Fundamentalism drove me away

Well, I guess it's pretty common, but I finally realized that I can't take the Bible as anything but a man made text, and if it's not going to be redone using current knowledge, I have to walk away. Has anyone else had this experience? I love God and Jesus, as well as other spiritual teachers, but if a religion goes by a literal view of a first century document, I can't be a part of it.

Thirza Fallen said:

Well, I guess it's pretty common, but I finally realized that I can't take the Bible as anything but a man made text, and if it's not going to be redone using current knowledge, I have to walk away. Has anyone else had this experience? I love God and Jesus, as well as other spiritual teachers, but if a religion goes by a literal view of a first century document, I can't be a part of it.

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? Why be sad about that? I kind of think like you and it's a fine thing. I don't look at the Bible as being all true or all false; that's too simplistic.

Thirza Fallen said:

Well, I guess it's pretty common, but I finally realized that I can't take the Bible as anything but a man made text, and if it's not going to be redone using current knowledge, I have to walk away. Has anyone else had this experience? I love God and Jesus, as well as other spiritual teachers, but if a religion goes by a literal view of a first century document, I can't be a part of it.

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Have you given the Bible itself a fair shake outside of Christendom's teachings? Fundamentalism is not Biblical Christianity.

There is one amazing story from Genesis to Revelation that I believe is lost to Christendom. Please don't throw the baby out with the dirty bath water they created. If you really love God and Jesus, please do not abandon them. Keep seeking and you will find the truth.

not surprised that a buddhist does not think much of the Bible

Yes, a major part of my departure were the scriptures.
Particularly the cruel and barbarous parts, but also the impossible parts.
I know that it is a painful thing to walk away, but trust your heart and be true to who you are.

May you find your path and walk it well, friend.

Blessings to you.

lostwanderingsoul said:

not surprised that a buddhist does not think much of the Bible

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I became a Christian in 1987. I stopped being a Christian last week. Still love God, still think Jesus is awesome. The rest is bull.

JayJayDee said:

Have you given the Bible itself a fair shake outside of Christendom's teachings? Fundamentalism is not Biblical Christianity.

There is one amazing story from Genesis to Revelation that I believe is lost to Christendom. Please don't throw the baby out with the dirty bath water they created. If you really love God and Jesus, please do not abandon them. Keep seeking and you will find the truth.

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I have studied it like crazy, especially the last seven years. It's been plagiarized and changed, depending on prevailing attitudes. It was meant for the time it was written I think. Thank you. I will think on that.

George-ananda said:

? Why be sad about that? I kind of think like you and it's a fine thing. I don't look at the Bible as being all true or all false; that's too simplistic.

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I am sad because it's been my belief pretty much my whole life, even though I only formally became a Christian in 1987. It's just different and I hate that there are so many hateful and ignorant people in Christianity's ranks.

seekingtruth said:

Yes, a major part of my departure were the scriptures.
Particularly the cruel and barbarous parts, but also the impossible parts.
I know that it is a painful thing to walk away, but trust your heart and be true to who you are.

May you find your path and walk it well, friend.

Blessings to you.

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I couldn't keep making excuses for it without making stuff up. Thank you for your support.

Thirza Fallen said:

I am sad because it's been my belief pretty much my whole life, even though I only formally became a Christian in 1987. It's just different and I hate that there are so many hateful and ignorant people in Christianity's ranks.

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I understand. Well, you won't miss those 'hateful and ignorant' ones. But still you don't need to make much of an issue about your change in mind with others. Maybe try the gentle approach and don't make it an issue when you don't need to. Just my thoughts not knowing the whole situation.

Thirza Fallen said:

I have studied it like crazy, especially the last seven years. It's been plagiarized and changed, depending on prevailing attitudes. It was meant for the time it was written I think. Thank you. I will think on that.

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I too was stuck in the church system for most of my young years. I had no idea that what I was being taught in church was cods wallop. What I took for granted as truth, turned out to be anything but. The lies would curl your hair!

After I left the church, I went searching for a religion that would agree with what was in my heart...but it also had to agree with God's word. For some reason I never lost faith in the Bible as the word of God. I took excursions into eastern religions but could not get past the idolatry. I knew God hated idols because that was part of the Ten Commandments. I still believed in those. I really didn't know what to believe any more. I was starting to think that there was no God. The churches were basically all the same just separated by labels...full of hypocrites! Then someone knocked on my door. When I started asking questions....I liked the answers. These were questions I could never get an answer to in church. So I accepted a Bible study.

When I studied the Bible free from the teachings of Christendom, a whole new world opened up to me. I had never seen the Bible as one story from beginning to end. I had snatches taught to me but the pieces of the puzzle never made sense. Now they make perfect sense. The Bible is a book about people and human nature. It is as relevant today as it was when it was written, because basically people don't change. They have exactly the same emotions and responses as the people back in Bible times.

