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Abstract

7">I love Deconstructing Christianity because it’s a safe place to process our wounds and spiritual (or lack thereof) journey.I want to answer my commenter’s question, but I must clarify that what feels right today may not be what I believe tomorrow. That is precisely the beauty of deconstructing — that we can now meander through the spiritual landscape with no attachment to needing to find some final and absolute truth. The journey is the destination.Here’s the question:<blockquote id="21eb">Do you believe that Jesus is God who becomes a son, who becomes a man, to save us, to draw closer to us?</blockquote>My commenter intended for this to be a yes or no question. It is at least five questions. Of course, it is the essence of most modern denominational Christian beliefs, but from there, it gets complicated.I went to seminary and pastored a church for ten years. For the first two-thirds of my life, I would have enthusiastically said yes to all points of his question. However, after a life of observing horrid behavior by Christian leadership and after over two decades of taking a fresh look at textual (Bible) criticism and the history of Christianity, I’d have to say no to his question, but it’s far more nuanced than that.To begin, I am not sure of anything. That is by choice, and I’m entirely OK with that. I think it’s crucial to be open to new levels of understanding. The thousands of Christian denominations indicate to me that being right is more important to them than the love and unity that Jesus asked of them. That’s tragic.Even though there are things I believe, I am not attached to them at all. I don’t advocate for any position other than love.So, here’s my thoughts on the complex question:Do you believe Jesus is God? This presumes that I believe in God, so we’ll start there. I believe there is a supernatural force that sees us and loves us. I have two working theories on that.One is the “collective soul.” (Wouldn’t that be an excellent name for a band — LOL?) I believe that our soul, our deepest essence, transcends our current lives. The interplay of the souls that have moved from human form would explain much of the supernatural phenomena I’ve seen. I think these souls work individually and collectively to attend to the world. I also believe some or most of these souls move in and out of additional earthly existences.The other possibility I consider for the entity or entities we call God is that there is a supreme mover who cannot intervene in our individual lives. It is inconceivable that an all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful being would fail to protect women and children who are sick or being raped, abused, or slaughtered. If there is an all-powerf

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ul god, he’d have to be a narcissistic asshole.It’s certainly possible both of these are true with a supreme entity acting through the “collective soul.” They do what they can and care, but they are sadly limited in how much they can intervene.Is Jesus God? I don’t see it. I don’t assume anything in the Bible is accurate, and there’s nothing outside the Bible that indicates Jesus was the unique human incarnation of the God of Israel. My working theory is that there is an indwelling entity that I consider to be “Christ.” I believe the Christ spirit was strong in Jesus, which explains why two billion people still follow him. I believe there have been other humans who similarly embodied the Christ spirit. In particular, I think Mary Magdalene exhibited the Christ spirit as much as Jesus, but “The Church” suppressed that. (Yeah, that's a conspiracy theory, but it makes me happy.)Who becomes a son, and who becomes a man? Sorry, no. I do not believe Jesus was simultaneously God, the son of God, and human. Jesus was a son, a man, and a human, but not the unique embodiment of God.In that regard, I do not believe God magically impregnated 13 or 14-year-old Mary. The thought of that is icky in the 21st century. The cultural difference does not make it OK. I do have great respect for Mary and believe she is special. I choose to believe that she is an embodiment of the divine feminine. I am unattached to whether that is actually true.To save us? When I think of a God demanding the blood sacrifice of a virgin to atone for sins, I think of the Incas drugging and killing children as sacrifices. It’s ancient, tribal insanity and barbaric. I wouldn’t willingly love a God who required that their own child be brutally murdered. How did I ever think that was OK? The only sense that Jesus saves us is by his teachings, which promoted love and grace and often railed against the harm done by religion.To draw closer to us. I think this is asking if God humbled himself by becoming human and who then sacrificed himself to himself so he could choose not to send us to hell if we believed correctly according to the required doctrine of at least one of the 45,000 denominations. Um, no. I believed this most of my life. I’m sad about that. It’s irrational.That’s where I am today, but I’m always evolving. If anyone is genuinely inquisitive, not proselytizing, and wants to discuss things, that would be great.I’m a former pastor, attorney, and mediator who is also a trans woman. I’ve had a fantastic life and look forward to telling you many more poignant and amazing stories. Please follow me and <a href="https://ko-fi.com/sophiakellygrace">consider buying me a beverage by clicking here</a>. Thank you.</article></body>

When Beliefs Are A Moving Target

The troll-evangelists are driven to rebuke or restore us

It drives the apologists and wannabe internet pastors nuts when we post here on Deconstructing Christianity.

