Jim
Nets of Wonder
I just finished following your journey since you started posting here in April, as an agnostic atheist. It's been quite a ride! It isn't clear to me how you got from where you were, to saying that God talks to you through scripture, or what your interests are now in God or in scriptures. I like your story very much, and I'd like to be part of it somehow. I'll tell you some things about me, about my interests, and about my thoughts and feelings about your questions and what you've been saying. If you're still looking for a community, see my post in the thread you started about that. I've never found my community in any one place. I've had to put one together for myself. I wrote a little about that in the other thread.
I'm a member of the Baha'i Faith, and I'm trying to learn to follow Baha'u'llah. I don't know if my faith is the true faith, the gift from God or not. It looks to me like it is, but I could be wrong. I'm hoping, trusting really, that it is, and acting accordingly. The question for me now is not whether or not my faith is true, but if it is true, what do I want to do with it? For now, what I'm trying to do with it is to continually work on improving my personality, my character, my conduct, and the way I live my life, in ways that will benefit all people everywhere; and to help with the growth and spread of healthier, happier, more loving communities, all around the world. If my life goes in the direction I want it to now, I'll be spending a lot less time in Internet discussions, maybe none at all, for a few months at least, maybe much longer. If and when I do spend time in Internet discussions, it will be mostly or only for those purposes. I have a dream of helping with some online version of healthier, happier, more loving communities, and I've actually seen that dream starting to come true in my Facebook neighborhood.
Another one of my online interests, and in fact what I've been doing almost exclusively for the 20 years, more or less, that I've been on the Internet, is spending time with people whose ideas and interests seem contrary to mine, the more contrary the better. Mostly that's to help free me from whatever prejudices and delusions I might have, but also it's to practice cross-divide fellowship, learning, and collaboration, which I think is part of what the world needs most desperately.
What I think the world needs most of all, and the best thing that can happen to anyone, is what I think is called "faith" in Christian and Baha'i scriptures, but I think it can happen to anyone, regardless of their ideology or allegiances. One way I think of it is as a desire and a willingness, continually expressed in action, to try to become a better person, to help improve the world for all people everywhere. Another way is as warm feelings and friendly intentions towards all people and all of nature, continually expressed in action
The scriptures I use for those purposes are mostly Baha'i scriptures. When I use Christian scriptures, it's mostly only to see what I think about what Christians say the Bible says. I don't think it matters at all how historical or literal you think that any of it is. I think that the more you worry about that, the less you'll learn from God, and about Him. Anything that people say about contradictions with itself, with history, or with science, might be true. Or not. I don't think people always know as much as they think they do. Anything that people say, disagreeing with what the Bible says or disapproving of it, might be true, and I think it's a big mistake to try to defend the scriptures, or God, against anything that people say against them, or even to try to prove that He exists or is real. I see all of that as a red herring across our path, and a smokescreen getting in the way of using the scriptures to help us progress in the path of God. Everything that we can learn from God, or about Him, is in the stories themselves, and in our experience trying to put into practice what we see them saying about how to live better and more fruitful lives. For that purpose, it doesn't matter how much of it is literal, or in accordance with any view of science and history. It could all be pure fiction, and still serve the same purpose. As someone else says, it isn't the scripture, by itself, that teaches, inspires and teaches us. It's the Holy Spirit. That makes all the difference. That's why it doesn't have the same effects on everyone who reads it, or even on the same person at different times. I see that you've had some experiences that you think are from the Holy Spirit. Honestly, I don't know what to think about that. What I saw happening in a Pentecostal church looked fake to me, and contrary to advice from the Apostle Paul. I don't know what to think. Anyway, you seem to have some awareness of the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. That's what I think matters when you're studying the scriptures, not how literal any of it is, or how much it accords with some view of science and history. Ask for guidance and assistance from the Holy Spirit, for you to get the most out of it, to live a better and more fruitful life, in accordance with God's purposes and prescriptions. Sorry, now I'm preaching. Anyway, those are some of my thoughts about some of your questions and what you've been saying.
(edited to add the following)
I help my wife sometimes with needle-working crafts. Sometimes there are mistakes in the instructions, but we can always find out what those are and correct them, by looking at what the finished product is supposed to look like, or what we already know about how things work. We can do the same thing with scriptures. If our understanding of what the scriptures are telling us about how to live our lives doesn't seem to be producing good results, or it seems to contradict our other knowledge, then we can re-examine everything: what we think the scripture is telling us, what we think our experience and the experience of others is telling us, and what we consider good results. Any or all of those might need adjusting, but the final test is the fruits we're producing in our lives.
Last edited:
