A heretic's credo

[khaosworks]

The following is not a complete statement of belief. To do that would take much more space and time than I have available.

I call myself a Christian. Whether you consider me one or not makes little difference to me, because that is between me and my God.

Calling myself a Christian means I consider myself a follower of the teachings of Yeshua ben Joseph, or Jesus, the Christ. That also means I attempt to emulate Him in my own, imperfect, human way.

I believe He was God in human form, that He died to redeem the world for its sins, and that three days later, He arose from the dead.

(I also believe - and this is important for me - that even if the previous sentence is a complete and utter lie, I would still believe in His teachings, because I still believe they are good and wise.)

I believe that God inspired the Bible, but that it was also written by man. Therefore, it must be as imperfect as man is, and subject to analysis and criticism to arrive at the truths it wants to express as any other historical document. It is a document of its time, and for all times, but we should not be trapped by its words.

I believe the Bible guides us to God. It is not God, nor should we confuse it with God or treat it as an authority unto itself. In particular, Paul's letters to the Churches - whether or not you accept Paul's conversion as genuine or not - are advisories, reflecting the mores and the beliefs of his time and should not be confused with Christ's own teachings and should not hold the same primacy.

I believe that the laws of Old Testament were right for their times, but were not intended to trap us for all time, either. I note that as lamb's blood was shed at the first Passover to mark the old covenant between Israel and Jehovah, so was the blood of Christ shed to establish a new covenant.

I believe in the Greatest Commandment. And that is, "Love the Lord with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind." And the second, "To love your neighbor as yourself." And on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets - and these two commandments supersede all others.

I believe judgment and vengeance is reserved to God, but that He is not a judgmental nor vengeful God.

I believe God gave us free wills and minds, and we should exercise both freely. God made our bodies, but He also let us choose who to love.

I believe that whatever a person's relationship with God is, is their own business.

I believe that God is great, but religion has caused a lot of damage. The church is a good place for a lot of people, but it is not necessary for having a relationship with God or Christ, and at this time, it is not for me.

If I have a church, it is the world around me, that I look at and constantly marvel at what a great cook God is. And I believe that God has much more imagination and poetry - not to mention time and patience - than to make the world in six days and try to fool us with fossils. "Subtle is the Lord, but malicious he is not."

I believe in following Christ's example, and try to treat people with love, kindness, respect, forgiveness and tolerance. That also means I sometimes fail. I am not proud of these lapses, but I do the best I can to avoid them.

While tolerance is my goal, to paraphrase Voltaire, "I will defend to the death your right to say whatever you want, but I can also still say it's a load of horse hockey."

I do not believe in a gospel of hate, or death, or eternal damnation. An all-forgiving God does not do these things.

I believe that God answers prayers, but that the answer sometimes is, "No." I also believe that God may not always give us what we want, but He always gives us what we need.

I believe there is a right thing and a wrong thing in the universe, and that the two are not difficult to distinguish. Most of the time.

Finally: Certum est, quia impossibile est. I believe, because it is impossible.

Comments

[jost.livejournal.com]

I find myself reading this post as if the "I" referred to me. The only thing I can expound upon that was not specifically listed is that I think God gave each us of the ability to question and to analyze our faith, and that to not question or analyze our faith is to prove that we have very very little. I find that the only way to strengthen my faith is to question it and not simply believe what I'm told or what I read that somebody else has written. I don't believe that we can Love God fully if we blindly accept what we're told; as we are then servants of whomever told us this "truth" instead of using the abilities God gave us to find the truth ourselves.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I would have to agree. I would say that the absolute very best thing about the Catholic school I attended was that it taught us how to question our faith and the teachings of the church. I remember being in the 11th grade and analyzing the gospels to see where the different authors told the same stories differently... and then teaching ourselves how (and whether we could) to rationalize these differences in our own minds.

If your faith doesn't stand up to questioning, then like a house founded on sand, it will come down.

Thanks for sharing this, T! (And J-Dawg)

[(Anonymous)]

That is a lovely and true witness, and as a tithing and card-carrying member of the Anglican Church I would certainly call it, and you, Christian. Don't think we've discussed our faith much lately (or in the last 10 years!), but I was and am aware of your credo. Fwiw, I certainly would not consider you particularly heretical. Well, I guess there's this:

"I do not believe in a gospel of ... eternal damnation. An all-forgiving God does not do these things."

I agree with you about hate, but I'm afraid eternal damnation is pretty much canon. Still, there are major denominations which would not disagree.

And then there's this:

"God made our bodies, but He also let us choose who to love."

Agree, but there's a canonic caveat on what we do with our bodies in love - supposedly, it's for our own good. And yes, *you* would be familiar with my lapses in this regard.

Finally, a quick word on this:

"I believe that God is great, but religion has caused a lot of damage. The church is a good place for a lot of people, but it is not necessary for having a relationship with God or Christ, and at this time, it is not for me."

