Do people believe because they are determined to do so?
Eating SDA Style
(This is an essay I wrote for part of a Cultural Memoir Assignment) One former Adventist friend of mine always says, “It was the table that fed me” in referring to our shared Seventh-day Adventist background. My friend was referring to the morals, values and spirituality of Seventh-day Adventism that we still hold onto, even though we disagree with the Church in many ways. I, however, can’t help but think of feeding in the literal sense. Seventh-day Adventism did truely feed us, but in very unusual ways. Seventh-day Adventists have something they refer to as the “Health Message.” Just like the Mormons we have our very own prophet, only she was a woman and not a polygamist. Ellen White encouraged healthy living and vegetarianism in the Seventh-day Adventist church. In many ways this has been a blessing to the church. Adventists who follow the health message are some of the longest living folks in the nation. On the other hand it has brought a spirit of legalistic infighting ove
Comments
I usually believe because something makes sense to me & fits with all the other things I understand to be true.
The more I learn about Adventism, Ellen White, Religious history & Christianity itself, the more sense everything makes.
I feel sad that you've had the opposite experience. I feel like my parent's skepticism of EGW & reluctance to stress it to me at home & my lack of it at SDA schools made me confused because I only had part of the puzzle pieces.
I never attended a revelation seminar until I moved to Colorado. I never knew the history of our church until I took Adventist Heritage. I never watched 3ABN until I moved to Colorado.
I feel like my life is better than it ever had been, my life makes more sense than it ever has before.
I get along with Olin better than I ever have (I used to have a lot of anger & yell at him a lot & afterward be unable to remember why). It's all probably more due to my slowly developing personal relationship with Jesus & only enhanced by the additional knowledge that I've gained that helps put all the puzzle pieces together for me.
@Alilia. I am glad that you feel your life has improved and you have grown as a person. I won't deny the effect that your religious experiences have had on you. I think that many religious and spiritual traditions provide a mirror whereby we can see ourselves for how we truly are, and these traditions also teach practices for improving our characters. (e.g. prayer, charity) Christianity has shaped me for the better in many ways and it continues to shape me. I just can't be sold out to a belief system anymore because I have seen and experienced positive changes apart from Christianity.
I just think people need to be careful to defend their beliefs because they believe they have the truth rather than defend their beliefs because they belong to an organization. Does that make sense? I defend the Bible because I believe it's true, not because I'm a Christian and that's what we're supposed to believe.