do is let God be God.
Kara, I just want to paint the picture in your mind of the account of Noah. If you believe this account to be true, remember, there was only one door and one ark into which those who would be saved could enter. Jesus many years later said of His self “I am the door” “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh onto the father but by me”. I am sure you have good, strong reasons to have questions, but keep in mind, the word of God is indeed pure and true and it requires faith to just take God at His Word. You have every right in the name of freedom of choice to not to trust the authority of it, but could it be that we need to have faith that it is the word of God and that it points to salvation and that every thing else is error? Again, think of Noah! Could it be that a loving God would send a warning that He would destroy EVERYONE on the Earth and only send one method by which they could be saved? Well according to the Bible, this is exactly what happened and history is repeating. Please please please 🙏take this into consideration. Jesus is the only safety and God gave us the Bible so we could learn of His plan and be made wise onto salvation. This is only an encouragement to have faith in His word! I am not here to try to change your mind, but I felt so compelled to share this. Sending you so much love and God bless you!
Hi,
I realize that there’s a disconnect between some of the things I say and some people’s understanding regarding how I’ve arrived at my conclusions. I plan to address that disconnect on my YouTube channel in the near future.
That said, and to use your Noah illustration, I’m not arguing that there isn’t one door, assuming the “door” you’re referring to is salvation in Jesus. I just think there’s more than one way to reach that door and that people should be encouraged to lean on God in that endeavor rather than on someone else’s understanding. Noah built the ark, but he preached for 120 years that a flood was coming and not one single person outside of his immediate family heeded his words. However, animals were guided onto the ark. Noah’s preaching didn’t save them. Scripture didn’t save them. God did that. And I choose to believe that if God can get animals onto an ark without anyone’s help, God can save people without anyone’s help. In fact, I believe that teaching people to rely absolutely on anyone or anything BUT God is what’s erroneous.
We live in the age of information. There’s no reason, in my opinion, for faith to be blind or to ignore history and logic, and I don’t believe God requires that. I think people require that to make up for the fact that they don’t have answers to questions they don’t really want to know the answers to…because they don’t really care about truth. They care about being right, which is what happens when you can’t afford to be wrong. History is repeating itself, and as a historian, I can say with confidence that it is always….ALWAYS…the people who refuse to challenge what they’ve accepted as “truth” who ultimately end up on the wrong side, and that’s especially true from a spiritual standpoint. Always. Because Noah was a radical for saying the earth would be destroyed by rain and floods. Jesus was a radical for challenging the Jews’ conception of God and their understanding of the Son’s mission. The early church was radical for preaching that salvation was a free gift from a “dead” man. Protestants were radical for challenging the authority of the Catholic Church. Social justice advocates are radicals for challenging Christian traditionalism and conservatism. And maybe I’m a radical for actually believing Jesus when He said that love is the mark of a true disciple and “whatever you’ve done to the least of these” is the standard by which all will be judged. Maybe I’m a radical for believing Paul when he said that there are “Gentiles” who are a “law unto themselves,” not even having any knowledge of Jesus or the law, but keeping it through love, because “love is the fulfillment of the law.” Maybe I’m a radical for believing that Jesus wouldn’t be so egotistical as to keep the “doers” of the law out of heaven because they’re unwilling to proclaim a name that’s been blasphemed among the nations by His “followers” for centuries. Maybe I’m a radical for believing that there’s a divine reason why, despite the various rules and teachings amongst world religions, some version of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” can be found in all of them. Maybe I’m a radical for believing that the infinite God of the universe wouldn’t be so sadistic as to make salvation that complicated…to give a “free gift” only to require we all jump through a bunch of hoops (that no one has EVER been able to reach a consensus on, mind you) to access it.
Maybe all of that makes me a radical, but I don’t think so. I think it just makes sense. And since God isn’t a God of confusion, anything that requires me to forego what makes sense in the name of “faith” isn’t coming from God, in my opinion. I know it can feel scary, confusing, or threatening to hear me challenge certain things, but I’m doing what I feel I’ve been convicted to do. My faith is in God. Not a book written by people. Not a denomination or a religion created and operated by people. Not anyone else’s beliefs regarding what constitutes “truth” and ABSOLUTELY not anyone else’s fear of what they’ve chosen not to understand. God, and God alone. And if encouraging other people to put their faith in God above anything and anyone else is error…well…I’m willing to take that risk lol. I hope you’ll consider the possibility that history won’t play out the way you think it will, and I hope that if things don’t go the way you believe they will, you’ll remember what I’ve said here and make the necessary adjustments before it’s too late.
