Seeker Q and A

[JacksLadder]

O.k. so I just recently left Buddhism and am looking back to my roots(Christianity) to use as a foundation for life.
I ran into a very scholarly but down to earth Reformed Presbyterian Air Force Chaplain and have been talking with him at length about the meaning of life, eastern vs western worldviews, problems I have had with Christianity in the past etc..... Anyways I had developed(with the help of the T.V. show Lost) a world view where things seem to happen according to a plan, where you were made to fulfill a certain task. So we ended up clicking philosophically on a number of issues and I am even contemplating going back to church or at least a bible study group on the base(both ran by the reformed Chaplain). But I believe in a creator guided evolution and that the time spans listed in the bible are there to make a non literal point. I also don't like to judge people based on things they cannot control since they were made that way (I believe homosexuality to be this way in some cases). Would this issues cause me to get shunned if I attended these reform services?

I would like to add that I would not expect everyone to agree with me since these are just my ideas and interpretations.

 

[mlqurgw]

Go and learn. If you go with the intent to make your views known you may not be shunned but you will be uncomfortable. Keep your views to yourself for a while and listen to what the others have to say. You may just learn that what you expected is the opposite of what you find to be true. Don't look for debate unless you are prepared to deal with the consequences.

 

[JacksLadder]

How come a baptist is posting in a Calvinist thread?????

 

[ReformedChapin]

How come a baptist is posting in a Calvinist thread?????

There is baptistic calvinist here.

Calvinist are a broad group themselves and can come from different denoms. They can be presbyterians, baptist and even anglicans.

George Whitfield is one of my favorite reformed anglicans.

 

[hedrick]

O.k. so I just recently left Buddhism and am looking back to my roots(Christianity) to use as a foundation for life.
I ran into a very scholarly but down to earth Reformed Presbyterian Air Force Chaplain and have been talking with him at length about the meaning of life, eastern vs western worldviews, problems I have had with Christianity in the past etc..... Anyways I had developed(with the help of the T.V. show Lost) a world view where things seem to happen according to a plan, where you were made to fulfill a certain task. So we ended up clicking philosophically on a number of issues and I am even contemplating going back to church or at least a bible study group on the base(both ran by the reformed Chaplain). But I believe in a creator guided evolution and that the time spans listed in the bible are there to make a non literal point. I also don't like to judge people based on things they cannot control since they were made that way (I believe homosexuality to be this way in some cases). Would this issues cause me to get shunned if I attended these reform services?

I would like to add that I would not expect everyone to agree with me since these are just my ideas and interpretations.

The idea that God intends everyone to do something is certainly consistent with Reformed thought, but I think other Christians would also accept it. The idea that everything happens in accordance with God's plan is more specifically Reformed.

Your other ideas would be fine in the more liberal Reformed groups, such as the PC(USA). They might not in the more conservative groups. There are certainly conservatives who believe some form of theistic evolution, so many conservative congregations would accept that, although they might not be enthusiastic. Just about all conservatives believe that homosexuality is uniformly against God's will. How much problem that would cause you depends upon how important you think it is. If you just mention it now and then you're probably OK. If you think how we treat homosexuals matters, and you want to make sure your church is accepting, you're in for trouble in the more conservative groups.

It sounds to me like in several ways you would be a good fit for the PC(USA), RCA or UCC. Since that's the great majority of Reformed churches in the US, you're in luck. In online communities such as this one conservatives tend to be in the majority. Thus you might easily get the impression that the more liberal churches have rejected the Gospel, and not even consider them. I think that's grossly inaccurate. I'd suggest that you judge for yourself.

 

[student ad x]

There is baptistic calvinist here.

Calvinist are a broad group themselves and can come from different denoms. They can be presbyterians, baptist and even anglicans.

George Whitfield is one of my favorite reformed anglicans.

Amen ...

 

[heymikey80]

If you run in a conservative church, you'll be on a liberal edge, sure. =shrug= It depends what you can tolerate. At the same time, your growth will depend on your ability to accept others who believe something very different from yours. Can you accept people at the level you wish to be accepted?

For most Reformed believers, the approaches really have to be consistent with the Bible. I probably couldn't agree with the approach to homosexuality. We're all genetic sinners: picking one sin and saying it's "OK" is probably not going to sit well with a whole lotta people who actually agree with the Bible. On the other hand I have no misunderstandings: my sinfulness is equal to that of a homosexual.

For creational timing, I hold open the issues around time spans and Creation history. I'm a "Klinean". That doesn't really accept evolution as the mechanism for change, but it does introduce the idea that the time spans may not be creational-historical.

But frankly, everything revolves around one point in history: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. If that's true, a whole lot of other things result from it -- including trust in the Bible that Jesus Himself held in high esteem and quoted. If the Resurrection is real, we have to deal with what the Bible means by what it says. If the Resurrection's not real, then we have to all walk away from Christianity.

 

[JacksLadder]

Can you accept people at the level you wish to be accepted?

Yes and no, like everyone else I guess. When I am around liberals I am viewed as a conservative (because I do feel that marriage should be between a man and a woman). And I am usually viewed as liberal around conservatives(since I use secular science to help me make sense of my own religious views). Although I found that some reformed can deal with Old earth creation as biblical and that is not too different from what I believe anyways.

As far as Christ I can accept a monotheistic God that makes sense to me on a emotional level. Christ as God on earth and resurrected......Well I know a miracle happened that launched a religious movement in Judaism called Christianity. I like what Jesus dose with the old laws to take them from tribal to global. But to say he died for me and still lives, that is where I run into a road block.