Sue comments on a posting from last fall - Theory-based or Experienced-based.
The only evidence you have for anything whatsoever is everything that is arising to and as your present (NOW) time conscious awareness.
Everything else is conjecture. Useful enough in terms of a collective consensus for getting the necessary practical things of living done.
And what happens to all of your seemingly concrete certainties when you (whatever you are) enter into the formless state of dreamless deep sleep.
Are you still a Christian in the this formless state?
What, therefore has what may or may not have happened in Palestine 2000 years ago, got to to with living creatively and intelligently and with great passion NOW, and in every moment.
When was 2000 years ago?
Where was or is Palestine?
Sue, to put it simply. Theory-based religion is a human-created faith. It is belief in intellectual ideas as the basis of the faith. We convince ourselves that our "perception" is absolutely true. As a result, our faith is faith in our own certainty. I suggest that you can never know anything absolutely, in fact when you think you do, you are merely practicing conjecture.
On the other hand, our only real security is in Jesus Christ, who 2000 years ago lived, died and was raised from the dead. My faith is not dependent upon an historical proof that this happened, because I know that none exists in any absolute, perfect sense. Faith is dependent on actions of trust. The Scriptural record informs my thinking about who God is, and gives me a partial sense that I can trust God each day. By trusting, living faithfully in the midst of uncertainty, I find God to be a good and gracious Lord who is dependable. Therefore, everyday is a test of faith as it really is.
I came to faith because I became aware that God exists. I remain a Christian because I have met the risen Christ in thousands of circumstances. My point is that if Christianity is simply a collectlon of ideas in which we place our faith, then it is a philosophy that has value but no certainty. Faith implies trust, and living in trust.
I realize this is no way to create and develop a religion, but I believe this is what it means to live by faith. Religion requires certainty to sustain itself. That certainty is born in creeds, confessions, and theological systems that are used to interpret reality. So, I am making a distinction between living by faith and what we consider religion. I'm not suggesting an antithetical distinction here of opposites. I am making a distinction between two different functions of our spiritual life that have value.
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