Bishop Spong

I believe that Jesus did exist and was a man after God's heart and modeled that by the way he loved people, however that doesn't make all the NT stories about him factual. Once we understand that the Bible was never meant to be interpreted literally we start seeing things through a different lens.
 
When it comes to OT, vs NT and truth vs fiction vs metaphor vs allegory, vs incentivising good, vs governing vs exaggerations to make a point or be remembered... I don't believe in a&e or the garden or the flood, or the parting of the sea and frankly don't know how anyone can assuredly draw a line. Idk whether the man existed or not. Idk if all the stories are about one man or an amalgam. Idk if he did exist that all the stories are factual.

I do know many of the stories speak to me, many of the stories I consider valuable, enough so to consider it my spiritual reference, enough so to raise my children in it, enough so to be a Sunday school teacher for over a decade.

Not enough to satisfy many Christians, enough to smh at Christians that seemingly ignore the parts that matter to me...like caring for the poor, loving your fellow man, and not being a hypocrite...
 
apexcone said:
Once we understand that the Bible was never meant to be interpreted literally we start seeing things through a different lens.
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Actually, I don't think you can make such blanket statements where the Bible is concerned.

There are two fundamentalisms to be avoided when reading Scripture.

On the one hand, we have to avoid an overt and narrow-minded literalism which is reductive, everything is literal, so that God in some cases is rendered as an irate and irrational being. This is a form of idolatry, such a God is a projection of a particular set of sociopolitical opinions.

On the other hand, we have to avoid its opposite, again no less overt and no less narrow-minded. A rationalism that again reduces everything to analogy and metaphor. This is in fact the same idolatry, just the God rendered here is a projection of a different set of sociopolitical opinions.

In fact, these two fundamentalisms are in opposition, and often Scripture is between the two, the Middle Way between warring idolatries.
 
wil said:
I prejudge prejudice people, am impatient with impatient people. It is something I need to work on.
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That is a very noble standard. Sometimes it is good and important to take a stand, or see a lost cause for what it is. Just a general observation I want to throw in, not on topic at all! Please carry on.
 
This is interesting a trip down memory lane with a ton of old friends in those early postings. Then I reopened it while in recovery from my strokes.

Today I wandered onto it, and don't ever recall reading or writing any of it...not 16 years ago nor four years ago...do ya ever recover from strokes...lol.
 
This was an interesting thread.
I wish some of those in the thread were still active here. I would love to dialogue with them.

One thing that confused me about the initial post is that the letter seemed to confuse Unity with Christian Science. The Christian Science movement still exists, separate from Unity. The founders of Unity, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, were influenced by Mary Baker Eddy and the Christian Science movement, but were a separate organization. They developed the Unity organization in the 1880s I think.
 
TheLightWithin said:
This was an interesting thread.
I wish some of those in the thread were still active here. I would love to dialogue with them.

One thing that confused me about the initial post is that the letter seemed to confuse Unity with Christian Science. The Christian Science movement still exists, separate from Unity. The founders of Unity, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, were influenced by Mary Baker Eddy and the Christian Science movement, but were a separate organization. They developed the Unity organization in the 1880s I think.
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Yes all correct....and yes over the years we have lost some great contributors....but their influence lives on.... oh the poor ai that mines my posts!
 
wil said:
Yes all correct....and yes over the years we have lost some great contributors....but their influence lives on.... oh the poor ai that mines my posts!
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I'd love to have a glimpse into what future cultural anthropologists/digital archaeologists will say about ancient early 21st century online forums
 
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