{"id":32055,"date":"2015-10-10T06:24:29","date_gmt":"2015-10-10T10:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=32055"},"modified":"2015-10-10T06:24:29","modified_gmt":"2015-10-10T10:24:29","slug":"a-critical-and-relevant-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/10\/a-critical-and-relevant-faith.html","title":{"rendered":"A Critical and Relevant Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"The<\/p>\n

C. Drew Smith has written a post, highlighting his new book, Reframing a Relevant Faith<\/a>\"\"<\/i>. In the post, he writes:<\/p>\n

Critically thinking about the faith is not equivalent to criticizing the faith, as some may think, although that may be part of critical thinking.\u00a0\u00a0Rather, thinking critically about the faith is to continue to ask questions, to inquire about the history of the faith, its present relevancy, and its future hopes.\u00a0\u00a0It is also to admit its flaws and weaknesses with honesty and transparency.<\/p>\n

For this to happen with any degree of success, any question about the Bible, theology, and the practice of faith must be taken as a valid question.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In dealing with the mysteries of God, we should never be completely satisfied with the idea that if the Bible says it, then that settles it. Nor should any of us be entrenched in our own interpretations of scripture.\u00a0\u00a0We should always be open to new ways of thinking about the Bible and theology, for to do so leads us toward the truth and the realization that, in the words of Jesus, the truth will set us free.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And later,<\/p>\n

The popular idea that God wrote the Bible for me needs to be stamped out.<\/p>\n

Failure to do so will only lead us to assume what the Bible says, or will cause us to make the Bible say what we want it to say without giving careful thought and attention to the text itself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Click through<\/a> for more.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

C. Drew Smith has written a post, highlighting his new book, Reframing a Relevant Faith. In the post, he writes: Critically thinking about the faith is not equivalent to criticizing the faith, as some may think, although that may be part of critical thinking.\u00a0\u00a0Rather, thinking critically about the faith is to continue to ask questions, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":32056,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,163],"tags":[6527,6743,9597,9854],"class_list":["post-32055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible","category-progressive-christianity-religion","tag-liberal","tag-love-letter","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-quote"],"yoast_head":"\nA Critical and Relevant Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"C. 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