My favourite book is Genesis. I had no idea that there was so much to learn from just one book! I thought I knew what it said...but I was so wrong! Reading the scriptures with a fresh eye, divorced from Christendom's version of events, I see it as the best guide ever in life. I see that God had a purpose for the earth and all living things on it. But by giving his human creation free will, he had to allow sufficient time to prove to them that abusing it would never result in freedom or happiness. Every problem in this world has the abuse of free will as its source. Humans have failed to recognise what God told Adam in the beginning.....obey and live...disobey and die. Obedience to God is always for our benefit....never to our detriment. So what have we as a species learned from Adam's course?

Very little apparently. I believe that will all be addressed in the near future. The Lord's Prayer answers a lot of questions all by itself. I parroted off that prayer every week without a clue as to what Jesus was telling us to pray for. Now I know.

Do you have unanswered questions? I did, lots of them.....they aren't unanswered anymore.

Happy to share if you like. Don't throw God and Jesus away....they are just waiting for you to discover them.

Thirza Fallen said:

Well, I guess it's pretty common, but I finally realized that I can't take the Bible as anything but a man made text, and if it's not going to be redone using current knowledge, I have to walk away. Has anyone else had this experience? I love God and Jesus, as well as other spiritual teachers, but if a religion goes by a literal view of a first century document, I can't be a part of it.

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Than why not becoming a Christian Deist? This makes Chrisitianity a natural religion, where Jesus is a moral teacher, not a Deity and where all the supernatural, or the more fantastical stuffs can be dispensed with. It becomes a philosophy of life, based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

Link:
Christian deism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christian Deism | The Official Site of Christian Deism

Keep in my mind though that any religious texts can only be man made. Who else can take the pen and writte them? The difference is that these writters believe they have received a divine inspiration, and that their teachings are revelations. You either believe it or not, as it is in all religion. The Buddha himself claimed to have experienced enlightenment, or bodhi 'awakening' so that's also a revelation although of a different kind. You believe it or not.

Thirza Fallen said:

I became a Christian in 1987. I stopped being a Christian last week. Still love God, still think Jesus is awesome. The rest is bull.

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So u are going to look in the Monotheistic Mall? Look into other religions. Indeed christianity is not the only one.

No, because I've never viewed the Bible through a fundamentalist lens. As a Christian, I've always viewed the Bible as an inspiring spiritual epic that isn't necessarily supposed to be taken literally.

Thirza Fallen said:

Well, I guess it's pretty common, but I finally realized that I can't take the Bible as anything but a man made text, and if it's not going to be redone using current knowledge, I have to walk away. Has anyone else had this experience? I love God and Jesus, as well as other spiritual teachers, but if a religion goes by a literal view of a first century document, I can't be a part of it.

Click to expand...

It becomes obvious after awhile. The ball of realization started rolling once I noticed the insane amount of parroting and rehashes of the same things, and static issues brought back Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. Kinda takes the wind out of the sails but you do get to see the actuality vs the ideology at ringside.

lostwanderingsoul said:

not surprised that a buddhist does not think much of the Bible

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There's some good sage advice to be had.
Its not like you cannot use the bible in some capacity in regards to life and living.

Tyho said:

Than why not becoming a Christian Deist? This makes Chrisitianity a natural religion, where Jesus is a moral teacher, not a Deity and where all the supernatural, or the more fantastical stuffs can be dispensed with. It becomes a philosophy of life, based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

Link:
Christian deism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christian Deism | The Official Site of Christian Deism

Keep in my mind though that any religious texts can only be man made. Who else can take the pen and writte them? The difference is that these writters believe they have received a divine inspiration, and that their teachings are revelations. You either believe it or not, as it is in all religion. The Buddha himself claimed to have experienced enlightenment, or bodhi 'awakening' so that's also a revelation although of a different kind. You believe it or not.

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Interesting. Will check into it.

Thirza Fallen said:

I hate that there are so many hateful and ignorant people in Christianity's ranks.

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This ^ makes you precious. In the book of Ezekiel much was said about the nation of Israel while they were in an apostate state. So far they had fallen from worship that was clean and undefiled. Time and again they were told that their unrepentant actions (though they took pride in being God's chosen people) would lead to disaster, and it did when Jerusalem was destroyed at the hands of the Babylonians in 607 B.C.E. However in chapter 9 there was a separating work that was put in place to mark those who would survive the coming calamity. How were these one's initially identified?


"Then the glory of the God of Israel rose from where it had rested above the cherubs and moved to the threshold of the doorway of the house, and he began calling out to the man who was clothed in linen, at whose waist was the secretary’s inkhorn. Jehovah said to him: 'Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who are sighing and groaning over all the detestable things that are being done in the city.'”
- Ezekiel 9:3,4

Among those claiming to worship the true God acceptably, it was the ones that were bothered by other claimants' hypocrisy that were marked for survival. Your being bothered is a good thing.