Caverdude

A am making this post out of curiosity. I would like to see if anyone has had similar thoughts and experiences. Also, I suppose, I am setting my beliefs out in the open available for comment or even ridicule(thus the title "Fire Away". So here goes:
I was raised a Catholic in Pittsburgh Pennslyvania. During my childhood I just sort of did what I was told and went to church, etc. When I got to college, however, I was finally free of parental control and for the first time I started thinking about all this religion stuff. I found myself drifting away from the Catholic church. Basically, I was fed up with their rules and regulations. I questioned such things as their belief that communion "is the body of Christ" and not just a symbolic act. I also questioned the idea that some priest had special power to absolve me of my sins, etc.
Time goes by.......
I married and moved to Tennessee, the buckle of the bible belt and for the first time encountered outrageous fundamentalism. Since I have a very deep interest in the sciences, I found many of the fundy views (especially on Creationism) to be looney. I started to study the bible and related books about the bible (a good one is What the Bible Really Says, by Manfred Barthel; Copyright 1980 by Econ Verlag GmbH and translated by William Morrow and Company, Inc.). I came to believe that much of the bible is crap, while there is still some wonderful stuff in there also.
These days, I call myself a "liberal Christian" which means that I like and accept the general teachings of Jesus about Love and forgiveness. I detest literalism and creationism and see these things as destructive, both to theists and non-believers alike. With three children, I now find such things as school curriculum very important and get very angry when bible thumpers attempt to warp science and manipulate school boards into teaching theology in public schools. This is where I go to war (in a metaphorical sense).
My beliefs are a rather nebulous thing and are always in a state of flux. I believe that EVERYTHING should be open to question and investigation. Dogma sucks.
So, is there anyone out there who has similar beliefs? The above is a Reader's Digest version of my beliefs, but I welcome any thoughts or criticisms.

Stephen T-B

You would fit very neatly into the Anglican Church.
We had a Bishop of Durham (David Jenkins) who didn't believe in the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, the Creation myth or any of that stuff. But he was a deeply spiritual man.
And there's an Anglican bishop in Scotland somewhere whose name I've forgoten, and I don't think he believes in god at all.

phlebas

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Pittsburgh? What a maroon. I hope you're prepared for ridicule, my boy! HOW 'BOUT THEM PIRATES? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA

As for the rest, I'm cool with it. No idea which church you would belong to though.

Caverdude

Actually, we belong to a local Episcopal church, though I admit I do not go very often. They are a pretty good bunch there with fairly liberal views (religion-wise).

Caverdude

I know (sniff, sniff). They even built the team a nifty new stadium...didn't help. I keep hoping for good stuff from the Penguins though. Not much hockey down here in Tennessee. As for my church, see above post.

Anunnaki

Caverdude didn`t say if he believed in the resurrection or not.
Can you be a Christian without believing in the flying Jesus and if so,what Christian church accepts you?

I know someone said something about an Anglican church with a liberal Bishop who didn`t believe in Jesus` divinity,but thats just an oddball Bishop right? Or does the Anglican church not require these beliefs?

Does anyone know where I can find comparison chart of required beliefs for all the Christian churches?

[ July 17, 2002: Message edited by: Anunnaki ]</p>

echidna

Brought up by a very Anglican father, I quite agree.

In fact I think there was a Scottish Bishop Holloway who I heard asked about the merits of organised religion. His response was something along the lines of "I don't believe in organised religion. I'm an Anglican."

Calverdude, I suspect that we would disagree on very little when it came to religion.

Bishop John Spong is also a strong voice amongst the horde of clergymen whose Christianity is so liberal it's difficult to distinguish it from atheism at times.

Caverdude

Let's see, I found a great site once listing the worlds major religions, but can't find it right now. I think most Christian groups pretty much agree on the resurrection thing. I think it is an important aspect that reinforces the idea of the spirit living on after death. The Episcocal church I go to never handed me a list of mandatory beliefs or such. Also, they seem to be able to discuss and debate such things without rancor. That's one of the things I like about that church. It seems to me that you really are raising the question: is Jesus divine or not. This is a big question and I admit some confusion about the topic. For example, is Jesus God or the son of God? Also, if he is the son of God, then are their two Gods? These are the type of things I ask that cause people to look at me funny. Such questions aside, as I stated earlier, I still like the basic message of Love and Forgiveness. Those are the main principles that I hang my hat on.