now there's a juxtaposition we don't see everyday, and yet I've lived more of my life than not claiming to be just that - a Christian Goth. I've often been asked exactly what that means. I will use this thread as a place to finally spell out what this has meant for me.
(Everyone/Anyone else feel free to jump in and add your thoughts/reflections/views regarding Gothic Christianity if you'd like)
I think it's really awesome that you embrace diversity! There isn't a dang thing wrong with good wholesome Christian Goth.
__________________ It is customary to blame secular science and anti-religious philosophy for the eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame religion for its own defeats. Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevant, oppressive, insipid. When faith is replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion -- its message becomes meaningless. - Abraham Heschel
I think it's really awesome that you embrace diversity! There isn't a dang thing wrong with good wholesome Christian Goth.
Totally agree with this!
__________________ I removed my "Christian" icon, as it serves no purpose here.
James 2: 1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism.
8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself,"[ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ] you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
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Christ has followers from any culture, and any subculture. There's no reason one can't be Christian and Goth.
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. No guilt of life, no fear of death This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand
now there's a juxtaposition we don't see everyday, and yet I've lived more of my life than not claiming to be just that - a Christian Goth. I've often been asked exactly what that means. I will use this thread as a place to finally spell out what this has meant for me.
(Everyone/Anyone else feel free to jump in and add your thoughts/reflections/views regarding Gothic Christianity if you'd like)
Christian Goth. Nothing wrong with that. If your heart belongs to Jesus, you're going to heaven, period. People who judge you should have a peek at Matthew 7:1-5. Sound advice for a blessed life indeed. It took me long enough to learn...
I see no inconsistency between Christianity and the Goth lifestyle. What counts is what is in your heart. Only you and God can answer as to whether you have a godly spirit inside you.
*Christians who affirm "goth" as acceptable tend to include those who are more liberal or open-minded (though certainly not always the case) and yet...
*Goth has never just been about the aesthetics, the makeup and the freaky music...rather it presents a dark philosophy and, while there are several varieties of goth philosophy (no one can define "goth" for everyone else)... I've always understood "Christian Goth" to be a dark aesthetical enshrinement of the part of Reformed-Calvinist theology which holds up a mirror and reminds people of total depravity - our human falleness and our aching need for redemption. Specifically, Christian goth (at least for me) is a paradox as it is simultaneously: 1) A denial of a liberalism which deifies humanity, especially and specifically as a radical denouncement of Modernism and the Enlightenment...where a certain kind of liberalism praises the virtues of mankind, goth is there to remind us of the holocaust, of nuclear annhilation and even of the rise of the Evil One in the final eschaton. This kind of thinking can be found in some other strands of gothic thought, not just "Christian Goth". 2) Yet, Christian Goth has also always meant a radical inclusion and celebration of diversity... not that there is anything special or godlike about humanity, rather, within the context of us all sucking, we can better appreciate each other, walk in each other's shoes and realize that all of us really just believe whatever lie works best for us. Of course, as a Christian I have to augment that gloom with the hope in Christ.
Still, goth (for me) is a diagnosis, an adequate one, of the human condition... ironically one which (if really understood) "Christian liberals" like Spong would NOT agree with.
Oh yeah, there is no rest for the wicked! Never forget that! Don't do too many wicked things in this life - yes, Jesus is radical in forgiveness - but even still, being excessively wicked in this life will eff you up! I should know. I've been seriously effed up for several years directly on account of all the crazy shi'z'it I did when I was younger. Sure, you may be able to escape Hell, but you will reap what you sow in this earth.
There is no rest for the wicked. It is true. As long as I live, there can be no rest for me... no rest for a wicked thing such as me, for my evil young flesh! And... if I do go straight to Hell, it is only what I deserve.
NO REST FOR THE WICKED! WE HAVE TO PAY... AWAITING JUDGMENT ON THAT FINAL DAY... WE ARE THE SINNERS, WE ARE THE FALLEN ONES... WILL YOU DEFEND US OR THROW US TO THE FLAMES???
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