Sabbath Dispatch #2

[maycocksean]

I have a brother, when I'm a brother in need
I spend my whole time running
He spends his running after me

When I feel myself going down
I just call and he comes around

I believe in Jesus Christ.

I believe that He is the infinite and unknowable God made understandable, because He is also one of us.

I believe that Jesus is the clearest picture that we have of the nature and character of God. If there seem to be contradictory depictions of God in Scripture, in church teachings, in whatever, I always come down on the side of Jesus as to what is true about God.

It is because of Jesus, naturally, that I am a Christian.

I have a lover, a lover like no other
She got soul, soul, soul, sweet soul
and she teach me how to sing

Shows me colors when there's none to see
Gives me hope when I can't believe


It is because of Jesus that I also believe in the doctrine of the trinity. He claimed equality with God and he introduced the concept of the Holy Spirit--God's active presence in the world and in my life today.

. . .that for the first time
I feel love

What do you believe?

 

[AliEnvy]

I believe you hijacked the Friday Night Dispatch.

I also believe I'll need to go flush my mind, body and spirit with some live, loud music tonight before attempting to connect something articulate to the ideas that pop out here.

 

[deep]

I believe
you could have signed this


...that rebel from Nazareth

 

[maycocksean]

I believe you hijacked the Friday Night Dispatch.

Not at all. It's Saturday here when I post. I certainly don't want to displace the Friday Night Dispatch though. I'm hoping VP will return to contribute to the "Weekend Dispatches."

 

[maycocksean]

I believe
you could have signed this


...that rebel from Nazareth

Ouch.

Actually, my purpose in the Sabbath Dispatches is for other members to share what they believe about the given topic. (See Sabbath Dispatch 1 to get an idea of what I had in mind). It's not my desire to preach. . .I just would like to articulate my beliefs and give other people the chance to do the same. I obviously know that other people on this forum do not share my particular and peculiar beliefs and that does not offend me.

 

[BonosSaint]

When I went to church, I couldn't get my head wrapped around the doctrine of the trinity. Theology be damned: for me, it was three separate and distinct entities. It hurt my head less.

 

[A stor]

When I went to church, I couldn't get my head wrapped around the doctrine of the trinity. Theology be damned: for me, it was three separate and distinct entities. It hurt my head less.

I think the doctrine of the Trinity is probably the most difficult concept for Christians to understand. And many do believe it is three separate entities. I still have trouble understanding and therefore, cannot explain it.

 

[VintagePunk]

Not at all. It's Saturday here when I post. I certainly don't want to displace the Friday Night Dispatch though. I'm hoping VP will return to contribute to the "Weekend Dispatches."

I've been enjoying reading your weekly threads, and I hope you continue them. I always do enjoy your posts though, they're very thoughtful and reasoned.

I wasn't really planning on making it a regular thing. I'm not aware of that much atheistic material in the arts or in popular culture, and we don't exactly have a "bible," (Richard Dawkins quotes, maybe? ) but if anyone else would like to chime in with something, feel free.

 

[phillyfan26]

All I disagree with is the idea that "if you call, he comes around." The idea that prayers are answered is something I cannot understand when looking at the world.

 

[deep]

Ouch.

Why ouch?

that could be considered a compliment

are any of us better than any of us in here ?

if I am not my brother's keeper
have I not failed the test?

 

[maycocksean]

When I went to church, I couldn't get my head wrapped around the doctrine of the trinity. Theology be damned: for me, it was three separate and distinct entities. It hurt my head less.

It's funny. I've never felt flummoxed by this doctrine. I really don't know why. Maybe I just haven't thought about it enough? I dunno. . .

But I do think that the whole "necessity" of the doctrine comes from Jesus and his claims to divinity (though whether he actually claimed that is, I know, up for debate. I think he did). He's also threw the Holy Spirit out there too. So it makes sense to me that only Christians buy the the idea of the triune God, since it's Christ that brought up the idea of one God represented in more than one personage.

 

[maycocksean]

are any of us better than any of us in here ?. . .

Well, actually. . .

Seriously though, well said, deep. I probably misread you. Unfortunately for IH his characterization of Jesus (though not necessarily '"wrong.") has come to represent a viewpoint that's a little different from what my faith is about. It's not where I'm coming from and I didn't want it to appear that way.

 

[BonosSaint]

I can see the necessity for the trinity. A divine Jesus makes monotheism potentially problematic. Less so a holy spirit, which is more a functional force than a distinct personality. However, it makes the Garden of Gethsemane (sp?), the words on the cross and God's acknowledgment of his son sound slightly schizoid. The trinity made Christianity less interesting to me. But that's a subjective response.

 

[Angela Harlem]

The idea that prayers are answered is something I cannot understand when looking at the world.

yep

 

[AussieU2fanman]

The father I understand, the son I understand, but the holy spirit is a total mystery to me. Is it meant to be the voices in my head talking to me, reinforcing the notion I'm worshipping the right religion?
I think the whole trinity concept is an overly convoluted "hook" that has more in common with poetry rather than anything else.

 

[A_Wanderer]

Draw an infinite circle, this is God; within this circle define three areas (father, son, holy spirit); are they all limited manifestations of the same infinite God?

 

[nathan1977]

I guess I always looked at the Trinity the same way I see myself -- I am a husband, a son, and a father. None of these identities come into conflict with each other, and yet they are all equally true. They sum up the vast majority of who I am, they reflect my relationship with the world around me, in separate but equal ways.

Guess I'm with you, Sean. It's never been a concept I've wrestled with.

 

[maycocksean]

Draw an infinite circle, this is God; within this circle define three areas (father, son, holy spirit); are they all limited manifestations of the same infinite God?

Leave it to the atheist to come up with the simplest and most elegant explanation of the trinity I've ever heard!

 

[maycocksean]

The idea that prayers are answered is something I cannot understand when looking at the world.

. . .and cue another set of U2 lyrics!

 

[financeguy]

The theology has not caught up with the technology.

 

[AliEnvy]

I believe Jesus was someone who stretched the faith of those around him. He constantly dared people to see things differently, to act differently and to live differently.

 

[A_Wanderer]

Leave it to the atheist to come up with the simplest and most elegant explanation of the trinity I've ever heard!

Feel free to borrow that one, I will be inventing a simpler one when I start my own church.

 

[A stor]

I guess I always looked at the Trinity the same way I see myself -- I am a husband, a son, and a father. None of these identities come into conflict with each other, and yet they are all equally true. They sum up the vast majority of who I am, they reflect my relationship with the world around me, in separate but equal ways.

Guess I'm with you, Sean. It's never been a concept I've wrestled with.

Excellent!

 

[BonosSaint]

I guess I always looked at the Trinity the same way I see myself -- I am a husband, a son, and a father. None of these identities come into conflict with each other, and yet they are all equally true.

Of course, you're not your own father. That's why, when it mattered to me, I preferred son of man to son of god.