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From: wfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: Re: one more time...
Message-ID: <1030@rti-sel.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 6-Oct-86 11:19:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: rti-sel.1030
Posted: Mon Oct  6 11:19:08 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 11-Oct-86 09:43:12 EDT
References: <2fa71dcd.33cd@apollo.uucp> <2fa77b2f.46@apollo.uucp> <1500@mtx5a.UUCP> <2722@burdvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: wfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly)
Organization: Research Triangle Institute, NC
Lines: 50

In article <2722@burdvax.UUCP> devonst@burdvax.UUCP (Tom Albrecht) writes:

>For nearly two millenia the Christian faith has understood that there are
>certain basic dogmas which define what it means to be a Christian.  Belief
>in the bodily resurrection of Christ is one of these.  For you
>to assert that one can be a Christian and deny the concept of the
>resurrection is very bold and, I'm afraid to say, quite wrong.  ...

Then why do you later say:

>>They've certainly turned me off to the idea of affiliating with
>>any existing Christian denomination, in spite of the fact that I'm
>>very concerned with the importance of fellowship, community action,
>>and the search for religious meaning in my life. 
>
>That's an interesting statement because many "mainline" denominations would
>affirm the things you are saying.  There are ministers in the PCUSA church,
>for instance, that deny the divinity of Christ and the bodily resurrection.

There are two possibilities: either you're saying you CAN be a
Christian and deny the resurrection, or that many 'mainline'
denominations are not truly Christian. The former seems contradictory,
the latter seems arrogant to me. What I said was NOT bold: many
members of Christian churches would agree with me. Check, for example,
the statements of belief in the book "Religion In America" by Leo
Rosten (I think I've got the name and title right).
 
>Unitarian Universalists are most certainly not Christians, but I guess
>that's what you are looking for.  You appears as if you have made up your
>mind about who Jesus Chrsit is and you don't want any part of it.  That's
>OK, just don't tell Christians what Christianity is.

I spent eight years in Catholic grade school, four years in Catholic
high school, and a year at a Catholic college with religion and
theology courses mandatory every semester. I was raised in a
denomination that claims to be Christian (whether you want to admit
that Catholics are Christians or not is a different matter). My
understanding of what Christ and Christianity are about is based on
knowledge, not ignorance. I do not reject the good things Christ said
and did: I reject the mystery aspects of the Christian religion just
as I reject the mystery aspects of other religions. The Bible is a
set of writings that have been misinterpreted and mistranslated over
the past 4000 years, and I see no reason to assume all of its authors
over that period were directly inspired by a divine principle. There
are many other motives for writing a religious tract: I can think of
politics, for one thing. And why shouldn't I tell Christians or anyone 
else what I think Christianity is? I thought talk.religion.misc was a 
place for the free exchange of ideas on religion.
 
                                -- Cheers, Bill Ingogly