Thank you for the love, sending it back, and may God bless you, too <3
also i wanted to clarify something I mistyped, when I said to love God is to do His commandments. What i meant he is if we love God, we will do His commandments.
Love is the fulfillment of the law.
After reading this article, i must say it reminded me of a journey I was once on. I was seeking to find what I hoped to be truth and realized what I held to as ‘truth’ was not in alignment with what the Bible said. So I will compartmentalize my response.
After reading this, I first realize you question the authority of the Bible and understanbly so. I did too. Your emphasis on the fallible nature of humans reminds me of a question I had, how could we trust the Bible? Furthermore, how could a God so big, who is infinite, be limited to JUST the Bible. God, as big and infinite as He is has the power to do anything, which also means He would have the power to preserve His Word even using the imperfect people He Himself created. So then, if you can believe God to be as powerful as He is, could you also believe He would have the power to preserve the Bible?
On a side note, there are MANY interpretations of the Bible. But if you examine the history of the way the Bible came into the hands of the people after the dark ages under the rule of King James I, it may help you to better understand why this first Bible “for the people” is so important.
But thats a side note, so when we think of the nature of God and consider limitations. I think the fact that Jesus even limited His self to becoming a mere human says a lot of how God can do as He pleases. But the good thing about God is that He reveals all of what our minds are able to grasp in their imperfect states in the Bible.
So with that said, can all of these other religions be ‘wrong if God is so big? Well the truth is, God says to us that the road to eternal life is narrow. The road to the final death is broad. While God says He winks at what we were note able to know, when we have the opportunity to know the truth as He has revealed to us through His Word and choose to ignore it anyway, the Bible says we will be held accountable. But we are only held accountable to God in the end so it is not our place to condemn the next person. Only to educate where possible and keep it pushing.
I also wanted to make note of how you pointed out the stark contrast of how people who profess to be Christ followers act versus the one (Christ) they should be emulating. Truth is, most (if not all) of us failed in that respect. BUT truly, we should be striving and ultimately living our lives loving God and loving people as Christ has loved us and has shown us. There wouldn’t be an issue with this if we as individuals would actually do this. This is not an issue with Christianity, but with people and im sure even as a Christocentric agapist, you may find this a challenge as well, truly we cannot escape this issue in any faith that professes to be emulating Christ’s life. It is not impossible though! In fact, the Bible says that we must do it before Jesus comes (this gospel shall be preached as a WITNESS, then the end shall come.)
So now let’s talk about Christians and what they represent. You would think that there should only be one, central and unified faith. Based on your article, it seems like this is a strong thinking point for you when you realize there is so much confusion.
The good news is, there is nothing new under the sun and we often can look to the past to avoid making the same mistakes twice. Looking at the Jewish church in Chris’s day, we see two things.
1) God confirmed His covenant with one person out of all the many who were alive. He did this through Abraham and through Abraham, He raised up a people who were supposed to live their lives in faithful obedience to His commandments. As a result, He would bless them above all nations and would cause those who went after other gods to see that there is only one God and worship and obedience are deserved to Him alone. Which makes sense because we did not in our own power create ourselves, neither did those other gods, AND because He only blesses us as a result of our obedience. But the choice has always been ours to make because God does not force the will and neither should we.
2) Jesus constantly rebuked the church at large because they had become like well dressed dead men. They were beautiful on the outside but rotten on the inside. This was the church that was supposed to prepare the world to receive the coming Messiah. The same group of people, or. church, God made His covenant with. They failed to do what was required of them by God and when the Messiah came they were both unready and unwilling to receive Him.
That said, despite all the MANY religious practices that existed in Jesus’s day, He told all who would listen that only He is the door. That there is but one way to the father and that is through Him. That said, could it be possible that every other religion is inherently wrong and have no truth?
The answer lies between them and God who will ultimately make his righteous judgement based on the light that they had.
But God gave us His Word to a. live it out and b. share it with others by our actions and also by our verbal testimony.
