Tuesday 7 April 2015

Trusting Doubt

On my "must read" list for April.
Most Evangelical Christians earnestly strive to worship the God of Love and Truth. But a belief that the Bible is literally perfect can put them in the odd position of defending falsehood, bigotry, and even violence. What do Evangelicals believe? And how do these beliefs subvert humanity's shared moral values, including the compassionate ministry of Jesus in the New Testament? Is the Good Book even “good,” given its historical inaccuracies, scientific impossibilities, and moral contradictions? Trusting Doubt answers all these questions … and more. It also provides a clear picture of this variant of Christianity which has risen to political prominence at a spiritual cost. 
Raised in a staunch fundamentalist family and educated at Wheaton College – home of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelicalism – Valerie Tarico speaks as a former "insider." She offers alternative biblical, social, and scientific explanations that are compatible with contemporary Christianity, interfaith understanding, and non-theism. Gratefully, Tarico's unique voice as a former Evangelical provides a scholarly yet accessible path away from fundamentalism and toward spiritual clarity – a journey based on logic, love, and the quest for truth.

3 comments:

  1. As someone said here not too long ago, we must "rise" above it all.

    We should never be limited or shackled by facts and science.

    It makes life so much more simple so we don't have to worry ourselves about such silly things as The Poof of the Bible.

    If you but divide by zero, the infinite is possible!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Facts and science apparently aren't obstacles to hubris. Notice this quote from Douglas Becker on "The Poof of the Bible" post: "I have structural visualization and most of them (ACOG folks) do not. I don’t have any interests in what ever they may have to offer. I would find the people 'two dimensional' at best. It would be instant boredom since we would have nothing in common and they simply could not understand my thinking… ever. At least here, Byker Bob and James (and I suspect a few others) do have Structural Visualization and it gives us a great deal of common ground. We can at least have sensible discussions not possible with others who may be found deficient in that regard. (It does get tiresome to explain rainbows to earthworms" Sounds like the same old "I'm one of the chosen few because I know things that you don't know!"

    ReplyDelete
  3. How about these "Generation Y" "Millennials" kids?
    They are a tough sell for the orthodox Christ-myth - let alone its bizarre mutations like Armstrongism.

    ReplyDelete