Intellectual
Here is a post I started awhile a couple months ago and just now finished...thought it might explain my predicament more fully.
Do you have to be an intellectual person to be saved? The more I read and learn about spirituality the more complicated it seems. The answers which I once believed seem foolish and childish. Some would say that we need to be "fools" for Christ. That it is better to accept things like a child. Plenty of people are willing to do this. They hold onto beliefs that seem to contradict modern thought and knowledge. Some have looked into modern thinking and keep holding onto their beliefs. Some refuse to even acknowledge that there is another way then what they already believe. Some are simply so immersed in their culture of belief that they are not aware of any other way.
Here is where I see the big problem. These people who, for what ever reason, hold onto to these "foolish" beliefs don't all believe the same thing. They are people from nearly every religion and denomination holding onto a wide variety of beliefs. So if you are supposed to have "faith like a child" are you supposed to then have faith like a Catholic child, or a Protestant child, or a Hindu Child, or Buddhist child or a Mormon child or a Muslim child...
It seems to me the only way to discern the right path is study. Some people say that if we just trust the Holy Spirit He will reveal to us the right path. Problem is there are people from a variety of faiths claiming to have been divinely led to their own right path.
So again it seems the only way to discern the right path is to study, and not just study but study with a critical mind. Since so many people are claiming different paths to be RIGHT you have to be critical. You can't just accept what you have been told.
Here is the thing...I am not that smart. My husband might have a chance at finding the truth. He is a pretty intellectual guy. I am not saying I am a moron, but I have a hard time understanding all the differing arguments and sometimes one sounds just as good as another.
Is there any hope at all. If God let anyone into heaven who at least made an effort to search for truth I think it would be fair, but many would argue that you have to follow the one right way. But if there is no real way to discern the one right way without being a super intellectual (like my husband, and even he says he is struggling to understand things) then how can a mere mortal like me have hope?
Do you have to be an intellectual person to be saved? The more I read and learn about spirituality the more complicated it seems. The answers which I once believed seem foolish and childish. Some would say that we need to be "fools" for Christ. That it is better to accept things like a child. Plenty of people are willing to do this. They hold onto beliefs that seem to contradict modern thought and knowledge. Some have looked into modern thinking and keep holding onto their beliefs. Some refuse to even acknowledge that there is another way then what they already believe. Some are simply so immersed in their culture of belief that they are not aware of any other way.
Here is where I see the big problem. These people who, for what ever reason, hold onto to these "foolish" beliefs don't all believe the same thing. They are people from nearly every religion and denomination holding onto a wide variety of beliefs. So if you are supposed to have "faith like a child" are you supposed to then have faith like a Catholic child, or a Protestant child, or a Hindu Child, or Buddhist child or a Mormon child or a Muslim child...
It seems to me the only way to discern the right path is study. Some people say that if we just trust the Holy Spirit He will reveal to us the right path. Problem is there are people from a variety of faiths claiming to have been divinely led to their own right path.
So again it seems the only way to discern the right path is to study, and not just study but study with a critical mind. Since so many people are claiming different paths to be RIGHT you have to be critical. You can't just accept what you have been told.
Here is the thing...I am not that smart. My husband might have a chance at finding the truth. He is a pretty intellectual guy. I am not saying I am a moron, but I have a hard time understanding all the differing arguments and sometimes one sounds just as good as another.
Is there any hope at all. If God let anyone into heaven who at least made an effort to search for truth I think it would be fair, but many would argue that you have to follow the one right way. But if there is no real way to discern the one right way without being a super intellectual (like my husband, and even he says he is struggling to understand things) then how can a mere mortal like me have hope?
Comments
On the other hand, I think other factors are more paramount to finding one's truth (versus "the truth"). We each have our own paths to find, our own understanding of our relationship to God to find, and institutional religion seeks to stiffle this quest from childhood.
Look up at the stars tonight and you will find answers about the God you seek. Search your heart and you will find needs that can't seem to be met by this world and a desire for life beyond mortality.
I believe that God has bestowed upon us the ability to think critically and analytically.- In this, lies our power of choice.
I have critically questioned and analyzed my husband enough to know that he is compatable, committed and good for me. Based on this, I chose to be with him, but only my heart could show me that he was my soulmate & we were meant to be.
I choose to believe in a loving God who wants us to use our hearts and our minds to find Him (or Her) for ourselves.
I don't know if this is coherent or not, but I just wanted to get my two cents in. In a way I understand how you feel. I am struggling with my own religious experience now, and really have been for about two years.
Exposure to so many ideas and cultures since then has really opened my eyes as to how others view Christianity (much worse than I had imagined before), as well as the classical view of mythology and how Christianity stamped it out. It just really got me thinking.
Which I still am, and will be doing for a long time. As I am sure you will be as well.
Joshua