When I commenced this blog I had no idea where my posts would lead me theologically. It has been an adventure, full of doubts, questions perplexity, even anxiety. Now I have reached an oasis of calm, peace and contentment.
For many years I was a lay preacher in churches of a fundamentalist, conservative evangelical disposition. The bible is the inerrant word of God and our lives are governed by understanding the words literally. Or, so I thought. Studying for a diploma in theology introduced me to what I considered to be novel concepts. My studies gave me succour, that my nagging doubts were not uniquely mine, that there was a dimension of christian belief beyond the confines of biblical inerrancy.
So began my journey to an acceptance of the idea that scripture is created entirely by humanity, that there is no metaphysical or anthropomorphic 'god' out there inspiring authors. Scripture is an human construct. Postmodernism taught me that words have a fluidity of interpretation, meaning is not rigid and inflexible. In fact, I knew this already from studying law reports and the processes involved in the development of common law.
Eventually I came to the conclusion that the bible was useful as an expression of the thoughts of individuals 2,000+ years ago. In particular I was drawn to the ideas to be found in the synoptic gospels, ideas attributed by the authors to a person we know as Jesus. The concept of love your neighbour is deep and profound: but is not the sole prerogative of christians.
My interest in helping individuals at point of need and campaigning on issues of social justice is not driven by a conviction it is the christian thing to do. Rather, I have come to the conclusion that there is a motivation to love that is inherent in individuals.
Recently I have been reading works by Jim Palmer and Colin Coward. I commend their work to you. Below are links to more recent articles, the first by Jim Palmer, the remainder by Colin Coward.
A Rumour of Angels – Peter Berger, Pope Leo and Donald Trump — Unadulterated Love
Time to redraw our God-map — Unadulterated Love
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