tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post29098293265579897..comments2024-03-24T11:30:08.199-07:00Comments on Can you believe?: Meeting Jesus halfwayJohan Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-70900053586478500822010-03-17T23:44:11.911-07:002010-03-17T23:44:11.911-07:00No friend,no
I am perfectly well aware who has bee...No friend,no<br />I am perfectly well aware who has been trying to control, hurt and kill me, it would be strange indeed if I didn't. I will never cooperate. I will never bend to your will. I am a quaker, not a a christian. Look to yourself, not to me.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07292886303815408436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-4331774209801481642010-03-10T06:15:16.679-08:002010-03-10T06:15:16.679-08:00Johan, Marshall points out a very clear and import...Johan, Marshall points out a very clear and important dichotomy that so many critics of Christianity are unaware of:<br /><br />There is a difference between the religious teachings of the Christian faith and the activities of Christian institutions over the centuries. There is a difference between <i>Christianity</i> and <i>Christendom</i>. Many of the prime movers of Christendom were lousy Christians.<br /><br /><br />The followers of Science have indeed given us the military use of the atomic bomb. Very interestingly, it is in the halls of science that much of religion is considered bunk.<br /><br />Thank you for this post. As always, you make me think.kevin robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07336902422644197456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-52993789053385917702010-03-06T16:58:02.039-08:002010-03-06T16:58:02.039-08:00I think this is the point where you go back to Gan...I think this is the point where you go back to Gandhi's "I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."<br /><br />So the challenge then is to get better examples of what Christianity means to be visible to non-Christians. At least help clear the name a bit, ya know? Mother Theresa is the only one I can think of at the moment who is widely regarded as really fitting that "they will know we are Christians by our love" thing I grew up hearing in Church.<br /><br />(That phrase, incidentally, has been on my mind a lot lately and I ended up bringing it up during Meeting for Worship last week...which I still find a little...uncomfortable, I guess...because I'm a non-theist Friend)Mackenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03695808411116664337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-80656433798351672472010-03-05T06:32:49.644-08:002010-03-05T06:32:49.644-08:00Johan, this was an essay I greatly appreciated.
I...Johan, this was an essay I greatly appreciated.<br /><br />I would like to ask some of the scoffers who challenge Christians by asking, “How can you call yourself a Christian after the Crusades and the Inquisition,” — but who, themselves, identify with Science —: “How can you identify with Science after the atom bomb, Thalidomide, Three Mile Island, pesticides, the destruction of the ozone layer, and global warming? Are you not applying a double standard here, excusing Science for the sins of its followers but not excusing Christ for the sins committed by his?”Marshall Masseyhttp://journal.earthwitness.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-18601682687391367092010-03-05T03:12:11.058-08:002010-03-05T03:12:11.058-08:00Johan,
Perhaps without consciously meaning to, you...Johan,<br />Perhaps without consciously meaning to, you have given the largest and strongest argument a Quaker Christian can give to anyone about their relationship, personal as it is, with Jesus. "Jesus saved my life." This is not about all the things Christians did to other, it is about your inner personal relationship with the Jesus you have come to know. To me, a universalist-leaning Quaker, this is the most powerful thing you could say. Especially with the small s. Jesus saved my life too. Not by the cross though, by his living example and teaching. My saving is not the suffering salvatory redemption at the end of creation, it is the living, breathing gratitude and humility for the presence of the inner Teacher, through whom my life is recreated and recreated and I am granted the grace to live joyfully on this planet.<br /><br />I feel horribly that the experience many people have is of the Christians who have politicized the teachings of our humbe prophet into something that is so far from the Truth.<br /><br />I feel sad that many scientists cannot acknowledge all that is beyond their understanding and for a moment stand in awe and say, "Ah, that is God." <br /><br />I feel horrified that people would link my name with a belief that berates and tortures and conquers others who do not bow down, when the bearer of the name Christ would never do any such thing.<br /><br />I grieve that even in our own religion, we are so tempted to tell others that Jesus would think they sinned because they do not follow the letter of the Bible.<br /><br />The God/Jesus of my understanding is a living entity/energy that can inform and guide me, and it is so simple, I only need to listen.<br />Would that I did so more often.Linda J Wilkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04307531394723506106noreply@blogger.com