tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post6826755023575192578..comments2024-01-12T12:39:47.241-08:00Comments on The Christian Monist: SomewhereUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-46696029390982408722011-06-05T14:52:06.655-07:002011-06-05T14:52:06.655-07:00This posting resonates with me, also. Even though...This posting resonates with me, also. Even though my group, this time, was my high school classmates. Reunion this weekend, and I went. I was hoping to see if maturity on everyone's part would enable some connections that weren't there 40 years ago.<br /><br />Wrong: I was still the smartest girl in class, and being a chemist didn't help either. No chance to see how others had grown up. Yes, lots of marriages, kids and grandkids, but nothing deeper. <br /><br />Yes, I was expecting too much, but one can hope, can't they.<br /><br />I'm just glad to be home, and thankful that home has changed.Anna Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14349723755730969082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-52864377362815054872011-06-01T08:31:52.367-07:002011-06-01T08:31:52.367-07:00Ralph Ellison
Yeah, forgot that there are two, to...Ralph Ellison<br /><br />Yeah, forgot that there are two, totally different types of books with the same title.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03457723022566193014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-3612338726039302382011-06-01T00:04:37.167-07:002011-06-01T00:04:37.167-07:00Hi I have to say that - like many of your posts - ...Hi I have to say that - like many of your posts - this resonates with me and my life! But I not only come from an evangelical background, I still belong to an evangelical church and would still describe myself as evangelical. <br />There are places for you, brother, sometimes in churches you would´t expect it. I can question and doubt as much as I need, my pastor and many others in my church are - at least - willing to listen, to think with me and then sometmes we agree to differ!<br />Wht you describe seems to me like a veery extreme fringe evangelicalism seen from Germany, we have these here too, but wew have a lot of evangelicals who are thoughtful and honest, able to differentiate and not see the world ssolely in b/w.<br />So I will be praying for you, that you have the strength to walk your path with GOD, a path that leads you nearer to HIM not an evangelical picture of him, HE is so much greater!<br /><br />Shalom<br />HermannHerminatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04465474941353888991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-55089530287721845972011-05-31T14:14:46.428-07:002011-05-31T14:14:46.428-07:00The Invisible Man sounds promising. H.G. Wells or...The Invisible Man sounds promising. H.G. Wells or Ralph Ellison? If Wells, I loved The Time Machine. I recently finished a second reading of Dracula by Bram Stoker. Not all my reading is serious.<br /><br />I found the book I linked when I was teaching an adult Bible class on Luke. I was paid for the series, so it was easy to spend time researching. The book is not one I would plan to read through, anyway. Take a look over it when you get a chance just to see the type of material in it. You can learn an awful lot quickly. I was amazed at what sharp observers the ancient doctors were. Their remedies may or may not have been very effective, but their descriptions of illnesses were intriguing. Luke offered all kinds of medical detail in cases where the other evangelists did not.solarbloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17506179756577015681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-45687924442363925522011-05-30T16:45:56.084-07:002011-05-30T16:45:56.084-07:00I think a lot of human endeavors are toxic. Christ...I think a lot of human endeavors are toxic. Christians get by with more toxicity because they can play the game, "God says" for a long time until the people come to their senses or become fool-fodder.<br /><br />Solarblogger, I don't know where people keep finding these interesting books. I still haven't had the chance to read NT Wright. I'm working on the Invisible Man right now.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03457723022566193014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-59404688944663837612011-05-30T14:11:55.120-07:002011-05-30T14:11:55.120-07:00MJ on a serious note I understand what you are say...MJ on a serious note I understand what you are saying. Here I am in my mid 30's, burned out by evangelical Christianity, not knowing what I believe (though I feel more of my views are asociated with agnosticism) and trying to move forward. I'm kind of sitting on the sidelines watching people I know subscribe to what derailed me - moving forward, having no problems, (meaning they are hidng it..) etc.. And I don't know what to do. <br /><br />There's something that for me has been most disturbing. In my effort to find answers to my questions which have haunted me I befriended a guy who has been having discussions with me over a host of issues. He subscribes to much of what Mark Driscoll, John Piper, says etc.. However in an effort to be more "reformed" this guy and his wife have gotten involved in an evangelical church in the area that is frightening. This church is part of a denomination that has scores and scores of web pages by former members detailing problems of sexual abuse, Biblical discipline leaving people psychologically scarred, strict courtship that harms teenagers, authoritarin leadership which discourages questions, etc.. I can't believe some of the stuff I've read on the net and the number of hurt people. And I'm really concerned for my friend. <br /><br />I'm afriad he's going to end up like me...burned out, cynical, and unsure of what he believes in. Yet I'm the one who wants to believe in God, but at this stage of my life...I just can't. Yet when I consider my own fundgelical experiences, what MJ says, and watch a freind dive head first into a denomination that has such a storied record with spirtual abuse, yet is known for strong "reformed theology" I guess the safest place for me is to remain agnostic nad remain on the sidelines. There's nothing in modern Christianity that I find attractive. It's too superficial. Yet I wish that wasn't the case. <br /><br />Why is evangelicalism so toxic? That's what I want to know....Eaglenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-71387567857404289422011-05-30T13:55:00.144-07:002011-05-30T13:55:00.144-07:00MJ...love the post. As long as we're alluding ...MJ...love the post. As long as we're alluding to West Side Story have you seen this parody called "Web Site Story?" <br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtPb8g8Jl6I<br /><br />Also if you can find a way to base a blog posting off the song "Dance 10, Looks 3" from A Chorus Line...well I'll buy you a beer!! 8-O <br /><br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x09R5DKWYo<br /><br />(just kidding....)Eaglehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHOBHM935conoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-84997929988787598262011-05-30T13:27:57.756-07:002011-05-30T13:27:57.756-07:00Some congregations like you wish to see are out th...Some congregations like you wish to see are out there. At least in the sense where the evangelical views are far from dominant. You get the wrong few people around, and you might be in trouble. But it will be a surprise, and likely, someone else standing around will come in and join on your side of the discussion.<br /><br />That said, even if you find such a place, you still run into situations like you describe. Some Pete from the past makes contact. That remains a challenge.<br /><br />One resource that might take the conversation with Pete in an interesting direction is a book from a century ago, <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=OpI5cPgDXikC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Medical+Saint+Luke+hobart&hl=en&ei=TP3jTaC5DoeqsAOF5bkW&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" rel="nofollow">The Medical Language of St. Luke</a> by Hobart. Luke's language is evidence that he was well-schooled in the medical knowledge of his time, even describing symptoms of mania (a label we take from the ancient world). Perhaps St. Luke's use of secular terminology could give your friend permission to think more broadly.solarbloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17506179756577015681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-77431111949914646792011-05-30T01:00:08.621-07:002011-05-30T01:00:08.621-07:00Really loved this post.
For me, I have given up...Really loved this post. <br /><br />For me, I have given up trying to find it. I'm getting to the point where I'm thinking, "If the sub-culture created by this belief system is *this* unhealthy...what does that mean?" I've stepped back from the whole thing altogether (evangelical Christianity) and am trying to take a good honest look. My hope is that if God is real and is Love, truly Love, then God understands and can't fault me for asking some really hard questions of a belief system that pretty much demands a *lack* of growth in order to belong to it. <br /><br />MAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com