- Feb 9, 2020
- 15
- 14
- Country
- Taiwan
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- AU-Liberals
I'd like to introduce myself. My name's James and I live in Taiwan. My faith is complicated, so I have to explain to everyone who's reading exactly where I stand.
I first identified as a Christian back in 2013. I became an evangelical when I got into apologetics, but stepped back and reassessed where I stood in terms of faith when the Christian Apologetics Alliance (a Facebook group) was unable to provide sufficient answers that I had to doctrinal questions on issues such as the Incarnation, the Trinity, penal substitution, and Hell.
I then identified as a Christian agnostic for a short while following reading the writings of John Hick, who also could not find satisfactory answers to some of the questions I had and even went so far as to say that Christ was wrong about when he would return.
Shortly after that, I met a Unitarian pastor (a Christadelphian who is now a good friend of mine) with whom I spoke with at great length over many months about the issues I could not find satisfactory answers to. During this time, I had to reassess my definitions of "belief" and "God".
After much reflection, I came to the conclusion that, for me, "belief" could only be unreasonable if the gap between actual knowledge and what I took to be actually axiomatic was too great to be justifiable based on the evidence. Furthermore, "God" means an omnipotent deity that intervenes in the operation of the universe and the lives of those that live within it.
This is what I do accept based on what I have researched extensively in both Christian and other sources:
Jesus lived as an itinerant preacher who preached what he and his followers believed was God’s message to humanity. He lived to show us how to conquer our sin.
He was crucified under Roman law. He knew this would happen and let it happen so that he could be raised and show us that God could conquer even death.
He was seen alive after his crucifixion by many of his followers.
No naturalistic hypotheses that I have researched can explain the sightings of Jesus after his death better than a powerful being having raised Jesus from the dead.
My resurrection is the lynchpin of my faith. That even some secular scholars accept that his disciples at least BELIEVED that they had seen him is enough for me to believe that he had been raised.
The Holy Spirit exists and is the power of God made manifest in the universe.
Hell means the annihilation of a person’s being into nothingness.
Note:
I have debated the resurrection ad nauseum and no longer debate it. I read about conflicting views, but I find them wanting.
What I don’t (yet) believe:
The Trinity is an accurate description of God. God is instead one.
Jesus was God.
The Bible is inerrant. (I can accept that it is inerrant in PURPOSE only)
I probably have a lot more to say on my beliefs and I admit that I may have made mistakes and have blind spots.
As it stands, I am a unitarian Christadelphian, and if I post the wrong thing in the wrong forum, please correct me. The most important thing is that I believe Jesus is the son of God and I live my life in a way that tries to emulate the way he lived. I know I will never come close, but I will do all I can to walk in his footsteps.
I first identified as a Christian back in 2013. I became an evangelical when I got into apologetics, but stepped back and reassessed where I stood in terms of faith when the Christian Apologetics Alliance (a Facebook group) was unable to provide sufficient answers that I had to doctrinal questions on issues such as the Incarnation, the Trinity, penal substitution, and Hell.
I then identified as a Christian agnostic for a short while following reading the writings of John Hick, who also could not find satisfactory answers to some of the questions I had and even went so far as to say that Christ was wrong about when he would return.
Shortly after that, I met a Unitarian pastor (a Christadelphian who is now a good friend of mine) with whom I spoke with at great length over many months about the issues I could not find satisfactory answers to. During this time, I had to reassess my definitions of "belief" and "God".
After much reflection, I came to the conclusion that, for me, "belief" could only be unreasonable if the gap between actual knowledge and what I took to be actually axiomatic was too great to be justifiable based on the evidence. Furthermore, "God" means an omnipotent deity that intervenes in the operation of the universe and the lives of those that live within it.
This is what I do accept based on what I have researched extensively in both Christian and other sources:
Jesus lived as an itinerant preacher who preached what he and his followers believed was God’s message to humanity. He lived to show us how to conquer our sin.
He was crucified under Roman law. He knew this would happen and let it happen so that he could be raised and show us that God could conquer even death.
He was seen alive after his crucifixion by many of his followers.
No naturalistic hypotheses that I have researched can explain the sightings of Jesus after his death better than a powerful being having raised Jesus from the dead.
My resurrection is the lynchpin of my faith. That even some secular scholars accept that his disciples at least BELIEVED that they had seen him is enough for me to believe that he had been raised.
The Holy Spirit exists and is the power of God made manifest in the universe.
Hell means the annihilation of a person’s being into nothingness.
Note:
I have debated the resurrection ad nauseum and no longer debate it. I read about conflicting views, but I find them wanting.
What I don’t (yet) believe:
The Trinity is an accurate description of God. God is instead one.
Jesus was God.
The Bible is inerrant. (I can accept that it is inerrant in PURPOSE only)
I probably have a lot more to say on my beliefs and I admit that I may have made mistakes and have blind spots.
As it stands, I am a unitarian Christadelphian, and if I post the wrong thing in the wrong forum, please correct me. The most important thing is that I believe Jesus is the son of God and I live my life in a way that tries to emulate the way he lived. I know I will never come close, but I will do all I can to walk in his footsteps.
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