Agree whole-heartedly with your first sentence; understand where you're coming from in the second. However, as you know, Paul says it's beneficial for your relationship with Christ to hang with other Christians. For a long time, I thought it wasn't for me either; also, certain types of Christians were just too damn scary! (And I guess the religious right where you are is *particularly* scary - *and* armed!) But it's definitely something that's supposed to be good for us, and I can say that, after I decided to take that leap, as it were, it was and is good for me.

Anyway, it's good to see you thinking and posting on this personal, crucial topic. Sounds like the Man Upstairs has got your number on something; but then, he always has. And I would also agree with your friend Jost's comments about the importance of analysing our faith - although, as with your closing comment, ultimately, faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see. J

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

I agree with you about hate, but I'm afraid eternal damnation is pretty much canon. Still, there are major denominations which would not disagree.

Well, that's the tricky thing, you see. What is canon? And is Hell the punishment of God, or the personal damnation of the soul who believes they cannot be saved? Questions, always questions.

Agree whole-heartedly with your first sentence; understand where you're coming from in the second. However, as you know, Paul says it's beneficial for your relationship with Christ to hang with other Christians.

And there's Paul again. At worst, I think he shouldn't be in the Bible, although I agree with his definition of faith - at best, let's just say I'm skeptical about his inclusion (or even conversion). But I also note that Christ also said that where two or three were gathered in His name, there He was also (Matthew 18:20). It's nice, but it's not the sine qua non. Maybe someday I'll find a church I'm comfortable with.

[jost.livejournal.com]

Maybe someday I'll find a church I'm comfortable with.

Find yourself a Jesuit Priest. I'm certainly not trying to pull the conversion card and drag another person into the Catholic faith, but there's one thing I can promise you that you will find a Jesuit Priest to be: intellectually stimulating. In my experience they are among the most capable of debating the faith and alternate viewpoints and they are also the ones that I've found that encourage you to analyze and question your faith. You may not find what you're looking for in terms of a church to attend but you will find a person that can really challenge your mind as well as your spirit.

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love Jesuits. Some of the best conversations I've had are with Jesuit priests. I may not be Catholic, but I've chased after the odd Catholic skirt in my time, and have met these priests via those less than pure motives.

As I said more than once to these women - I could almost be Catholic, because I love the iconography, and the ritual (I'm definitely a High Church kind of guy), but I have problems with the whole Pope and Vatican thing.

I like Catholic priests. They seem the most down to earth, empathic and tolerant. My theory is that it's because they listen to confession - no earthly sin surprises them anymore, and they are much more worldly wise because of that.

[jost.livejournal.com]

I too have differences of opinion on the Papal and Vatican structure/authority/etc. I think I can best sum it up as I did when siercia asked me one year about my faith in relation to the emerging scandals within the Catholicism: "I will defend the Faith with my dying breath but I refuse to defend the Church. The Faith is a divine construction not subject to human flaw but the Church is inherently of man."

[pbristow.livejournal.com]

Well, that's the tricky thing, you see. What is canon?
That's easy: The TV series, the New Adventures, the BF audios, and anything written by Saint Paul (Cornell)... [G,D&RVVF]

[(Anonymous)]

Dear, if you were not in an entirely different continent and time zone, I would suggest you come with us to Cathedral. It has the liturgy and icons and pretty windows you like (and some pretty girls...). Also, we've been engaging in a hard-hitting Revelations series lately, which I know would interest you - I say nothing about the recent sermon on the perils of wanking. Don't know what would be available in Georgia, though. I find Episcopalians kinda scary.

Hell: canon is that it exists, and was created by God. As for the postulation that incarceration there is self-inflicted - not necessarily non-canon, and a postulation near and dear to my heart, thanks to Neil Gaiman, among others.

Canon: anything from the shooting scripts of Seasons 1 to 5 of BtVS, of course. Seasons 6 and 7 are *not* canon, despite anything the Spuffies say.

Catholic girls: yum! J

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Amen brother T. Can't say I find a single point to disagree with anywhere in this. It's always good to find another Righteous Heretic.

[cellio]

Thank you for sharing this. You've obviously spent a lot of time thinking about your position, and I commend that. A lot of people don't do that.

[figmo.livejournal.com]

Nicely said.

I bet it ticks you off something fierce when someone like Dubya decides his variety of "Christianity" is The One True Way and that it's his mission to force it upon the rest of us.

"I do not believe in a Gospel of...eternal damnation..."

[(Anonymous)]

Not really Anonymous; just not an LJ subscriber
Margaret Middleton here.

I'll disagree with you on the eternal damnation.
God is all-forgiving, but He gives us free will, including the right to make terrible mistakes, such as rejecting His salvation.
Separation from God is as good a definition of eternal damnation as I can think of.

As for un/comfortable churches, have you sampled the Unitarian Universalists yet? (Even if you don't dig the services, they tend to have GREAT peripheral cultural programs.)

Re: "I do not believe in a Gospel of...eternal damnation..."

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

No, but I'm looking for a church either.

[mrpsyklops.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Well said.