Why all the confusion in Christianity?

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Permalink Reply by autumn stacey fontenot on November 12, 2011 at 4:52am

I would have to agree with many of the post here and understand the others. Human beings are all different. Our surroundings as a child and our experiences throughout or lives tend to shape how we believe and perceive things in our present lives. I can stand in a group of five friends and make a logical and clear statement and two of them may understand me as see me as giving an explanation, one me see my statement as offensive, one may see the way as said it as confrontational, while the other one doesn't really understand the meaning of my statement nor the reason I said it. We all Perceive things differently. I am newer to this site and still learning and growing in my faith. Through my studies I see where even theologians who spend their lives with the right heart trying to interpret Gods word often end up with different theories of what God is saying to us. I do not see a problem with reading different opinions of interpretation of God's word by different christians and I believe this is because I believe that the Bible can be simple but it can also be very complex and hard for many to put together all that God says without taking some things out of context or simply having a bias or own opinion while trying to clearly understand. That is because we are human. I think that many do not have the ability to simply read the Bible and understand the exact meaning of everything it says. I also think that there are many things God knows we can never fully grasp until we stand before Him. I do think it is important to know something about the person we are learning from and make an attempt to assure their credibility. In the end the bible is the only book to follow and it is absolutely the word of the almighty God. With that said, God gave to some a higher level of intelligence and thinking, He gives us other people in the world to help bring us to understanding we we get confused. He is did not annoint others to go out into the world and teach His gospel, we wouldn't have ministers, pastors and such. Rarely do all people with a belief tend to agree on exactly every single issue, command and instruction the same way. But, in the end we have to read our bibles, we should take advantage of others who may have a better understanding or more spiritual maturity than we do and be open to being guided by Gods disciples. Ultimately we each have our own interpretation of our christian walk and what God says for us to do. We all have our own personal relationship with the Lord and only we can make the final decision what we understand God to be saying to us but we should never close ourselves to our own understanding because there is always someone out there who might have a better clarification, a better understanding, a different meaning, and if they can back that up with God's word, we should at least consider it. This is a very interesting topic to have posted about and I have struggled with these ideas myself. Thanks you for putting it up for all to consider. God Bless you Always.  

Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on November 12, 2011 at 6:01am

Autumn,

Thank you for your response. 

I really like what you had to say about it. I think that God may have written the Bible in the manners that He did so we would grow with understanding over a period of years studying His Word. I have come to understand more why we all aren't on the same page and why we might never be.

Many people think that God looks over us as though were were a group instead of individuals. I, on the other hand feel I have a personal relationship with Him, and His Holy Spirit guides me from on step to another.

God meets us where we are. I think some of the more knowledgeable Christians fail to remember when they were *babes in Christ*. Therefore, they have little patience with newer members of the church. 

It is amazing to me how a person can grow by studying the same words over and over. The Bible isn't a book that gets boring or that can be memorized in total. Nor is all the information in one place for a person to memorize all that is said on a subject. It is truly an amazing book!

Many blessings to you and your loved ones, in the Name of Jesus....

Rita

Permalink Reply by Richard L. Broch, Sr. on November 12, 2011 at 7:27pm

Sister Rita,

 

Yes, thank you for this post. And your comment: The Bible is an amazing Book.

As Autumn points out....... even the experts disagree on interpretation. And I definitely agree - we must always keep an open mind, and heart, regarding the Word of God. I've changed my position several times in the last 35 years.

 

The Bible is alive, and relevent to events happening today, even though it was written thousands of years ago.

Only Almighty God can do that. Amen.

 

Grace and Peace.

 

 

Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on November 13, 2011 at 4:07am

Richard,

I am ever ready to grow according to what the Holy Spirit teaches me. But that leading comes from Him alone. If a person introduces me to something new, I always run it by the Holy Spirit first.

I don't listen to a multitude of teachers. I stick to one (human) teacher and check out what he says through the Word of God. If you post scriptures on here, I am going to check out those scriptures to see if they line up with my current way of thinking. If it is different than what I know, the Holy Spirit shows me how it relates and adds it to my knowledge...or if it doesn't relate, it is discarded.

I don't know how many times I've made changes to my thinking in the last 20 odd years, but I think they are good changes. More and clearing understanding is coming through to me. I'm just sorry for the people who say to themselves,  *I can't change my thinking on (a particular subject) because I have already stated what I think and people will think I'm wishy-washy.* How sad that is that they won't allow the Holy Spirit to cause growth in them.

 

God meets people where they are at and we need to do the same thing. We need to be very tolerant of the understanding of others. We need to teach them what we know, but if they don't accept it, and it isn't a basic principle of salvation, we need to be gentle with them.

 

I remember some years ago, teaching IE Schofield's (not sure I have the name exactly right) take on Genesis 1. A man listening didn't agree with me and he got up and left the building. He never mentioned the subject again but he didn't explain his thoughts either. Now I have a different understand of Genesis 1 but I didn't learn from him, as he was unwilling to share what he knew with me, but his better course was to leave. I think it is important that we share with others, and if they reject it, what is that to me? I know what I believe is the truth as given by the Holy Spirit. But it doesn't mean He has told me everything about it. There might be more for me to learn about it.

 

It kind of like school...we start in first grade...and end up with a PHD....but it takes years. If we are taught something that is wrong and we are willing to change it, Holy Spirit removes it and teaches us correctly.

 

Blessings, Richard...

Rita

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