Basic Theology 1

Good Morning, Gentle Reader. I think I have beaten Nuance to death, and now it's time to change gears for a bit. I think also, because I have been addressing in some of my previous posts a number of issues that pertain to Christianity, church, Christian life, and why do I even bother? None of these writings, by the way, are scholarly or ecclesiastically sourced, they are merely my own impressions, perspectives, opinions and observations. Anyone reading this material, if they want an authoritative source, had best look elsewhere. Otherwise, please enjoy the ride. I first want to address what I believe to be a lot of popular misconceptions concerning the Christian faith, and such misunderstandings are often spawned in the minds of people who are afraid, or they are not thinking clearly, or they have a general grudge against God, faith and religion, or they have so trained the rational mind as to exclude or strain out anything that touches upon the spiritual, the mystical, the numinous. In all fairness, I would prefer to keep all my referencing within the realm of my own personal experience and curiosity. I have already warned that I am not an expert in these matters. I began seriously reading the Bible when I was fourteen, just when I was converted to the Christian faith. This was given me as a prerequisite for growing in the Christian faith. I accepted the challenge and, even now, almost a half century later, I still believe this to be an important feature of my devotional life. I read the Bible not once, but twice daily, in my second language, which is Spanish. This has been particularly good for my fluency, as I am reading daily, aloud, and these are texts that have important resonance for me. I have known fellow Christians who claimed to have sworn off the Bible for a period of time, sometimes for years, because they felt a need to deprogram themselves from faulty teaching and to try to cultivate a more personal relationship with God. I cannot really comment about this because I don't want to put myself in the position of judge. In my own experience, I have always, since I first accepted Christ, and even more so after being, just over a month later, baptized in the Holy Spirit, had a personal relationship with God. This has never changed, not even when I intentionally backslid when I was nineteen and intentionally quit reading the scriptures. However, my relationship with the Holy Bible has been evolving and changing over the years. I do not feel so much a need or obligation to read it daily, but a desire. There appears to be a kind of spiritual sustenance that happens from this daily discipline, and it is a discipline, which I strongly believe in. The disciplined life is a life of freedom. There is something in our messy human nature that cries out to be ordered and properly directed. It isn't that I worship or deify the Bible. For me, it is a valuable devotional instrument, but there is also something about daily reading about the life, teachings and ministry of Jesus that helps ground me in the reality of my faith. I need that kind of discipline. If I didn't have access to a Bible, I'm sure I would be okay, spiritually, but as long as it's available I want to make use of it. God speaks in the scriptures, but they are not his only microphone, neither do I believe that the Bible is the complete and inerrant Word of God. I have covered this in other blogposts, but I would also like to further explore this theme. At first, I was given to believe that it was the literal and inerrant word of God, but even as a young teenage Jesus Freak I had some struggle with this. It is still, to me, a uniquely inspired document, however, and this remains my position and experience.