__________________ From the lone shieling of the misty island
Mountains divide us, and the waste of seas;
Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland,
And we, in dreams, behold the Hebrides.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says (James 1:22)
I understand what you mean; I feel exactly the same way. I walk into a church today, and generally my first instinct is to walk back out. I find there's far too much preoccupation with frivolous details, or at least what I would consider to be frivolous details. God's love appears to have taken a backseat to legalism. It saddens me greatly.
__________________ "And the law of God is written in every heart, and it is there that he manifests himself; And in infinite love, according to our necessities, states, conditions. And as we are all various and different from one another, more or less, so the law by the immediate operation of divine grace in the soul, is suited to every individual according to his condition." — Elias Hicks
"I am more interested in the religion of Jesus, than the religion about Jesus." — Dom Aelred Graham
Yes, I agree. The churches are wells without the living water. It's time for people to come directly to God and to develop a relationship with Him personally. Not listening to preachers, but listening to what God has to say directly. Preachers might be well meaning and all, but most have been misled by an organized institution of religious Christianity which lives by the letter of the law and lacks a real daily relationship with a real Awesome God.
I do not consider myself a part of religious Christianity anymore, but I sure love my Maker! I love Jesus who came to be our example in how God wants us to be. I am a follower of Jesus and in love with God. And it is so refreshing and exciting and real!
__________________
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Christianity is a religion. Perhaps you would be more accurate in stating that you are disenchanted with a particular version of Christianity.
"Religion" has increasingly become a negative buzzword, for whatever reason. Of course it ignores the actual meaning of the word.
What the OP said was essentially that he's become disenchanted with the Christian view of the cause, purpose and nature of the universe, and its fundamental beliefs and practices.
Christianity is clearly the religion of Jesus' early followers, but I wonder how close it is to the religion of Jesus himself. A lot of us love the Christian traditions and try earnestly to follow in Jesus' footsteps, but are a bit jaded with the narrow view the mainstream churches present of his life and message. I wouldn't begin to speculate on what is or is not true, but I find myself wondering if there might have been a whole lot more to Jesus than the Biblical narrative reveals. Is it plausible that his role as Christ and son of God may have been only a very thin slice of what the beloved teacher from Nazareth was really all about? There are, after all, noncanonical writings, stories and legends scattered throughout history that paint Jesus as a very intriguing fellow; but they are difficult to come by. The church fathers long ago declared the bulk of them heretical and made every effort to destroy them. And that is a shame. I would love to get together with anyone who feels, as I do, that Christianity, if we are permitted to approach it with an openminded imagination, is a wondrous and beautiful thing and that it would be sad indeed to have it fall away--just at a time when the world is in dire need of uplifting--simply because so many modern-thinking folks have grown cynical of the approach taken by the mainline churches. (Reed from the Naoi Meadow Way)
Last edited by Reed000Naoi; 21st October 2012 at 01:41 AM.
Christianity is clearly the religion of Jesus' early followers, but I wonder how close it is to the religion of Jesus himself. A lot of us love the Christian traditions and try earnestly to follow in Jesus' footsteps, but are a bit jaded with the narrow view the mainstream churches present of his life and message. I wouldn't begin to speculate on what is or is not true, but I find myself wondering if there might have been a whole lot more to Jesus than the Biblical narrative reveals. Is it plausible that his role as Christ and son of God may have been only a very thin slice of what the beloved teacher from Nazareth was really all about? There are, after all, noncanonical writings, stories and legends scattered throughout history that paint Jesus as a very intriguing fellow; but they are difficult to come by. The church fathers long ago declared the bulk of them heretical and made every effort to destroy them. And that is a shame. I would love to get together with anyone who feels, as I do, that Christianity, if we are permitted to approach it with an openminded imagination, is a wondrous and beautiful thing and that it would be sad indeed to have it fall away--just at a time when the world is in dire need of uplifting--simply because so many modern-thinking folks have grown cynical of the approach taken by the mainline churches. (Reed from the Naoi Meadow Way)
The problem with the non-canonical material is that it's all later, and doesn't have the kind of Jewish background that the canonical Gospels do. Some people find a Gnostic perspective attractive. If you do, fine. But I'm not aware of many scholars that think they have much independent information about Jesus. Thomas is a possible exception. Personally I'm skeptical about it.
Have you looked at writers such as Borg? He draws a portrait of Jesus based pretty tightly on the Gospels, particularly the Synoptics. I think it's fairly coherent. A number of people in the mainline churches and some of the more liberal end of the evangelical spectrum accept that kind of view. N T Wright's book "How God Became King" is another approach from a similar perspective, though Wright tends to be slightly more conservative than Borg. Or Brian McLaren's books. You might want to look at things like this that are based on a recent critical reading of the canonical material before you start looking at more dubious sources.
Yes, I agree. The churches are wells without the living water. It's time for people to come directly to God and to develop a relationship with Him personally. Not listening to preachers, but listening to what God has to say directly. Preachers might be well meaning and all, but most have been misled by an organized institution of religious Christianity which lives by the letter of the law and lacks a real daily relationship with a real Awesome God.
I do not consider myself a part of religious Christianity anymore, but I sure love my Maker! I love Jesus who came to be our example in how God wants us to be. I am a follower of Jesus and in love with God. And it is so refreshing and exciting and real!
AMEN!!! So agree with you!You sound just like me, this is also the view and feelings I hold.
It seems that a fair few people are preoccupied on completing a "tick list" of things to do to ensure they are Christian, rather than developing a relationship with God.
So refreshing to hear someone who holds a similar belief to mine.
Thanks, Hedrick, for the references. I am always looking to read new takes on the subject. I think my point is this: It is a shame that so many pragmatic, pondering people, many of them Christian at heart, find themselves forced to forego the wonderful traditions of Christianity and the uplifting message of Jesus simply because they have a difficult time with the metaphysical stuff. The church I am working on (The Lucan Chapel) is intended to put more emphasis on making a more peaceful, more beautiful, world and teaching one another how to enjoy it (The Naoi Meadow Way) than on fretting selfishly about one's own sinfulness and future salvation. In today's crazy world, we need a superhero we can emulate. To me, the living Jesus is that role model. I know, the Gnostics and others have tried such approaches many times in the past. But were they necessarily wrong? Maybe they were just ahead of their time.
So agree with you!You sound just like me, this is also the view and feelings I hold.
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