Sondra,
I think there is a great deal of breadth on the list
that demonstrate different perspectives regarding
several different dimensions of the Christian faith.
In the relatively short time I have watched and
participated in the exchange, I do not recall any
serious challenges or concerns over the historicity of
the New Testament witnesses to the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus.
Most of the differences I have seen relate to Old
Testament texts. The problems and possibilities for
interpretation of the Old Testament seem as a general
principle to be the most problematic for lots of
reasons that often get vented on this list. We are in
good company with the Church Fathers and the Church's
greatest theologians in our discussions over what the
proper understanding of these texts may be. Lots of
discussion has centered on Genesis. As Augustine
pointed out, certain passages are genuinely open ot
diverse interpretations, without calling into question
any of the fundamental doctrines of the church.
Augustine saw scientific research as allowing the
church to determine what interpretations were
appropriate.
There is a quote of Augustine's in "The Creator and
the Integrity of Creation in the Fathers of the
Church" Augustinian Studies 21 (1990), 1-33, by
Tarsicius van Bavel, that illustrates this. The quote
that appears there is as follows:
"In matters that are so obscure and far beyond our
vision, we find in Holy Scripture passages which can
be interpreted in very different ways wihtout
prejudice to the faith we have received. In such
cases, we should not rush in headlong and so firmly
take our stand on one side that, if further progress
in the search for truth justly undermines our
position, we too fall with it. We should not battle
for our own interpretation but for the teaching of the
Holy Scripture. We should not wish to conform the
meaning of the Holy Scripture to our interpretation,
but our interpretation to the meaning of the Holy
Scripture."
In many areas, good scholarly research points out that
our current, popular interpretation of Holy Scripture
might not be what was intended by those who wrote
those pieces of scripture. For example, you refer to
the immortal soul. While there is great debate about
what "soulishness" means, there is a very well
supported line of scholarly research regarding the
understanding of the Old and New Testaments that
contends that an immortal soul, as some independent,
non-material substance, added to our otherwise
material makeup is not supported by the Holy
Scriptures. Yet, these theologians and scholars of
the Old and New Testament retain their Christian and
creedal hope in the resurrection of the body. None of
the creeds say that a belief in an immortal soul is a
foundational belief of Christianity. Indeed, the
arguments of these scholars focuse on the fact that
the immortal soul is a Greek philosophical graft onto
Christian theology.
It seems that often times this list deals with those
questions which in one tradition have become rather
ingrained, but with which other Christian traditions
differ. This sometimes results in lots of
non-communication, other times in fruitful discussion.
Whether or not evolution, the Big Bang, the lack of
empirical evidence for a global flood, or any one of
millions of possible criteria for determining the
truth of falseness of any particular piece of
information in the Bible destroys someones faith
depends on what each individual person sees as
critical to their reasons that uphold their faith --
although faith itself need not be based on any
particular evidence. So, George is right, everyone's
basis for their faith is going to be different.
Regards,
Blake
> Sondra Brasile wrote:
>
> > Dear Bob,
> >
> > Sorry, I didn't mean that I questioned the
> people's Christianity. My
> > question, "how do you guys do it?" is a real,
> honest question. I never
> > doubted whether they are or not, but only how
> they can be. Does that
> > clarify?
> > I don't understand how they can believe when
> their basis for belief is being
> > torn apart every day even by their own evidences.
> What do they have left to
> > base their faith? Is it just 'blind faith'?
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