Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: mike@spock.ucar.edu (Mike Daniels) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Breaking free of a literalistic interpretation of the Bible Message-ID: Date: 20 Sep 89 08:20:24 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Research Aviation Facility, NCAR, Boulder, CO Lines: 93 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Hi. I have a few questions that I think are appropriate to this group. First, my background: I was raised in a Fundamentalist church (specifically, the Church of God - Anderson, IN) and at the age of about 12, I accepted Christ mostly out of fear and because I was expected to do so by my church family and my biological family. In my late teens, I became somewhat of a "rebel", was heavily into alcohol, a few drugs -- generally not a "good" person. I have since come to realize that I desire real meaning and purpose in my life, but have been plagued by the "literalistic" interpretations of the Bible by the Fundamentalists. I can't see taking the gospels literally when they apparently were written 15-40 years after Christ's resurrection. My question is: Are there books that aid a person in "breaking free" of this mentality so that one can have a less dogmatic (and for me, healthier) view of the Christian religion? I often struggle with feelings of guilt when I try to take the Bible less literally... Thanks for any help you may have... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Daniels (mike@spock.ucar.edu) RAF/ATD/National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [I'm going to interpret your question somewhat broadly. My suspicion is that what you need to see is kind of a sampling of interesting and creative Christianity, not attacks on fundies. So I'd suggest that you try sampling things from a variety of traditions, to get a feel for the richness that is present in the Christian tradition. At that point a reading list becomes very much a matter of taste. This list does not mention the "spiritual classics" such as Pilgrim's Progress, Imitation of Christ, etc., though I think those should be part of any reading program such as this. I do not by any means agree with everything said in the following books. I couldn't, since they don't agree among themselves. That's not the point. Some of these books would be perfectly consistent with the inerrantist position. Others are radical. Not all evangelical Christianity is based on fear. There are many fine evangelical Christians with a very balanced view of life and the Gospel. 1. The most direct response to your question is probably John A.T. Robinson's book "Honest to God". It was written specifically to do what you ask, namely to broaden people's ideas of Christianity. It was quite controversial in its day, but I suspect now would seem less so. I can't quite think of a recent equivalent. I haven't read it recently. Maybe it would seem like tame stuff now. I dunno. 2. Another good "consciousness-raising" book is "The Peril of Modernizing Jesus", by H.J.Cadbury. This book goes back to 1937. Again, in some details it may be a bit dated. But I haven't seen any good replacement. It asks you to put aside all cultural preconceptions and look at what Jesus was really like in the context of the 1st Cent. Its reconstruction is challenging to both liberals and conservatives. 3. One of the best summaries of the results of modern "Biblical Criticism" is Jeremias' book "Rediscovering the Parables". Jeremias is one of the "big names" in Biblical studies. This is an attempt to present some of the results to a wider audience. 4. If you're interested in more formal theology, I strongly recommend Baille's book "God was in Christ". This is considered by a wide variety of people to be one of the most creative pieces of work on the Trinity and Incarnation in recent years. It goes through the history of those doctrines, trying to show what was really meant by all those substances, essenses, and hypostases, and then attempts to come up with a modern formulation in terms of interpersonal relationships. This is more technical reading than the other things listed here. 5. As far as living the Christian life, there are lots of classics. You might want to look at some of the spiritual classics of the ages, including some of the medieval works. Simply to make a random choice, I suggest one or more of Bonhoeffer's books. Bonhoeffer was killed by the Nazi's for his work with the Confessing Church. He has many very penetrating works. A good start is "The Cost of Discipleship". To me the strength of Bonhoeffer's work is in helping you realize what it means to be a Christian. I found "The Cost of Discipleship" one of the most powerful books I have ever read. 6. There are several magazines you might want to look at. From the evangelical side, I recommend "the Door" (formerly "the Wittenburg Door"). It combines humor and satire with interviews of a variety of people. Their "loser of the month" and "truth is stranger than fiction" is a hilarious look at what happens when Christians get a bit carried away with themselves. Another suggestion is "Bible Review". This publishes articles about the Bible, both historical background and discussions of what things mean. They attempt to deal with a variety of topics from different points of view. It's a good way to get a feel of what scholars do with the Bible. It's a nicely written and produced magazine. It tends to be on the liberal side. In theory they are open to inerrantists, but you don't see a lot of them writing for it. --clh]