The reason for so many religions instead of one unified front is simply self interest. When we look after what serves us instead of what God simply says and asks, we go off the path He has set before us. (and there is indeed a path we can choose from. We can choose the narrow path that leads to everlasting life or we can choose the broad path that leads to eternal death).
The choice is ours and God will be our judge.
I don’t know if you made it this far but Kara, I love you as a sister in Christ and I don’t even know you. I’ve seen a lot of your posts and I know you were once a SDA. This message is not to ask you to reconsider your decision, but rather to ignore people (the bad ones and even the good ones) as you make your decision and let your decision be based only on the word of God FIRST. I hope you have read this and I hope I was able to do right by God in all I’ve written here today. God bless!
Hello,
I’m going to try to be thorough in my response because I think you’ve touched on some of the common fallacies I encounter when having these conversations with people who operate from a more traditional viewpoint and I’d like to address those to the extent that I can for the benefit of others who may read this.
One, I always think it’s prudent to ask questions rather than making assumptions and drawing conclusions from those assumptions, especially as it pertains to people, belief systems, and really anything you may be unfamiliar with. You’ve said a lot to address what you thought I was saying and where you think I am in my spiritual journey, but that’s not an entirely accurate reflection of what I was actually saying or where I actually am. What’s interesting is that your response demonstrates the breakdown in communication I was referring to above. A person reading something in the Bible and drawing conclusions from what they’ve read isn’t necessarily a reflection of what was actually being communicated, for a number of reasons, and even something as basic as just being aware of your own limitations can heavily impact how one processes information. A lot of Christians presume that reading automatically means comprehending, and that presumption is flawed.
You read something I said, drew conclusions from it, and you at least appear to be fairly confident in the conclusions you’ve drawn. However, there are nuances you’ve missed, and where you have the benefit of a response from me to clarify, none of us have that as it pertains to the Bible. All we have is what we read, what we get from what we read, and perhaps a Holy Spirit who works with each of us where we are (if the Holy Spirit has actually even been invited to get involved). We’re all limited, friend, and personally, the people who I’ve found to have the most comprehensive understanding of God are the people who are also very comfortable and at peace with just how much they don’t know.
That said, let’s take this point by point:
1. I wasn’t questioning the authority of the Bible as much as I was questioning the authority of people’s interpretations of it. Even if we assume the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God (which, to be clear, is a flawed assumption because the Bible does not say or insinuate that and the concepts of both Biblical inerrancy and infallibility originated with Western Christianity), it’s still a book that people have to read to get anything substantive out of it, and since reading comprehension is a skill rather than a birthright, it absolutely introduces a wide range of potential issues in UNDERSTANDING, even if one could definitively establish the authority of the Book itself. Saying that to say: I like the Bible. I’m just not delusional enough to believe that any one person or group’s opinions about what it says are absolute just because they think they are. Literally everyone thinks that, so if I’m going to be wrong, I’d rather it be because I missed the mark myself in my own personal pursuit of God rather than because I let the blind lead the blind.
Also, I do believe God can do anything, but until someone can show me where GOD said that the Bible was an exhaustive exposition of infinity, personally, I wouldn’t take someone else’s word for it. As a rule, instead of trying to fit God into the boxes created by religion, I advise people to judge religion against who God is supposed to be. If the two things can’t be reconciled and I’m going to assume something, I’m going to assume that people got it wrong.
2. God can do what God pleases, but if you believe in the Great Controversy and that God’s character is on trial, then you can’t (or shouldn’t) believe that God is just arbitrarily making decisions at random. Vindication can’t be achieved by someone who’s just making moves haphazardly.
3. I think it’s ironic that your response to an article stating that more than 2.4 billion people worldwide identify as Christian (the largest religion in the world) is to say “the road to the final death is broad” lol because yes, yes it is, and the road you sound like you’re on has over a quarter of the world’s population on it. Even if you’re only referring to Adventism, that’s still a membership of over 21 million people worldwide. My beliefs don’t align with those of the majority, and maybe you just didn’t realize it, but that majority includes the people you speak of. I believe the road is narrow because it’s a road made for two: me and God. God is the only one who can save me and that can’t happen on anyone’s terms but God’s.
