From: Jay Willingham (jaywillingham@cfl.rr.com)
Date: Fri Oct 11 2002 - 16:18:21 EDT
> Ian, I and others on this list have voiced your same position.
>
> We are often so blinded by the trees that the forest eludes us. That is
the
> lesson in the constant cycles of apostasy, legalism, divine chastisement,
> repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation that sees its ultimate
expression
> in the gift of salvation by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ.
>
> I have only read the Bible through a few times, but each time more
emerges,
> the Word is truly alive and maintains its life in spite of Satan and Man's
> efforts to dismiss or modify it. Nothing is more confusing that the
torrent
> of data technology inundates us with on a daily basis.
>
>
> Many of the learned folks on this list remind me of those Paul must have
> debated in Greece, but only God knows the hearts of each of us. We may
> differ on points that to God are essentially minor points, endless
> genealogies. Debate is healthy so long as it retains love for the other
> side and all remain ready to testify as to the source of our hope, Jesus
> Christ.
>
> Jay Willingham
> Central Florida
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Hassell, Ian C." <hasselli@eucom.mil>
> To: <asa@calvin.edu>
> Sent: Friday, October 11, 2002 4:22 AM
> Subject: What is your faith based on?
>
>
> > Wow. In my few short months on this list I've learned that much of the
> > supernatural record of the OT couldn't have happened (nor does it
matter),
> > Jesus didn't distinguish between truth and fantasy in His teachings,
Jesus
> > lied when describing the after-life, some (but certainly not all) of the
> > gospels may be true, Paul supported and taught positions that we have
now
> > determined to be lies (homosexuality is a sin, etc.), the writers of the
> > gospels lied about Jesus' miracles (Peter walking on water), etc., etc.
I
> > know that may sound like strong language, but either these passages in
the
> > scripture were true or they were lies. Whether they were written out of
> > altruistic motives or not, truth is either truth or it is not. Ask any
3
> > year old.
> >
> > I can't disagree that it would be infinitely convenient to my "faith" if
I
> > were able to dismiss any parts of scripture that I think didn't agree
with
> > our current culture (homosexuality, sanctity of life) or our current
> > interpretation of scientific evidence. But then is my faith really in
an
> > all-powerful, all-knowing God or is my faith in my ability to
rationalize
> > what I know about him with the current tides of popular culture and
> science?
> > Isn't this really Deistic Humanism? Or Humanistic Deism?
> >
> > My first-ever post to this group asked the question - "if the Bible
isn't
> > true, then what is your faith based upon?" I never received an answer,
> > rather I got a lot of long-winded explanations about the changing nature
> of
> > language, the difficulty of translation, the inability of us to know
> > author's intent, etc. If God intended us to have His word (as He
> references
> > several times within the Bible), if Christ re-affirmed the inspiration
of
> > the OT (and taught from it) then wouldn't He have taken care to maintain
> it
> > throughout a couple thousand years so that our understanding of Him in
> 2002
> > could be as real as it was in 0002?
> >
> >
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Fri Oct 11 2002 - 22:17:26 EDT