Two mommies is 'too many,' Dobson writes in Time column

[Quahom1]

How was he being attacked?


In the United States, educating Christians has backslid, but we as Christians should not have as our primary focus this emergence of anti-intellectualism... the world NEEDS educated Christians, its understanding should come from a Christian understanding.

Puritans and pilgrims prized educational life as part of the Christian journey. George Whitfield in his First Great Awakening from 1730-1750 popularized the "lordy, lordy, I'm saved!" mentality with his emotionally charged rhetorical preaching that required little Christian knowledge by the believer. There were subsequent revivals and awakenings in the 1800’s. Gone were the days of intense reflection and personal conviction, instead they were replaced by personal feeling and “how Christ affects them.”
(btw, that was not a kick, that was a slap upside the head.)

Please don’t get me wrong, you know that a lot of good occurred because of these conversions, but this is also how our cults (Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, Christian Science) took hold. Fast forward to the 21st century and you can see effects in relativism. Same thing, just different.

Please don't get me wrong, but Puritans were nothing pure. They prized nothing educational. You and I would not recognize the "Christianity" they toughted back then...and if we opened our mouths to cry foul, who knows...we could be tried as witches.

They were ignorant fools who thought they knew everything. They knew nothing. That's why they nearly starved and froze to death. But "Pagans" came to their rescue. And what did they get for that? Robbed graves, cleaved skulls, and sickness from diseases they could not fight off, because they had no immunities. So much for the European Puritan's purity.

You know who the real down to earth Christians were? The trappers and fur traders. Simple men, with great wits and a deep sense of God about them. They were loners, but not alone. They took care of wayward travelers, and didn't ask for a penny...just some time with human companionship. They did not mess with the natives, because they were in the land first.

They did not try to change everyone else's way of thinking to fit their own...kind of like two mommies today.

 

[pattimax]

Please don't get me wrong, but Puritans were nothing pure. They prized nothing educational. You and I would not recognize the "Christianity" they toughted back then...and if we opened our mouths to cry foul, who knows...we could be tried as witches.

They were ignorant fools who thought they knew everything. They knew nothing. That's why they nearly starved and froze to death. But "Pagans" came to their rescue. And what did they get for that? Robbed graves, cleaved skulls, and sickness from diseases they could not fight off, because they had no immunities. So much for the European Puritan's purity.

You know who the real down to earth Christians were? The trappers and fur traders. Simple men, with great wits and a deep sense of God about them. They were loners, but not alone. They took care of wayward travelers, and didn't ask for a penny...just some time with human companionship. They did not mess with the natives, because they were in the land first.

They did not try to change everyone else's way of thinking to fit their own...kind of like two mommies today.

Wiches and unrecognizable Christianity are very, very valid reasons to disdain puritans, however they had a very high literacy rate (95%) and knew why they believed what they believed. I also mentioned the pilgrims. The real, wise Christians who also knew why they believed what they believed. They didn't just go through the motions when talking to unbelievers about their understanding and then tell them to simply "have faith". (Which is important, but an unbeliever is finite and will ask for something they can see.)

Or that which is popular today, "I have lots of faith, I just do not believe that Jesus is Lord, I don't have to know anything about the bible." (while they didn't understand the human aspects of Christianity, the puritans understood the bible, my point)

I was not a Christian until I was 39 years old. I am 41 now. Nobody ever introduced me formally to Jesus. Oh yeah, I was approached by some Christians, but I could knock them down so easy with my inter-faith arguments, they really didn’t bother.(Fine, argue your way to hell. I know my salvation is secure.)

I became a Christian because I wanted to join a particular church. I liked the people and the location. (It was on the intracoastal and I played in their baptism pools when I was a kid) I figured I had studied Hinduism, Buddhism, and a little bit of Taoism that being a Christian really wouldn't be different. It wasn't until I joined a bible study (again, I liked the people) and I really started studying God's word that I learned that it was completely different. As I read in a post the other night, it was "spot on"!

Please understand that I am in no way validating what some of the early settlers did, nor am I blaming ALL Christians for my own hard headedness. And yes, we DO need to know why some believe what they do, but more importantly, we need to be able to TELL others why we believe and not be squelched by relativism.

As for the two mommies argument, I agree.