I'm a bit of a trouble-maker on Christian forums.
Based on my views they say I am "an enemy of the Christian Bible." (whatever that means)
I disagree with the views regarding the Bible that I was taught growing up in the church.
- Inspiration (as in, every word is inspired) In reference to English translations.
- Inerrancy (no errors)
- Literal history (as opposed to figurative mythology) What were Moses' sources?
- Authorship integrity (who really the Gospels?) Gospel Q?
Additionally, I'm a Universalist. I don't believe in a forever burning hell.
I foresee the ultimate redemption of humankind.
So, here's the question:
Can a person hold these views and still call themselves a Christian?
Why not? I'm a Christian by upbringing and practice. I hold the credentials to participate in adult Christian worship in several major Protestant denominations that claim to require such credentials. I am very well versed in Christian narratives and I use those narratives to guide my thinking when they seem to be applicable. (Yes when writing sympathy cards. No when assembling electrical wiring.) I have had Christian-themed religious experiences. Narratives, practices, and experiences define a religion.
Oh, wait, you're asking me about bleef, or telling me you have a problem with bleef? Why worry about that? Who cares? Zeus doesn't care what you bleeve as long as you keep the fires lit at his temple. Cthulhu doesn't care what you bleeve; he'll devour you anyhow if he awakens. Mohammed (PBUH) didn't care what you bleeved as long as you fought in his army and gave him all the spoils. Your school teachers didn't care what you bleeved as long as you wrote the right answers down on the test. And YHWH? There's nothing in the Ten Commandments about bleeving, just a lot of thou shalts and thou shalt not regarding actions. And people who claim to care the most what you bleeve, who for instance claim to bleeve heaven and hell are on the table, rarely act like they actually bleeve much themselves. It says right there not to covet. "God wrote it, I bleeve it, that settles it. Then I do it anyway, inccessantly.
Labubu! Balenciaga fhtagn!"
Well, okay, there's Jesus and that verse people hold up on signs. Jesus does say, bleeve in him. There's the historical and religious anomaly, the special card in the Christianity deck, the reason why the flock for two centures has been bleating bleef bleef bleef. Deal with it. Figure it out. I don't see anyone living eternally. Good "bleeving" Christians die like everyone else. So maybe that verse isn't quite accurate, or isn't quite literal, or bleef isn't as easy or as common as people think.
Today the Pope (PBUH) issued a Pope-thing (encyclical?) about AI, apparently referencing the Tower of Babel in that context. I haven't read it yet but I plan to; it's an important issue and potentially an interesting take. (I've gotten by so far regarding AIs as demons. Not the IT "programs that run in the background" daemons; nor sexy anime demons. Soulless fiends from lower planes who mimic human speech for deceptive and destructive purposes in medieval tales demons. Apparently dealing with AI is more like writing a sympathy card than like assembling electrical wiring.) One wonders what past Popes have written about tall buildings. For a matter that motivated the second greatest (arguably the absolute greatest, in terms of total number of human lives taken over time) divine punishment in Biblical history, Christian authorities seem awfully sanguine about the evils and metaphysical perils of tall buildings, and often even willing to partiipate in prestige tower-building themselves. It's almost as though which stories in the Bible are historically true and which are not, is less important than which we pay attention to and which we disregard. It's difficult to understand that, though, if you're worshipping a golden idol made out of bleef itself.
