Greetings, I hope all is well and happy.
Regards Tony
Regards Tony
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Welcome....Thanks for the welcome! Although I I have no problem with Christianity, I am non-religious myself. My views on what the scripture writers were saying are not always welcome by Christians. We will see what happens.
I have been around religion oriented forums for years. While not religious myself, I find the subject of religion and especially the Christian scriptures to be fascinating. I have no quarrel with anyone's flavor of religiosity or lack thereof. Yet I have my own opinions about what the authors of the various scripture intended to be understood. This is not based on any ideology pro or con but simply on what I see in the writings in the context of their times and situations.
So again, Hi!
Welcome to RFI have been around religion oriented forums for years. While not religious myself, I find the subject of religion and especially the Christian scriptures to be fascinating. I have no quarrel with anyone's flavor of religiosity or lack thereof. Yet I have my own opinions about what the authors of the various scripture intended to be understood. This is not based on any ideology pro or con but simply on what I see in the writings in the context of their times and situations.
So again, Hi!
You’re welcome for your welcome of the welcomes.Thanks for the welcomes, everyone!
We will debate heartedly! But in a friendly manner. I always give you a wide berth for being wrong. LOLThanks for the welcome! Although I I have no problem with Christianity, I am non-religious myself. My views on what the scripture writers were saying are not always welcome by Christians. We will see what happens.
I have been around religion oriented forums for years. While not religious myself, I find the subject of religion and especially the Christian scriptures to be fascinating. I have no quarrel with anyone's flavor of religiosity or lack thereof. Yet I have my own opinions about what the authors of the various scripture intended to be understood. This is not based on any ideology pro or con but simply on what I see in the writings in the context of their times and situations.
So again, Hi!
Thanks for the welcome! Although I I have no problem with Christianity, I am non-religious myself. My views on what the scripture writers were saying are not always welcome by Christians. We will see what happens.
My views are not always welcomed by other "Christians" either, but we have broad shoulders here and hopefully the maturity to discuss sensitive topics without animosity. Sometimes that is a challenge but we try.
It is my experience that many "former Christians" or those raised in Christian families have taken the time to search the scriptures for themselves and try to answer some of the bigger questions. If no satisfying answers are forthcoming, they usually tend to ditch the whole deal and start looking elsewhere. Would that describe you, or are there other reasons for your your identification..."none"?
I was raised Roman Catholic including 13 years of Catholic school. (My first year of college was at a Catholic University.) I did very well in learning Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. But it was academic. Somewhere in high school I came to realize that although I knew it very well, religion was not inside me. It was as I said, only academic, just like all the mythology stories I loved to read.
I am not an adherent of any religion but I find labels like agnostic or atheist too limited. The possible existence of a creator entity of this gigantic super complex and really weird universe does not strike me as in any way related to any religion I ever studied.
Although I am curious about exploring religions in general and Christian scriptures in particular it is because they are fascinating and entertaining, not because I am seeking anything beyond my curiosity. Therefore ‘None’.
Thank you so much for your reply. I have studied the Bible with quite a few Catholic people over the years and found them all to be sincere, but lacking even in basic knowledge of the scriptures. They know Catholicism but are not well versed in the scriptures at all, which is a pity because if they had been more schooled in scripture they would have picked up on the unscriptural doctrines that they were espousing. This was true in my case. I had a church upbringing but no real Bible education. It wasn't until I actually studied the Bible that I came to appreciate how far Christendom had wandered off the track....and how many of her doctrines were not biblical but adoptions from other religious ideas.
It is interesting that you say that 'religion was not inside you'. I began to feel that way too until I started looking into evolution and finding that the intricate design in nature would not allow me to imagine that it all happened by accident. I began to feel as if God was there, but he was not the same God that I had learned about in church.
When I studied the Bible...I found him. He was awesome!
One of the things I learned is that religion is man made....God did not have a religion in the beginning...there was no need. There was no great list of rules and his instructions were really simple.
It wasn't until humans started inventing other gods that he needed to distinguish his worship from the worship of the phonies.
That makes sense. Anything in particular that you wanted to discuss curiosity-wise? I don't think there is a question left that I haven't already answered. LOL
Do you have pet subjects? e.g. things you were taught about God or creation that just don't sit well with you?
Catholicism does not subscribe to sola scriptura which only came about in the 16th century. Tradition is also important.
A number of the (more or less) unique tenets of Catholicism arose from consideration of early non-canonical writings that related to the canonical ones.
These were taken to represent the common understanding of the time. One example: The idea of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary comes from the 2nd century Protoevangelium of James. It was assumed that this represented actual truth that was handed down and not invention.
You are entitled to your own take on God and I will not gainsay it. I will just note that I do not find God in the Bible.
Agreed. But as you might guess, I think all the gods were invented.
My Catholic upbringing did not insist on that much literal understanding of the OT, so I am not terribly concerned with six days or a literal flood or why God sent those bears (although that is an interesting and usually misunderstood passage).
I find the NT very interesting. Of very special interest to me is the several Gospel writers bouncing off each other. I see multiple contradictory viewpoints driven by varying ideological agendas and the authors writing intentionally at odds with each other.
But that is a really big topic. Not here. Not now. Suffice it to say that I do not see a secure basis for a religion here.