It was not my intention at the outset to deconstruct my beliefs. Nevertheless it happened. Three main elements in the process were:
* Seeking to understand the bible. The conclusion I drew was that the bible is not the inerrant word of God, nor were its authors inspired from God. Attempting to understand the context in which the authors wrote I sought to interpret the underlying concepts contained in the text. Finally I came the conclusion that I would apply the ideas of the postmodernist Jacques Derrida, namely that words mean what the reader or listener takes them to mean.
* Defining god. I came to the view that it is an impossible, indeed pointless, task to define god. Whatever god may be in our minds it is beyond our comprehension, beyond metaphor, beyond symbolism and most certainly beyond anthropomorphism. When we pray, to what are we praying? To ourselves, to our personal concept of god telling us what to do?
* Following the message of Jesus. We can each discern concepts and their application found in the teaching of Jesus as set out in the synoptic gospels. It doesn't matter if Jesus was an actual person, or a myth, the texts being written many years after the concepts were formulated. What does matter is the overriding concept of love for all, for justice, for preferential treatment for the poor, marginalised and discriminated against. It is a powerful message that does not need support by any claim of supernatural origin.
Each person comes to their conclusions on the meaning of scripture, god and Jesus. There is no right or wrong interpretation and we should not presume to claim to have the correct understanding, nor should we seek to influence others with disparaging comments, nor by flaunting an air of superiority, nor by being arrogant.
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