Maybe you, Rex, Keith and Mike got it right. I read the bible, know what’s in it and did not find anything that told me what I didn’t already know was wrong.

I have known and know when I am doing something wrong. I do not need a document to tell me and certainly don’t need one that helps me rationalize my behavior.

I’ll bet most people can’t name a single thing they thought was right deep down their heart and then read the bible and were convinced it was truly wrong.

Most people use it to confirm their already intact belief system. That is why southern Christians had no problem owning people. The bible set a precedent and never condemned it.

Maybe you are right about the bible, but maybe I am too. History seems to be on my side though.

About God and slavery though, I am personally against slavery much in the same way I am against alcoholism. It’s not slavery itself, but much more that men can’t help themselves but to mistreat each other. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a slave, homeless man, preacher, banker, drug addict….We have to view each other through the eyes of Christ. I think we make too much a big deal about abolishing slavery sometimes, like this was somehow the redemption that Africans needed. It is foolish to think that we can make laws that redeem man. I think politically and morally slavery needed to come to an end because we could no longer have slaves and see them as people at the same time. It wasn’t the slavery that was the problem. It was the heart. And Fred, that is very much biblical and Godly.

What most Christians would agree on is that God deeply cares about the mess in our world, but wants to work through us to set it right again. Tidying it up in some spectacular way Himself would leave no doubt in anyone’s mind – and faith would have no purpose. In fact, neither would we.

And if we’re being both honest and humble, we’d have to confess that we’ve pretty much muddled the job so far.

But the things that don’t make sense to me are a mystery after I have expounded logic.

I don’t want to live in a world that makes perfect sense, but I do want to live in world where explainable things are not given to mystery.

I used to believe in a God and thought he was loving until the reality surrounding me did not reflect that idea.

I think we do agree that we should love our neighbor as ourself and I feel linked to everyone on this blog because of that; despite my disbelief in a caring God.

But He did it because free will – choice – made it necessary. He didn’t create us flawed; we chose to be flawed. To make us perfect and make us more like Him, something had to die: us. Our old selves. Our old nature. So He came as an example to us, willing to live a life full of better choices; willing to die so that we could.

It is a safety net. Not for Him, though.

For us.

Mike and many others are more qualified to answer your questions, but I will try and address them to some degree.

If you will email me at dunderwood@harding.edu, we can continue this discussion via email. I look forward to discussing this more in depth with you.

Your friend,
DU

“Free will is a big player in the discussion that you have initiated. It probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to you.” I have heard this over and and would like your take or anyone’s on these two things:

1. Why do Christians feel the need to accept things that do not make sense? Why don’t they pursue a model where modern reality plays a dominant role? I know they are unanswerable questions but the journey should not stop at “it doesn’t make sense so I’ll accept it”. Most great things have come from women and men who refused to let this be the final statement to their problem.

2. Free will seems to me like a safety net for the Almighty. If I can chose to be evil and not follow God I can also choose good and not follow God (ie moral atheists).

Thanks David for your kind words.
2.

Thought some of you might be interested in the BBC Radio programmes presented by Melvin Bragg, which began today and was fantastic! Here’s the link, and you can ‘listen again’:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime.shtml

Also, many communities such as our village are beginning an interfaith Bible study through Churches Together for this season of Lent, entitled ‘Set all free’. In case you would be interested seeing what the resources are like here is the link for that: http://www.setallfree.net/

As we don’t have a lot of Christians in our village community our three churches in the parish (Anglican, Baptist, Methodist) are in continual fellowship to encourage all in the faith — Churches Together has been a great bridge to bring us together.

Blessings to all …

Many wonderful things have come about because of our country’s religious history. Unfortunately, diversity is certainly not one of them.

If somebody told you that you can be a good neighbor and friend ONLY if you are a Christian, they were mistaken.

Free will is a big player in the discussion that you have initiated. It probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to you. Get in line!

Please keep questioning us. It’s good for us, and I hope it has some value to you also.

DU

Needless to say, we’re excited to see that so many people are interested in seeing how one person of faith did what he could to make huge changes in his country. It’s inspiring to think that each of us might have a similar impact in our era.