- Feb 24, 2017
- 4,337
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- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Anglican
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- Single
- Politics
- US-Democrat
Hello, everyone! I'm 31 (as of about an hour ago, actually), very, very new to Christianity, and playing a lot of catch up these days. I've decided to register as a Seeker instead of a Christian Church Seeker because my stumbling blocks are epistemological, not denominational. I'd probably describe myself as a Christian agnostic--I think there's something profoundly true at the heart of the religion, but I'm not at all comfortable with doctrine.
I'm in the somewhat frustrating position of being theologically liberal (probably slightly to the right of Marcus Borg for now) without any foundation of faith whatsoever. I was nominally Presbyterian as a child, but was too skeptical and scientifically oriented to be comfortable with Sunday School version of the religion. In college I wandered deeply into atheist existentialism and became more and more hostile towards Christianity until I finally came across Søren Kierkegaard and much of that negativity just evaporated. In the decade since then, I've kind of drifted from an Einsteinian pantheism to a more mystically influenced panentheism, and realized a little bit belately that all my former objections to the idea of revelation no longer really applied.
A moral crisis a few months back shoved me into seeking mode again, so I grabbed a bunch of Spanish mysticism and the Bible, figuring I might as well get around to reading the Gospel. I didn't expect to come away actually believing it, but... that didn't quite go according to plan (i.e., I accept the Resurrection). Now I believe too much to wander off again but not enough to really feel comfortable yet, so I suspect I'll be wandering around in the desert staring into the sun for a while. Hopefully not forever.
Particularly interested in early Christianity, mysticism, philosophy and theology (particularly Christian existentialism), biblical scholarship, and really the intellectual history in general. Also increasingly intrigued by Eastern Orthodoxy--I doubt I'll ever be able to sign on the dotted line there (or possibly anywhere), but I definitely prefer the Eastern to Western approach to soteriology and I may be poking around in that forum for more information.
I'm in the somewhat frustrating position of being theologically liberal (probably slightly to the right of Marcus Borg for now) without any foundation of faith whatsoever. I was nominally Presbyterian as a child, but was too skeptical and scientifically oriented to be comfortable with Sunday School version of the religion. In college I wandered deeply into atheist existentialism and became more and more hostile towards Christianity until I finally came across Søren Kierkegaard and much of that negativity just evaporated. In the decade since then, I've kind of drifted from an Einsteinian pantheism to a more mystically influenced panentheism, and realized a little bit belately that all my former objections to the idea of revelation no longer really applied.
A moral crisis a few months back shoved me into seeking mode again, so I grabbed a bunch of Spanish mysticism and the Bible, figuring I might as well get around to reading the Gospel. I didn't expect to come away actually believing it, but... that didn't quite go according to plan (i.e., I accept the Resurrection). Now I believe too much to wander off again but not enough to really feel comfortable yet, so I suspect I'll be wandering around in the desert staring into the sun for a while. Hopefully not forever.
Particularly interested in early Christianity, mysticism, philosophy and theology (particularly Christian existentialism), biblical scholarship, and really the intellectual history in general. Also increasingly intrigued by Eastern Orthodoxy--I doubt I'll ever be able to sign on the dotted line there (or possibly anywhere), but I definitely prefer the Eastern to Western approach to soteriology and I may be poking around in that forum for more information.