Further, God did not say that God winks at people’s ignorance. Paul said that, and he said it in the context that “everyone everywhere” was being commanded to “repent of their sins and turn to [God].” (Acts 17:30 NLT) The disciples were given a pretty straightforward command to share the good news of the gospel (the message of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection) and baptize people. Paul wasn’t preaching about doctrines and long lists of “truths” that people were going to be held accountable for in varying degrees depending on how much information God had allowed them to have access to. Have you read Paul’s sermon to the Athenians in Acts 17 (starting at verse 22)? All he did was give them a little more information about a God they had already been worshipping (verse 23). And then he said, “[God’s] purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him–though he is not far from any one of us.” That’s the ignorance he was referring to. Man’s ignorance of God and God’s true nature. That’s it. It’s really very simple, but people want to be “right” so badly that they miss the forest for the trees.
4. Again…irony. You finish talking about how “the road is narrow” and other religions are “wrong” to then say that we’ve all been called to love and Christians are essentially no better than anyone else. As I said in the article, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t put your beliefs on a pedestal and then say falling short “isn’t an issue with Christianity, but with people.” It is an issue with people, but Christians ARE people…JUST people…and you can’t only acknowledge that when it’s convenient to avoid holding yourself to a higher level of accountability. You either have the truth and thus should be leading by example (with all the responsibility AND accountability that comes with that), or you’re flawed and figuring it out just like the rest of us, which means that people disassociating themselves shouldn’t be an issue.
5. You incorrectly assume that I think there should only be one, central, and unified faith. I believe the exact opposite, actually, but I made that point to highlight the inconsistency in arguing that “real Christianity” is just about believing in Jesus because Christianity is not one unified faith based on a pure belief in Jesus.
What did Jesus mean when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”? (John 14:6 NLT) A lot of people conveniently (and incorrectly, in my opinion) assume this means that knowledge of and belief in Jesus is necessary to know God, but that conclusion doesn’t gel with other parts of Scripture. For example, Paul said in Romans 2: “When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God’s written law. And the Jews, who do have God’s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it. For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight. Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life.” (Romans 2:12-16 NLT). He then went on to say in Romans 13: “Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.” (Romans 13:8-10 NLT). Romans 13 perfectly aligns with what Jesus said in John 13:34-35, which states: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” And all of that comes to its ultimate conclusion in Matthew 25:31-46, where Jesus, the Son of Man, judges everyone based on the standard of “as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
I believe that Jesus meant that statement literally. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one gets to God except through Jesus. But that can be true without putting limitations on how God can be revealed to a person, ESPECIALLY when the people who are supposed to be representing God haven’t done the greatest job. “No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.” (Isaiah 52:5; Romans 2:24 NLT) It is not the hearer (or proclaimer) of the law who is righteous before God. It is the doer who is justified. You don’t have to know it is Jesus to get to know Jesus.
Following Jesus is far from easy, but it’s also far from complicated. There aren’t any mental gymnastics that must be done to make sense of things or hoops to jump through in order to be deemed “worthy.” Whatever you say you believe, you either love or you don’t. That’s it. While I truly believe that there are people within every faith tradition that believe in love and do their best to lead with love and while I do believe that God honors that, I don’t believe that Christianity (as an institution, denominational or otherwise) is designed to facilitate that brand of conversion and discipleship…and that’s because I don’t believe it’s really about Jesus.
So as I hope you can see, my decision is based on the Word of God first. It’s just not based on the Word of God according to Eastern, Roman-Catholic, and Protestant bodies. I appreciate what I assume are your good intentions, but your comment just reaffirms my stance. I don’t view God and Jesus the same way that you do, and what most Christians I have encountered subscribe to is not a reflection of the God that I serve. However, I think that’s okay, because God allows it, I believe God uses Christianity to draw people closer to God in spite of itself, and I don’t believe that God needs everyone to view everything exactly the same way at the exact same time. We’re all journeying and I believe that those who are truly seeking God will find God because that’s what the Bible promises. It may not be today, it may not be a year from now, but God sees the work God begins to completion.
I didn’t share this article as an attack against Christians. I shared it to: one, be a blessing to those who don’t fit within Christendom but who are also afraid that God can’t be found outside of traditional religious institutions; and two, to encourage people who do identify as Christian to really consider whether their beliefs and the way they live their lives are truly a reflection of the Man they claim to follow. If yours do, that’s great! For those who may not feel the same way, it’s something to think about. Like you said, all you can do is educate and keep it moving.
