I identify myself as an agnostic, and I am also a Christian.
Christians, do you identify yourselves as being agnostic, or do you believe(or think) that agnosticism and Christianity are incompatible?
I don't think agnostic Christianity is incompatible at all.
In my travels I've met those who claim to be agnostic atheist. Now that's incompatible! But agnostic Christianity in my view, not so much.
AC, as I'll call it, is more akin to Liberal Christianity.
I can certainly see the point. Especially given the history of orthodox Christianity and all that's branched from it since it's inception. And all the sectarian conflicts that exist in the faith that is suppose to honor one God and one savior of all humanity. While those aligned with that belief can't seem to agree on one belief system about how it all works.
My cousin professes themselves to be AC. And this after they were raised Baptist.
The way they explained it to the family at the last holiday supper, and because they were asked to in the presence of everyone there and most of whom were both very concerned and totally at a loss as to what AC entailed for his immortal soul, is this:
He arrived at the decision that an infinite all powerful being would be impossible to comprehend to it's fullest measure as creative power and divine authority.
(Agnosticism defined as - An intellectual doctrine or attitude affirming the uncertainty of all claims to ultimate knowledge. )
And that what is outlined in the Bible and describing it, it's will and intent for the human race, and even God's own characteristics, more keenly resemble a sovereign human monarch in charge of a kingdom he intends to rule absolutely and through the interjection of a fear paradigm, than it does in what should be exampled with consistency.
Especially when the Bible relates that same spirit/soul sovereign overseeing human affairs after creating every characteristic that makes one innately human, with regard to those powers described as omniscient,omnipotent, omnipresent and particularly omnibenevolent, are not rightly exampled by that sovereign in matters of free will and Hell in particular.
And as such, he does not accept the God of the Bible is anything more than a mortal conveyance for egoistic totalitarian control of the human mind, because the God described in the Bible if reviewed objectively in all it's parts, as he did when he took a year to read the Bible as literature only as he would any other novel, is wholly immoral. And not holy superior to those he sits in judgment of.
That that God in scripture is a reflection of the times the Bible was compiled by mortals, and resembling the small minds, the dictators, the punishments, of the age so as to reiterate that fear paradigm that was already enmeshed in Roman and world society between the master and slave communities, so that it would translate itself into the jurisdiction of the mind of the believers in the new myth that taught the masters people were use to on earth was also singularly alive and invested in their activities while residing invisibly in the vault of heaven.
He says/said, that ultimately if there is a supreme being creator of all that is, it is that supreme consciousness charge to believe in that what it's created. With no particular interest in one aspect of that creation, which would be us.
Therefore, he arrived at the decision that if a supreme being does exist it must by that very title be beyond human comprehension, much less compartmentalization into a man made religious dogma.
While he does accept that Yeshua/Jesus did exist as one who's consciousness was akin to the Buddha and other great visionaries, seers, thinkers, who in his time had great insight into the infinite divinity that must be what a supreme creator would example.
While being fully mortal as a prophet and vested with the keen capacity to teach and inspire from a unique comprehension what was the highest most common sense moral platform humanity had potential to achieve simply by trusting they were just as able to be fully good as they were fully bad.
He now lives his life believing in himself and the innate goodness of character that he is deeply in tune with. At peace that if God does exist he is aware of him because he created Jeff, and as such if that creator is worthy of worship for being omnibenevolent then it loves his child whom "he" put on this earth to live out the finite existence as human and imbued with all that involves, while omniscience is fully aware and responsible for it's own choice in letting that life occur on a world that can only exist due to that god's creation and permission of it.
My aunt Sarah, his mom, dropped her fork.
She being a life long Baptist, that's understandable I guess.
Meanwhile, I called him before posting this and asked him to explain again so I'd get it all down for this thread.
In other words dear Max, I know where you're coming from.
I love my cousin and I can certainly see his point in the matter.
I don't know if his belief as an AC coincides with yours or is something you can appreciate, but there it is.
I also, prior to arriving at this forum and joining, remember lurking at Belief Net. There was at that time a post about this very topic in, if I recall right, their Liberal Christianity forum.
This topic may go over well in our own LC forum here too.
God Bless you Max. In whatever form you accept that to exist and be possible in bringing your life all the best.
