CLOSED: [2023-09-24 Sun 14:05]
:PROPERTIES:
:ID:       universal-jesus-faith
:CREATED:  [2023-09-24 Sun]
:END:
:LOGBOOK:
- State "DONE"       from "DRAFT"      [2023-09-24 Sun 14:05]
- State "DRAFT"      from              [2023-08-07 Mon 16:06]
:END:
I grew up,
as I suspect many Christians especially in Free Chuches do,
with a fundamentalistic faith:
The Bible as pure word of God,
with every single word counting equally.
If you see a conflict,
you simply have not found the right resolution yet.

** Conflict
But since puberty I have wrestled:
The bible can be used to justify slavery,
physical discipline
(which I definitely do not approve since reading about Indigenous people
that discipline much more successfully without inflicting harm),
genocide and much more.
Oftentimes some Mosaic laws are silently discarded,
not necessarily only regarding the offerings that Jesus came to redeem,
while specific passages are held up as unshakable.

Interestingly as well,
Jesus did not give us much information
on the exact topics modern-day fundamentalists focus on:
Be it homosexuality and marriage
or bible studies and prayer,
he was not dogmatic about anything
and simply gave us an example to follow.

Yet the fundamentalistic view inevitably leads to condemnation and conflict,
a very clear contradiction to the teachings of Jesus
and the other big authors of the New Testament.
The book of Acts also mentions multiple times how the church was respected even among those that did not dare to join it
for fear of persecution -
how could that be if the church had been built on fear of hell?

** Arrival
Through tough conversations
and listening to people like Keith Giles
and a scientific German book about faith by Ulrich Schnabel,
I can now finally confess that my floodgates have been broken
and my faith now centers on Jesus
rather than the Bible -
with the latter still being a good foundation.
An invitation by God to speak to us.
But as Keith Giles said:
"Don't mistake the map for the treasure!"

Another aspect I struggled with was the intrusion of plurality:
If we don't have the bible as strict foundation,
what stops us from viewing all religions equally?
That is where the fruit comes in:
Churches are a bad representative,
but as a matter of fact those I know of
that truly walk in Christ
are distinct from all others.
Those I have gotten to know that have some association with Christianity
but did not submit control to the Spirit
might seem fine at first,
but over time I get to see they have a dark side,
sometimes buried deeply.