Have a blessed evening!
Hey Kara thank you for your response! I wanted to touch on some of the responses you made and hopefully we can go from there.
1. You said that the Bible does not say it is the infallible word of God. But I would have to disagree. The Bible says all scripture is given by inspiration of God. If we believe God to be perfect, which the Bible also says He is (“be ye perfect, even as your rather in Heaven is perfect”), how then can we say His Word that was given solely by His inspiration is imperfect?
2. Saying God can do as He pleases does not mean He is moving haphazardly. This is your understanding, but this does not make it true. Psalms 115:3 literally says that God does as He pleases, does this mean He is unintentional? To me, the answer is no, but your understanding is yours to have. Just pointing out that the Bible says the same. My reason for saying this however, was in the context of God can certainly allow His Word to be preserved with pin point accuracy because He is God and He can do anything. Nothing more or less.
3. By saying you believe the road is narrow because it is only you and God on it, you are in danger of taking a scripture entirely out of context. If you believe in the Bible’s point of view of a narrow road, would the Bible then be your interpreter of what narrow means? If so, Jesus simply says strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that find it. If Jesus says He is the way, He is the door, He is the life, I would be inclined to believe that the way is narrow because there is only one way and it’s the way God has given us through Jesus.
Also, if all scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness and Paul speaks with instruction to the church, it is therefore understood Paul is speaking as He is moved by God based on the scriptures view of authority. So would I still say this is God speaking? Yes indeed. But if you don’t understand it in this light, that is okay! We all have to be convinced in our own minds of what we believe and the only person we will have to give an account to according to Romans 14 is God.
Also, thank you for bringing into view Acts 17, it is one of my favorite examples of how we can witness to others by finding commonalities. That said, the ignorance Paul spake of is exactly the context of the ignorance I referenced. Paul literally says that in times past, God winked at this ignorance referencing the fact that they worshipped other, unknown gods ignorantly. To be ignorant of something is to have no knowledge or awareness of it. So when I said God winked at ignorance regarding being in ‘other religions’ this is exactly what I mean. The message Paul gave, like all the text in scripture that is profitable for us at any time it is being read (within the same context, of course), and was not only for the Athenians, but for the readers of our time as well. In times past God winked at the ignorance of serving other gods, but if today we go after any other path but the one He sets before us having had the opportunity to not be in ignorance, we will be judged accordingly and this is what Paul says in Acts 17 as well.
4. To say that everyone should be living perfect Christian lives from the moment they receive the faith (you did not say this verbatim, but this is the antithesis of your statement in saying it’s either this or that we accept we are flawed), is to argue scripture that says we all fall short. That said, if the Bible says a righteous man falls 7 times but he rises again, it is literally God showing us that we will stumble, but we must continue to press forward. This is what I mean when I say you will find this issue anywhere, even in Christianity, it is expected but it is not an excuse to be anything other than what Christ asks us to be. We must still continue to strive to be the living example. So I think we actually agree on this point, Christians are flawed like all of us. But where we must be different is we must continue to strive for the right and not to remain in a state of making excuses for doing things outside the commandments of God.
To your final point about your thoughts on John 14: 6, I will say this. Romans 2 gives us a clear example of Paul’s message to the Athenians in Acts 17. He says God winked at ignorance yes, but in the end all will be judged. Romans 2 shows how this is possible. God’s law is written in our heart. We can choose to obey or disobey our consciences. Therefore, for the one who thinks something is sin and does it anyway, then to him it is sin (Romans 14: 23). This does not negate Jesus’s word that He is the way, the truth and the life and that no man comes to the father except through Him. From Genesis to Revelation, the plan of Salvation had Jesus as its focal point. John says of Jesus, “behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the WORLD”. Jesus’s sacrifice was not for only those who died after His resurrection, but for the entire world.
So without having had a knowledge of Jesus, but obeying the conscience, that person would have kept God’s law and thus had not sinned. However, their sins would still be atoned for only through Jesus’s merit and not their own. That said, if after having a knowledge of the Bible and the requirements set forth in the Word we choose to take another route (i.e. through a faith practice that is not Biblical, teaches of another way to God) then we are not ignorant but making a willful decision. So no you do not have to know Jesus to get to know Jesus, this is clear in scripture. But if you have the opportunity to know Jesus and reject Him, Acts 17 tells us that we will be judged by God for this. So do I believe love is the summation of the law? Yes, absolutely. (Matt. 22: 37-40) When we love God supremely and love our neighbors as we love ourselves (and as Christ has loved us, John 13:34), we have kept the law. To love God is to do His commandments, when we willfully choose to ignore what God has given us the opportunity to know, we will have to give an account for this.
