Christian faith: facts and consequences
The beginning of all. To "prove" that the Bible is true, or
inerrant, or the word of God, through the Bible itself, is an absurdity.
That is what must be proven in the first place. If you "prove"
through a source outside the Bible, how do we know that that "source"
is true, or inerrant? through the source itself? that is an absurdity. And
when the infallibility of the Bible falls down, the whole "building"
falls down.
Dear visitor, reader: At the present time, March 2005, I care less about
discussing Christian traditional teachings, (as below). Without leaving my
Christian roots, I have centered my life entirely in God, and, through prayer
and study, I am trying to see the harmony that must exist between faith and
science. To see the starting point of this new vision, click here. You will find there
links to further developments. Thank you.
Important, previous
note
This document does
not express nor represent
what this page "Christianity..." is. It would be sad and wrong
to think that this is what the author has in mind, or that this critique
is the only message he has to convey on this page. Please keep in mind,
First, that the statements of this document are written
in a condensed way; each statement is explained in detail later.
Second, that this document is a starting point to find a
more holy and loving God, and a more human and beautiful Jesus. Please do not
judge "Christianity..." by this document only, as some readers
have done. Please explore it using the Subject Directory or the Main
Topics Directory; check The Prayers, where the author is confident
that you will find Christian and genuine spiritual nourishment.
Third, that the author honestly thinks that his view of
Christian revelation is closer to the spirit and mind of the New Testament than
most traditional views. He
tries to find the meaning and spirit of the revelations by Jesus,
contained in the New Testament, rather than the letter which alone is
very difficult to interpret two thousand years after it was written.
Second
note. Please
keep also in mind these five presuppositions:
1. Some of the physical, scientific
statements are theories, regardless where they come from; they are
not fully demonstrated, and consequently not final
truth in any direction; no particular theory must be imposed.
2. Most of religious statements are
statements of faith; this means that there is no proof of them and they
may be believed or held only by faith. We take the existence of God for
granted; but this is a presupposition, a theory to begin with, not a proven
fact.
3. Statements based in the Bible
suppose faith in the Bible and are believed only by faith, but they can
not be proven. In this sense they are only personal beliefs.
4. Regarding statements of faith,
everyone must choose and decide what he/she wants to believe; there is
no rule to say that you must believe something.
5. Faith can not be imposed, because faith
is a free choice and also a gift of God.
Read the full document about the Presuppositions
of faith, here.
The document
Fact one
The world was created about 13.5 billion years
ago, not 5000-10000 years as the Bible says. Since then the universe has been
in evolution giving birth to life in several complex forms.
The consequences. The
consequences of this are:
1. creation and all in Genesis 1-3 is not true
These chapters
were written and interpreted through the whole Bible, Old and New
Testament, and through most of Christian history, literally. Only in
modern times, compelled by the evidence after
2. there was not
a Garden of Eden, as the Bible says
3. Adam and Eve
didn't exist as real persons created directly by God, as the Bible says
4. there is not
original sin based on Adam's sin, as Paul says
5. there is no redemption of sins based on original sin, as the
New Testament and the Church say
Much more in the book.
Back to Directory