Reply to If Jesus wasn’t a real historical figure, where did Christian theology come from?

Forum Index » Religion

Reply to "If Jesus wasn’t a real historical figure, where did Christian theology come from? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Since someone asked. Christianity makes the most logical sense to me. At work I’m steeped in logic and quantitative analysis. And I simply can’t believe that an omnipotent God cares what I eat or how I bathe. Or that God chooses to elevate one people over others. I find Jesus’ message of loving your enemy crucial in this age when the world is connected by the internet in split seconds. I’m a very progressive Christian: I follow the Christ who thought even nonbelievers could be more godlike than those who just demonstrate how they go through empty rituals. [/quote]

Thanks for sharing.

Is this the same religion your family had growing up?

How did you explore other religions? How much time did you spend on each?

How long did it take for you to come to this conclusion? 
[/quote]

I took a class on Islam in college and we read the Quran over the course of a semester while learning context. It took me almost a year to read Genesis through Maccabees, while taking classes about archeology and interpretation for context.

I’m not done learning yet—nobody ever is. But I’ve known these basic differences for a while, and my choice is based on them.

Surprised you’re not interested in the contrasting theological points I made. It’s almost like you keep trying to find something to poke holes in.

Peace.[/quote]

I am more interested in the process than the specifics of any particular religion. There are plenty of other threads to get into your theological points if you want to discuss them.

Do you feel like just going off of “basic differences” is enough to choose?

Did you have any spiritual guidance when learning about other religions? Did you attend any religious services of other religions?

Is this the same religion you grew up with? Are you still exploring other religions?
[/quote]

A Jewish poster also answered your demands to know their choice. Why aren’t you asking them the same question? Or the Buddhist who’s been posting?[/quote]
Jewish PP here. Shanah Tovah! Happy New Year, everyone! Though PP's questions weren't directed at me, I'm happy to answer them.

[quote]Do you feel like just going off of “basic differences” is enough to choose? [/quote]
For me, "basic differences" were at first rooted in the biases of the religion in which I grew up (conservative Protestantism). The Christian PP at 09/24/2022 22:04 shares what he finds meaningful in Christian theology in contrast presumably with Judaism (the reference to laws about what we can eat, personal hygiene, and the covenant with God). I'd like to point out that those "basic differences" are based on a Christian understanding of those laws and covenants, and that the Jewish interpretation of them:
a. varies. There is a Jewish saying: "Two Jews, three opinions."
b. is much more complex than God caring about what we eat or how we bathe, and that being "the chosen people" is not understood in Judaism as a lessening of other people, in the way that I think PP is interpreting all of that.

That's not to say that I think Christian PP should convert, or that one needs to have an in-depth understanding of [i]all[/i] religions in order to "pick" one. Plenty of people are happy and find deep meaning in the religion into which they were born, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Plenty of people do basic comparative religion from the point of view of their own religion and confirm that they like their own beliefs, and that's fine too. It's "enough" for the purposes of choosing a religion if it leads someone to happiness and meaning in their religion.

[quote]Did you have any spiritual guidance when learning about other religions? Did you attend any religious services of other religions?[/quote]
I was raised in my Protestant church. For me, that meant I was baptized, went occasionally to services and Sunday school, went through confirmation classes, celebrated major holidays in mostly secular ways (Christmas tree, Easter bunny). I also attended church with family and friends who were Catholic, Evangelical, and other forms of Protestant.

When I was older, I considered myself agnostic. My dad is pretty much atheist and I took a lot of my cues from him and from The Daily Show and other political satire/comedy that mocked religion.

In college, when I began to explore other Protestant denominations, I attended various churches (Congregationalist, Unitarian Universalist, Lutheran, Presbyterian). I also spoke with my devout grandma, the pastors at these various churches, and my college professors and other college staff who were religious (of various religions).

When I started exploring Judaism, I attended a synagogue every week and talked to the rabbi and a couple of my Jewish professors. I read books about Jewish thought that were recommended to me (both Judaism 101 type books and books of Jewish thought by authors like Heschel and Kushner). I took a class offered by a visiting Israeli professor about antisemitism and another class on the archaeology of the bible taught by a non-religious professor. After a couple years attending synagogue services, I moved and joined a new synagogue, where I began formal conversion classes and discussions with the rabbis there.

[quote]Is this the same religion you grew up with? Are you still exploring other religions?[/quote]
No, I was raised Protestant and now I'm Jewish. I spent some time after deciding on Judaism exploring different denominations. I started out Reform, then became Conservative*, went to a couple Reconstructionist synagogues, then Modern Orthodox for a while. I circled back to Conservative, where I am very happily raising my own family now.
[i]*I should note that "Conservative Judaism" has no affiliation to conservative American politics. It's a bad name for a movement that is really about balancing adaptation to the modern world and conserving our traditions.[/i][/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics