Just my random thoughts from a tired brain... I think that faith is more important than religion. I started thinking this a while ago when I had an interest in Buddhism. It seemed to me, that the Buddhist monks I met act alot more 'christian' than alot of 'christians' do. They had an aura of complete contentment, and the temples I visited felt alot more peaceful than any church or cathedral I've been in. It seems that Buddhist monks are able to live like Jesus did and not even acknowledge him. That led me on a train of thought and meditation that I'm most probably far from the end of. I think less emphasis should be placed on the Bible and whether or not it is accurate or contradictory. There are contradictions in works of fiction written over several years by the same person, it seems perfectly logical that a book written over centuries by hundreds of people, would have a few contradictions in it. After all, we are only human. I also don't believe that the Bible should literally be taken word for word. So much of it is 'prophetic' and 'metaphorical'. Should we believe that the world was created in seven days based solely on the Book of Genesis? Should we belief even if science and astronomy says otherwise? I do not believe the early parts of the Book of Genesis is a literal account of Creation. The reason I believe this is because of faith. If the world was created in seven days by a divine being, and there was provable evidence to support that this was the only way that the world could ever have been created, that would then leave no room for free will. Free will is important, God giving us the choice whether we believe in him or not. If the universe was made in such a way that there was no way it could have happened without a divine being, that doesn't leave much possibility that a divine being could not exist. I believe that scientific descriptions of pre-history and the creation of the universe are very plausible theories on how we all came to be here, reading my ramblings. The reason I believe this is because if God created the universe in such a way that an intelligent and observant life form could easily figure out how it all worked, figure out a completely physical explanation of events and have evidence to support any theories, then they would be faced with a choice. Do we believe that this is a natural phenomenon, or do we believe that there is a divine God? I believe the universe is the way it is, dinosaurs and big bangs and quantum physics because it is the way that we can then be able to choose to believe in God or to choose to belief in whatever we want to. I don't believe any religion should be discredited based on its beliefs. I believe it is faith, and our actions that should be considered important, not the name of our God.
I really agree. I've grown up Catholic and had a hard time with struggling between FAITH and CHURCH. I absolutely believe in Jesus, God, Virgin Mary, Saints, Apostles, Miracles, etc, and yet I struggle with siding with the Church's views on abortion, homosexuality, the role of women in society, abstenent (sp?) priests, etc...
Malachi, a bunch of what you said makes sense. But, understand that while most Buddhist monks are very pure individuals to most Christians they are not Christlike. They are not more Christian than Christians. Alot of the Bible was written metaphorically on purpose. I don't think everything taught was to be taken as literal. I also support people having different Christian views than the norm. It keeps the faith moving and interesting. I also dig meditation!
