I have kind of a long series questions i guess, about the idea of Theology and Christianity. now i i want to say i am sorry for such a long thread, but finally my questions with this topic has come in a way that i can write it out, so i don't want to take this time forgranted.
i mean, this is something that has been on my mind, but i think today i can finally possibly put into words, hence the thread.
this word, "theology" just seems to ugly to me anymore and i really don't know why. it just seems to sepereate Christians from other Christians. i have to ask the question about this. when did theology become more important than following a man that lived on this eart around 2,000 years ago or so, and his name is Jesus Christ? i mean, did theology become the way of knowing we are a Christian, when i thought it was being a disciple of Jesus is what classified you as a Christian.
now i know in the early church (meaning pre-niacene creed church), there was confusion about things. is it that really surpising is what i want to ask, because we are human beings. but, to me, it is starting to seem that the Niacene Creed was the statement or, if i may use this metaphor, the dictionary definition of Christianity, and those who question it, maybe doubt it are not a Christian, and thus their salvation is lost.
then i sit back about this again. there has been more confusion now, with a broad view statement/Niacene Creed, then ever before.
plus something else comes to mind. couldn't it be hypothetical possible, to consider the timeframe that the Niacene Creed was created, as the very First Reformation of the Church? so with this in mind, i am growing curious of what were they reforming from, or so called, "correcting". so i'll somehow outline this out.
The Church right after Christ's ascension to heaven----->The timeframe of the Niacene Creed----->The Protestant Reformation----->Modern Christianity today encompassing many forms of Christianity.
so with this in mind, there comes a question in my head. is this good process for us as Christians, or is this a bad process?
i mean what was the frameworkers if you will of the Niacene Creed, reforming themselves from that was so evil or to put it in lighter terms, "wrong."
then now to the next part of this post.
theology today just seems so important. i mean, has theology utterly replaced the love of Christ in Christians today? i mean the idea of discipleship by definition is following the ideas of a person. when i read the Gospels, i don't see any of this stuff that people bicker about mentioned. maybe i'm a blind Christian, but i don't think i'm blind. i mean was the sole purpose of Christianity to grow so far, that we grow so weary and that we in the end we judge our own interpretation as the Divine Word of God and then preach our own Divine Truth? or was the sole intention of Christianity to lead people to become disciples of Christ, as it is said in the Bible.
then i'm sure the next topic that could go into is the Epistles. now i have nothing against them, for they are part of the Bible. but i question on how we use them into our theology. i mean can we, rightfully and logically, use stuff that Paul had to do at the time the early church was in formation? now i'm not trying to say that all of the epistles is only for that specific time by any means. i'm just saying, should our theology that quotes the Epistles, be maybe a little more leniant, and maybe accepting that our culture is different by far today? i mean there had to be reasons at that specific time that women didn't become pastors. there had to be a reason that Paul instructed the early churches to be strict in ways that are different than the modern church practices with things like people struggling in sin. there has to be a reason why things within the area of spiritual gifts seem different than what it "seems" to be in many of the churches today. now i am not throwing into the topics of holiness, grace, forgiveness, the nature of God, spiritual warfare and all of the "deeper" stuff in the faith, but even then, that "deeper" stuff in the faith is argued about and the normal self-confidence boaster, or the faith sustaining response of, "I am right" comes right back into play and it just seems to lead us, Christians as a whole, or universally, to a dead end.
now i don't want to totally come off as anti-theology. i mean of course there are going to be a few set things that we as Christians share in beliefs with an understanding of scripture. but, it just seems that Theology got too big for its britches in my eyes. it tries to cover personal, individual areas, that cannot be unified under. it tries to cover historical differences. and i just wonder now in my own faith and in life, how important theology really is, or at least the way it is perceived here in modern times, or dare i go even further, The americain version Christianity.
this could very well be me too, and maybe i am far off the rocker at a young age, or running wild in left field. it's just now, after me believeing in this belief for nearly 10 to 11 years, and making big and small mistakes, and growing from those mistakes, i just feel that i am at a point of rediscovering my faith and it is like being waken up and getting the sleep out of your eyes, and wandering what is all this around me? things just seem different to me now. it could be growing up, but when i differ with people in their upper ages of more of a conservative/fundamentalist thought, i realize age has very little to do with it, for i also know people my age who are very fundamentalist, and needless to say, "religious" discussion has went from little to none between those people and myself. it's sad, but it's a sad fact. when someone says they worry about me and things that i might believe because i came from such a "dark" world in this one specific person's eyes, i have a tendancy to grow defensive on the inside, and hold my talks at a minium, because if it gets started, it's getting started on assumptions, and not pure dialogue.
well i'll end it here with all that in the thread, and again i am sorry for such a long post. i have a habit of writing long posts, but with this specific, it is like i said in the beginning of this thread, that this morning, i have finally been able to pinpoint it out in word format where my questions lie in with this topic, and i don't want to take this time forgranted. May God Bless you all, and i look forward to further discussion. <><
i mean, this is something that has been on my mind, but i think today i can finally possibly put into words, hence the thread.
