Author: BOB
To: Steve
Steve:
I
have read “John’s
Credo” and also your reaction to that credo. I appreciate what you have
written. However, I generally find myself in accord with John’s Credo.
John and I seem to have a great deal of
agreement in our beliefs and attitudes (although not entirely – there
are some
areas of difference). As John and I
have been discussing these issues, it appeared that a step we could
take from
here to further the overall dialogue would be to ask you some questions
to help
clarify our understanding of your views. We are not trying to gang up
on you! But, there is no getting around the fact that John and I, at
least at
this point in our lives, are finding that we have a similar outlook on
many of
these issues
So here are some initial questions that we feel might lead to an open dialogue. We hope you won’t find any offense in these.
Questions from John:
- Bob and I are coming to this dialogue from a perspective, quite frankly, that the text of the scriptures, both the Old and New Testament, reveal the limitations of their human authorship. (Although frequently magnificent, the texts also frequently reveal the prejudices and primitive ways of an ancient world. Therefore, quotes from the Biblical text, while helpful, do not necessarily settle an issue). I find it almost uncanny that Bob and I agree on so many issues regarding the Bible and faith, considering he was raised in a household that was very critical of organized religion and that encouraged skepticism and agnosticism, and I was raised and baptized as a Southern Baptist. I tend to assume that your upbringing was closer to mine, but we have never really discussed that. So my first question is a personal one: Were you raised from childhood to believe in the truth of the scriptures? And as a corollary to that, have you always pretty much had the kind of faith in them that you appear to have now, or have you ever been a doubter or skeptic, and have since returned to your faith?
- Do you not see a difference in what I want to call the “belief potential” of Jesus’ statement on the cross, “Father, why has thou forsaken me?” and the words purportedly emanating from God himself, “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased?” In other words, do both of these speakers/words strike you as being equally “authentic”?
Questions from Bob:
- I see your statement that today’s society is an “anything goes” society as an exaggeration. Would you agree that there are many behaviors that are considered wrong or inappropriate based on some important moral standards that are held by modern day society?
- Would you agree that in some ways, the moral code of today has made considerable strides since the time of the Bible? For example, today we view slavery as immoral. In contrast, in Exodus 21, God gives Moses a law on appropriate situations for punishing the owners of slaves who beat their slaves. Under this law, attributed to God by the Bible, the beating of a slave by an owner is not always punishable, “since the slave is [his, the owner’s] property.
- In Genesis 6, why did God use violence to combat violence?
- Do you think that God is perfect?
- Can God gain new knowledge or a new understanding from interacting with humans?
- In Genesis 8, why do you think that God told Noah that he would never again “destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” Do you think that God was acknowledging here that God had made a mistake? Why or why not?
- A sacrifice typically seems to refer to the act of offering something to a deity to appease or honor that deity. But the people who put Christ to death were not seeking to honor or appease God. In what sense, then, do you see the crucifixion as a sacrifice? For example, who was responsible for this sacrifice? Was it Jesus, sacrificing himself? (“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men”, 1 Timothy 2:5-6). Was it God making a sacrifice of another? (“God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice”, Romans 3-25).
- Why was the sacrifice of Jesus necessary? Why was there no other path to God’s
forgiveness of sins? What is the nature
of the relationship, if any, between Adam and Eve’s fall and the need for Jesus
Christ to die on the cross?
- Do you think that Faith can serve as a fair and just litmus test for human salvation? How do you assess the fairness of this as the litmus test, given that the following all vary widely: the faith traditions of the cultures into which people are born, the extent of people’s exposure to the Bible and biblical teachings, the extent of skepticism in the environment surrounding people, and the capacity of people to raise logical, skeptical questions?
- If sin is the desire to go our own way, that is, “departing from God’s guidance and will”, how specifically do you go about the business of avoiding sin? How does God communicate to you what his will is, or what his way is?
- What kind of relationship with human beings do you believe God
wants? Why would God put us here just to test whether or not we are
willing to fully depend upon him? How do you see our purpose (human
beings) in the overall Grand Design?
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