Hi James! <\/p>\n
Thank you for suggesting both Dale Allison and Keith Ward for me to read. I really enjoyed Allison\u2019s Jesus of Nazareth but struggled a bit with Ward. I kept thinking that maybe he is the actual author of the Gospel of John; lots of spiritualizing and me not sure what to make of it all! I have continued to enjoy reading your blog and learning what is the length and breadth of biblical studies. <\/p>\n
I know you must be busy with responsibilities, along with blogging!, but I would like to ask you a few questions and share some thoughts with you in hopes that you might help me figure some things out, or even affirm some of my thinking. A little background on me first\u2026<\/p>\n
I come from a fundamental background. My father is a retired Southern Baptist preacher. I became involved with Campus Crusade for Christ as a college student and even joined the ministry as a staff member for nearly 7 years in the mid 80s. Left Crusade to teach English at a university in Japan. During my 10 years in Japan I began having some basic doubts about Christianity and the existence of god. After moving back to\u00a0the United States\u00a0my wife and I began attending a large mega-church and kind of fell back into the routine\/culture of going to church. About this time I also began a journey of rebuilding my faith. I began studying the Bible, reading and listening to authors and speakers that I felt safe with, i.e. moderate fundamentalists. Before long though I was exploring the world of N.T.Wright and discovered that Jesus was a Jew, not a Christian! From Wright I ventured out into the unknown territory of Borg, Ehrman, Spong, some of the \u201cemerging church\u201d voices like Rob Bell and Brian McLaren, and a smattering of biblical scholars like Brueggemann and Moltmann.<\/p>\n
Along the way many of my long held understandings have given way to new ideas and answers that seem to make much more sense and helped put more of the puzzle pieces together for me. This journey has been most intense the last 3 years or so. It has been an exciting time of learning though not without times of unease and uncertainty that I should even be doing this. Where was this leading to? <\/p>\n
It has been difficult to find others that I could share my thoughts with and talk things through with because they weren\u2019t familiar with these new ideas I had, hadn\u2019t read the same books, even heard of the authors, and wouldn\u2019t know what to think of them if I were able to clearly explain them. Fortunately, through the internet I have found bloggers and their readers that have shown me that I am not the only one with a new and ever-changing paradigm of belief. That\u2019s how I came across your blog. I don\u2019t remember exactly how, but it certainly must have been the result of a Google search of mine or following a link from some other blogger. <\/p>\n
I have read Thom Stark\u2019s book a couple of times already and continue to review sections of it. I feel it is one of the most important books I have read in the last 3 years. If the god of the O.T., as he shows, evolved over time from \u2018simply\u2019 being a tribal deity, then can\u2019t we justifiably doubt the whole idea of the \u2018God of the Bible\u2019, including the message of the prophets, (including Jesus), who came as his representatives or messengers? This still leaves the existence of \u2018god\u2019 a possibility, but excuses him from the script of the text, if he were to so desire.<\/p>\n
Is the O.T. basically the product of various authors, and editors, trying to make sense of the world, humanity, nature, history, good and bad fortune, and god(s) as they understood him? Trying to harmonize or theologize world\/national events with their own identity? And possibly with more than a little propaganda thrown in to support those in power at the time of writing\/editing, e.g. Josiah? <\/p>\n
One of the issues that I have been troubled with has been how the concept of salvation appears to be so very different between the Old and New Testaments. In the O.T. salvation seems to be the restoration to, or the state of, well-being in terms of physical\/material\/human needs rather than the redemption of man\u2019s spiritual condition and \u2018going to heaven when you die\u2019 as many interpret it in the N.T. The difference is so noticeable, that I wonder how the term has come to mean something so different. The whole idea that someone has to invite Jesus into his\/her heart, accept Jesus as personal savior, get saved, seems to be a completely new concept that has little or no connection with scripture as it was read in the early part of the first century \u2013 before Paul\u2019s letters. <\/p>\n
This leads to another point. I frequently hear that the O.T. \u2018points to\u2019 Jesus and that it should be read and understood in light of his ministry, life, death, and resurrection. Personally, I have trouble with this idea because I think it discredits the O.T., not letting the text speak for itself. Did the O.T. authors really think their writings might be pointing towards something other than their plain message? Isn\u2019t much, if not all, of supposedly \u2018messianic prophecy\u2019 simply taking scripture out of context and spiritualizing it to reconcile or harmonize with current events?<\/p>\n
The question of Jesus\u2019 divinity has also been an issue that I have contemplated a great deal. After reading Stark and Allison and considering the idea that Jesus was a failed prophet I am led to think that he was not divine. So does \u2018being a Christian\u2019 now simply mean that we believe \u2018the way\u2019 Jesus taught us to live, loving God and man, is ultimately the best way for mankind to live and experience abundant life? Can one be an agnostic Christian? <\/p>\n
As you can see I have come a long way from being the 4-spiritual laws toting Campus Crusader! My wife has been supportive of my journey but doesn\u2019t understand it all the way I do and explaining it to her is not something I\u2019m very good at. I\u2019m sure she wonders where I\u2019m at sometimes. And to be honest, I wonder too sometimes. Am I on solid ground here or have I wandered off into dangerous territory? Am I the only one that has come to this point, not really knowing where I am, or what lies ahead, but knowing I don\u2019t really want to go back?<\/p>\n
Best regards,<\/p>\n
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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