On labels

I dislike putting a label on my theological opinions. The effect is to box in one's opinions with the prejudices attached to the label.  No, I prefer to outline my opinions without the assistance, or otherwise, of labels.

Do I believe in god?  Does god exist and if so in what form?  My answer is that we just do not know.  Am I an atheist, agnostic, humanist, theist, pantheist or panentheist?  There are no objective facts or truths to enable a definitive definition to be made, so we are reliant on our own ideas.  For my part I do not consider god to be anthropromophic, nor do I consider there to be overarching metaphysical concepts ruling our lives. Natural law and universal human rights are concepts created by humanity, not god given.

It is claimed by some that god is love.  We may choose to accept that opinion and some will consider that to be a statement of belief or even faith.  

Scripture is not god given.  It is a human construct stating the ideas of the authors at the time of writing.  We read the words through our own eyes and experience, placing our own interpretion on their meaning.  This does not render scripture valueless or inconsequential.  It contains concepts of love and social justice that may be considered to be timeless principles regardless of location and context.  These principles are enuniciated by a range of authors in what Christians call the Old Testament and are attributed to Jesus in the New Testament. 

I seek to promote social justice and a way of living based on the ideas attributed to Jesus. It is my opinion that we may perceive the teaching of Jesus as a body of ideas separate from christianity.