@QuickTwist
I am not a Christian, although I was devout for some time in my youth, and I have a good understanding of “orthodox” theology.
While the Bible no longer holds literal significance for me, I still view the basic story of Christianity as a very beautiful mythic narrative. The story is of a holy God who is pure in His love and goodness for His creation, who gave humanity the autonomy to make its own choices. But by the very consequence of His Light — in order for it to remain what it is — it outshines all darkness. Furthermore, in order for that which is tainted with darkness to come into relationship with the Light, it must itself be made light again.
As the story goes, Adam and Eve’s choice created a lineage of fallen nature. This fallen nature is basically the infusion of darkness into the spiritual “DNA” of humankind. Therefore, it is not God’s choice to have us separated from Him, but the natural consequence of original choice. But because of God’s perfect Love, this consequence was unacceptable to His heart — so He found a way to give humanity another choice that would redeem the original one.
This “way” involved He who knew no sin becoming sin for us. God took upon Himself the penalty of death that is the natural consequence of sin. And if we simply acknowledge our darkness, God’s Light, His sacrifice, His resurrection from the dead, and consciously align ourselves with that Light, we are brought back into relationship with Him and redeemed from the “sin” that initially separated us.
This isn’t an orthodox telling of the redemption story, but that’s basically it.
Ok, so here’s what I really want to say — the tone that has been cultivated in this thread makes me sad.
I know you are coming from the angle of an apologist, and I understand the impulse to defend what you believe is true. But honestly, what is there to argue about? My impression has always been that, as a believer, your “privilege” is simply to share the Gospel, and if someone is spiritually open to that path, then you get to walk with them through the beginning of that journey.
The only people you really need to speak to in that sense are the ones with “ears to hear,” right? The soil is either ready or it isn’t for the seeds God has given you to plant.
And here’s the biggest thing: in the retelling above, where does the beauty of the Christian story actually lie? What is its real heart? To me, it is fundamentally a story of Grace and Love.
The heart of it has nothing to do with obsessively defining what is or isn’t a sin. It has nothing to do with telling people they are wrong. It has nothing to do with arguing people into submission. It is simply the sharing of Good News for those who are ready to answer the same call.
Anything else clouds the message of Grace and Love. It probably counteracts it too.
And I understand the difficulty here. One of the biggest objections people raise is: “That doesn’t sound like a loving God.” But again, I don’t think that can really be argued into someone. All you can really do is explain that this is a paradigm that feels true to you, even if it sounds foreign to them. And if they have ears to hear — right? — then perhaps they will feel something within themselves move toward it.
Do you see the difference? Feel the difference?
Because the tone I get in this thread does not feel loving, graceful, kind, considerate, patient, or empathetic.
What are the fruits of the Spirit again? “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” — or something like that.
That spirit feels largely absent here.
