New Year, New Thoughts

Is it a new decade or just a new year? Does it really matter? You have to mark off your time somehow, but I'm not sure that numbers are particularly better than, say, the moon. And apparently, this month is a blue moon month. Two full moons in one month. See what I mean? Numbers versus nature. It's the standard versus metric argument.

Anyway, I think I've decided to stop letting my evangelical-Revelations-interpretation past from influencing my present decisions/thoughts about world events anymore. It's not been at the forefront of my thinking for some time, that evangelical intrepration history, but it's still in there at the back of things. In a phrase, it's not a good idea to let prophecy influence your decisions. Prophecy will work itself out in its own time and way. You have to work yourself/situation out regardless. Still, I'm surprised at how the interpretations of Scripture from my youth still figure largely into my thinking/acting at the age of 30. I've spent lots of time thinking about Scripture and life and interpretation and the fact that there are still significant holdovers from my growing up, while normal, comes off as surprising to me. Kids, learn this lesson: adult's views on the world are often no more thorough or long-sighted than your own viewpoints. Learn to understand the differences between thorough and true; not thorough and true; not thorough and not true; and thorough and not true. Also, understand that thorough is a matter of gradients and nothing is ever truly thorough enough.

Do people who aren't religiously Christian understand that within Christianity there are significant differences in understanding of God, Scripture, and how to live life?

I have also been thinking about this statement that Jesus made to the religious leaders of Israel during his lifetime: "You diligently search the Scriptures, thinking that by them you have life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life." I've been thinking lately that this underlying concept should gird all Biblical interpretation. I have to admit that I've been a bit frustrated/bitter at the conservative Christians in my life for putting (what I now feel is) more emphasis on scriptural "adherence" than actual relationship with God. (As a not of fairness, the liberals have the opposite problem: relationship without adherence.)

Similarly, two things: Christians don't seem to understand the Bible as set of literary documents and the following idea: there are no answers only processes. This is similar to the concept that everything is dynamic, nothing is static.