Sola Scriptura

[Quahom1]

Our prisons and graves are full of people that believe just that.... There are whole countries where what we call pedophiles they call normal... Everyone may justify it, not call it murder...but all through the ages on until today, murder, mass murder and genocide even, have been mainstays of humans it appears...

You, eh haven't visited a prison lately have you? Even the most hardened criminals, apparently HATE, pedophilia, and those that conduct such behavior...

v/r

Q

 

[wil]

You, eh haven't visited a prison lately have you? Even the most hardened criminals, apparently HATE, pedophilia, and those that conduct such behavior... v/r Q

No Q, has been a while...although I have fond memories...I give a nod to your expertise in these circles.

I think we are fully aware that most of us feel the behaviour abhorent, but that is not to say that some obviously feel it is ok...or maybe they don't maybe for some it an addictive behaviouir that they fight...I don't know... but we are also aware that there are thousands if not millions around the world engaging in such behaviour daily...

 

[RubySera_Martin]

From what you said I did not detect that you were discouraged from an education because you are a woman, but just because an education is viewed with some suspiscion. Is that correct?

Yes. It is believed that we (humans?) can get all we need in life with an elementary eight-grade education. There is some inconsistency in this when we observe that they make use of the most advanced medical science. But they themselves can never be a doctor or nurse because it requires higher education. There are some self-educated people among them. Correspondence courses seem to be okay, so some men get training as accountants. Some people are so well-read in alternative medicine that they can advise others.

As for the hard-working part, from what I've seen of the Mennonites in NY that is very obvious. My father, an atheist, has so much respect for the Mennonites because they work hard and with good craftsmanship and discipline. I have to say I really respect that trait too.

Hard-working and self-sufficient are high values. I think that is where the self-education comes in. Someone on here mentioned being a professional carpenter. I am not sure what that means but there are a lot of men in that community who are first rate carpenters and archetects. I myself have seen so many building projects and have done enough carpentry on my own that I think I could set up a house. The point I'm making is that part of self-education comes simply from exposure.

The part about the shunning I find very sad. I hope this gets easier for you with time, as everyone gets used to the idea of the path you've chosen.

They would actually have to compromise on basic beliefs to let up on the shunning. This thread is Sola Scriptura. They read the Bible. Some people read little else. They certainly don't trust fancy theology, the likes of which my questions would have demanded had I been allowed to ask them. Thus, I think it can be said that they keep the "scriptures only" concept very literally. And the Bible commands Christians to separate themselves from "the world." They see me as being "of the world." I've talked with people who left this kind of community thirty and fifty years ago. The shunning continues; the emotional barriers stay in place for life. There is no alternative as they see it. I think the term fundamentalist fits.

As for the Christology, I have to say that the emphasis on the atonement is not large in the church I grew up in. Certainly it is part of the doctrine, but I have been very fortunate, I think, to have been raised in a pretty liberal church where the emphasis is on God's love for us, rather than judgement. And as for humans being depraved and sinful, that also is just not part of what I hear in church. The falleness of our state does not mean that we are 'bad,' in fact I think Catholic doctrine teaches the goodness of creation, including and especially humans, but we are in more like a state of separation, or being less than we were created for.

I was exposed to this type of Christianity for the first time when I started studying at the seminary. I've wondered what I would believe today if I had grown up with that kind of teaching.

What you describe sounds a lot more like what I associate with fundamentalism. Anyway, I agree with you that many, if not all of the atrocities committed by humans have more to do with our psychology than with 'sin.' But, then I ponder why there is mental instability and other physiological illnesses in a world created good...

Right. Christianity seems to raise more questions than it answers.