To wrap this up, is it the duty of those who know the Bible to at least share the scriptural truths with others? Yes. Are we also to warn others of the dangers of going down a road that is taking them away from the Bible’s truth? Absolutely. That said my intention of replying here is only in love and I hope you do not still feel I am making assumptions about you. I am only drawing my conclusions from the information you’ve given me through your article. Romans 14 says how can a servant judge another Masters servant? I cannot and do not judge you. God is your only judge and while I hope you will consider what I have said here today, your decisions are only between you and God. I appreciate you taking the time to bring more clarity and context! And again, i say this as someone who wants to see you in the Kingdom as I also am striving to be there by the grace of God. God bless you Kara and take care!
1. One, what “Scripture” was Paul referring to when he wrote that? Not his own letters and writings. Those weren’t canonized until hundreds of years after his death, and that decision was made by the Roman-Catholic Church. So, at best, it only applies to what he considered to be Scripture at that time (which, more likely than not, included books that have not been included in the Protestant canon). Two, again, language matters, and you can’t (or shouldn’t) inject your own meaning into something based on what you already believe to be true. “Inspired” means “aroused, animated, or imbued with the spirit to do something, by or as if by supernatural or divine influence.” “Infallible” means “incapable of making mistakes or being wrong.” As badly as people want them to be, they’re not synonymous.
2. I didn’t say that God moves haphazardly lol
3. Are you insinuating that God isn’t powerful enough to do what God has promised? I think it’s interesting that you’d argue that God is powerful enough to perfectly encapsulate infinity into the words of imperfect human beings, but then say that I’m endangering myself by choosing to rely solely on God’s guidance and saving power rather than on the opinions of people like you lol and to be clear, I’m not saying that community isn’t important. What I’m saying is that community doesn’t save you. God does. At the end of the day, we should all be relying on God, and personally, I don’t need or want to be a part of a community that encourages me to look to the judgment of the community as my metric for truth rather than continuously pointing me back to the Source.
Also, I said that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Where I differ from your position is in your assertion as to what salvation in Jesus looks like. To you, it looks like following Jesus according to the tenets of Christianity and perhaps the tenets of a specific denomination. To me, it looks like Jesus providing us direct access to God through His sacrifice and, because each individual has access to God through that sacrifice, I shouldn’t be presuming and projecting what I think God revealing Godself to someone is going to look like. The Jews did that, and that’s why they didn’t recognize Jesus for who and what He was. History is doomed to repeat itself in those who don’t learn from the mistakes of the past.
4. That’s not what I said. Being imperfect isn’t the problem. Only acknowledging your imperfections when it’s convenient to fit your narrative is the problem. If you are flawed and your beliefs aren’t more “true” or “right” than anyone else’s, then I’m not wrong in choosing not to rely on them. I’m just as likely to find God through my own journey with God as I would be following God in whatever way you believe is the best way to do so. But if you are saying that your beliefs are more “true” or “right” than the next person’s, then you should be holding yourself to a standard that reflects the level of truth you claim to believe in rather than making excuses when you fall short. “Nobody’s perfect” but some people aren’t putting themselves on pedestals. It’s that simple.
I’m not going to keep going back and forth with you, because I think a lot can get lost in translation and I don’t think you’re understanding what I’m saying. I don’t agree with how you’re interpreting Scripture at all, and you apparently don’t agree with me lol so we can just agree to disagree. I don’t need to be “right”. I need to be convicted within myself and my goal in everything I do is to encourage and support others in the pursuit of reaching a place of spiritual security in God. Not in other people’s opinions. Not in someone else’s doctrinal beliefs. Not in Christianity. In God. That’s it. If you have an argument against that, we don’t really have anything to talk about. If you don’t have any argument against that, we’re on the same page!
Thanks for your feedback.
Kara, thank you for the dialogue! We can agree to disagree and I hope we will both be found on that straight and narrow path in the end. Have a good week!