this word, "theology" just seems to ugly to me anymore and i really don't know why. it just seems to sepereate Christians from other Christians. i have to ask the question about this. when did theology become more important than following a man that lived on this eart around 2,000 years ago or so, and his name is Jesus Christ? i mean, did theology become the way of knowing we are a Christian, when i thought it was being a disciple of Jesus is what classified you as a Christian.
now i know in the early church (meaning pre-niacene creed church), there was confusion about things. is it that really surpising is what i want to ask, because we are human beings. but, to me, it is starting to seem that the Niacene Creed was the statement or, if i may use this metaphor, the dictionary definition of Christianity, and those who question it, maybe doubt it are not a Christian, and thus their salvation is lost.
then i sit back about this again. there has been more confusion now, with a broad view statement/Niacene Creed, then ever before.
plus something else comes to mind. couldn't it be hypothetical possible, to consider the timeframe that the Niacene Creed was created, as the very First Reformation of the Church? so with this in mind, i am growing curious of what were they reforming from, or so called, "correcting". so i'll somehow outline this out.
The Church right after Christ's ascension to heaven----->The timeframe of the Niacene Creed----->The Protestant Reformation----->Modern Christianity today encompassing many forms of Christianity.
so with this in mind, there comes a question in my head. is this good process for us as Christians, or is this a bad process?
i mean what was the frameworkers if you will of the Niacene Creed, reforming themselves from that was so evil or to put it in lighter terms, "wrong."
then now to the next part of this post.
theology today just seems so important. i mean, has theology utterly replaced the love of Christ in Christians today? i mean the idea of discipleship by definition is following the ideas of a person. when i read the Gospels, i don't see any of this stuff that people bicker about mentioned. maybe i'm a blind Christian, but i don't think i'm blind. i mean was the sole purpose of Christianity to grow so far, that we grow so weary and that we in the end we judge our own interpretation as the Divine Word of God and then preach our own Divine Truth? or was the sole intention of Christianity to lead people to become disciples of Christ, as it is said in the Bible.
then i'm sure the next topic that could go into is the Epistles. now i have nothing against them, for they are part of the Bible. but i question on how we use them into our theology. i mean can we, rightfully and logically, use stuff that Paul had to do at the time the early church was in formation? now i'm not trying to say that all of the epistles is only for that specific time by any means. i'm just saying, should our theology that quotes the Epistles, be maybe a little more leniant, and maybe accepting that our culture is different by far today? i mean there had to be reasons at that specific time that women didn't become pastors. there had to be a reason that Paul instructed the early churches to be strict in ways that are different than the modern church practices with things like people struggling in sin. there has to be a reason why things within the area of spiritual gifts seem different than what it "seems" to be in many of the churches today. now i am not throwing into the topics of holiness, grace, forgiveness, the nature of God, spiritual warfare and all of the "deeper" stuff in the faith, but even then, that "deeper" stuff in the faith is argued about and the normal self-confidence boaster, or the faith sustaining response of, "I am right" comes right back into play and it just seems to lead us, Christians as a whole, or universally, to a dead end.
now i don't want to totally come off as anti-theology. i mean of course there are going to be a few set things that we as Christians share in beliefs with an understanding of scripture. but, it just seems that Theology got too big for its britches in my eyes. it tries to cover personal, individual areas, that cannot be unified under. it tries to cover historical differences. and i just wonder now in my own faith and in life, how important theology really is, or at least the way it is perceived here in modern times, or dare i go even further, The americain version Christianity.
this could very well be me too, and maybe i am far off the rocker at a young age, or running wild in left field. it's just now, after me believeing in this belief for nearly 10 to 11 years, and making big and small mistakes, and growing from those mistakes, i just feel that i am at a point of rediscovering my faith and it is like being waken up and getting the sleep out of your eyes, and wandering what is all this around me? things just seem different to me now. it could be growing up, but when i differ with people in their upper ages of more of a conservative/fundamentalist thought, i realize age has very little to do with it, for i also know people my age who are very fundamentalist, and needless to say, "religious" discussion has went from little to none between those people and myself. it's sad, but it's a sad fact. when someone says they worry about me and things that i might believe because i came from such a "dark" world in this one specific person's eyes, i have a tendancy to grow defensive on the inside, and hold my talks at a minium, because if it gets started, it's getting started on assumptions, and not pure dialogue.
well i'll end it here with all that in the thread, and again i am sorry for such a long post. i have a habit of writing long posts, but with this specific, it is like i said in the beginning of this thread, that this morning, i have finally been able to pinpoint it out in word format where my questions lie in with this topic, and i don't want to take this time forgranted. May God Bless you all, and i look forward to further discussion. <><