When we share how Christians, and especially church leadership, have wounded us, the righteous trolls sometimes embark on a crusade to tell us we’ve got it all wrong. When our lifetime of studying the Bible and doctrine leads us away from traditional Christianity, these folks act like we’re challenging them personally.

Some are assholes about it and refute our posts with how our words don’t line up with their source of “truth” (usually the KJV Bible.) Others are actually sweet and simply ask questions intended to provide them with an opening to guide us back to the “light.”

On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve mentioned in posts here that I believe that our souls do not die and that I’ve had experiences that lead me to believe in a supernatural force. When I’ve done so, I’ve sometimes been mocked by folks who advocate for everyone to be atheists or nihilists like them. They seem hell-bent on doing one of two things: to advocate for their belief that nothing supernatural exists or simply to mock anyone who thinks there may be more to our existence than can be measured by their scientific criteria.

The simple fact that there are between 33 and 45 thousand different denominations of Christianity demonstrates no consensus on what Christians believe. Also, some of the most renowned scientific thinkers believe the universe has a spiritual dimension (including Darwin and Einstein.)

So who’s right? Probably nobody, or maybe everybody on some level.

In a recent post, someone asked me to explain what I believe. He was nice about it but wanted me to engage in a conversation in the comments, probably so he could guide me to believe as he does. I refused to answer there because my answer would not only be complicated; it evolves day by day. The only thing I’m sure of is that I’m not going back to the belief system of the people who hurt me and hundreds of people I love.

I love Deconstructing Christianity because it’s a safe place to process our wounds and spiritual (or lack thereof) journey.

I want to answer my commenter’s question, but I must clarify that what feels right today may not be what I believe tomorrow. That is precisely the beauty of deconstructing — that we can now meander through the spiritual landscape with no attachment to needing to find some final and absolute truth. The journey is the destination.

Here’s the question:

Do you believe that Jesus is God who becomes a son, who becomes a man, to save us, to draw closer to us?

My commenter intended for this to be a yes or no question. It is at least five questions. Of course, it is the essence of most modern denominational Christian beliefs, but from there, it gets complicated.

I went to seminary and pastored a church for ten years. For the first two-thirds of my life, I would have enthusiastically said yes to all points of his question. However, after a life of observing horrid behavior by Christian leadership and after over two decades of taking a fresh look at textual (Bible) criticism and the history of Christianity, I’d have to say no to his question, but it’s far more nuanced than that.

To begin, I am not sure of anything. That is by choice, and I’m entirely OK with that. I think it’s crucial to be open to new levels of understanding. The thousands of Christian denominations indicate to me that being right is more important to them than the love and unity that Jesus asked of them. That’s tragic.

Even though there are things I believe, I am not attached to them at all. I don’t advocate for any position other than love.

So, here’s my thoughts on the complex question:

Do you believe Jesus is God? This presumes that I believe in God, so we’ll start there. I believe there is a supernatural force that sees us and loves us. I have two working theories on that.

One is the “collective soul.” (Wouldn’t that be an excellent name for a band — LOL?) I believe that our soul, our deepest essence, transcends our current lives. The interplay of the souls that have moved from human form would explain much of the supernatural phenomena I’ve seen. I think these souls work individually and collectively to attend to the world. I also believe some or most of these souls move in and out of additional earthly existences.

The other possibility I consider for the entity or entities we call God is that there is a supreme mover who cannot intervene in our individual lives. It is inconceivable that an all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful being would fail to protect women and children who are sick or being raped, abused, or slaughtered. If there is an all-powerful god, he’d have to be a narcissistic asshole.

It’s certainly possible both of these are true with a supreme entity acting through the “collective soul.” They do what they can and care, but they are sadly limited in how much they can intervene.

Is Jesus God? I don’t see it. I don’t assume anything in the Bible is accurate, and there’s nothing outside the Bible that indicates Jesus was the unique human incarnation of the God of Israel. My working theory is that there is an indwelling entity that I consider to be “Christ.” I believe the Christ spirit was strong in Jesus, which explains why two billion people still follow him. I believe there have been other humans who similarly embodied the Christ spirit. In particular, I think Mary Magdalene exhibited the Christ spirit as much as Jesus, but “The Church” suppressed that. (Yeah, that's a conspiracy theory, but it makes me happy.)

Who becomes a son, and who becomes a man? Sorry, no. I do not believe Jesus was simultaneously God, the son of God, and human. Jesus was a son, a man, and a human, but not the unique embodiment of God.

In that regard, I do not believe God magically impregnated 13 or 14-year-old Mary. The thought of that is icky in the 21st century. The cultural difference does not make it OK. I do have great respect for Mary and believe she is special. I choose to believe that she is an embodiment of the divine feminine. I am unattached to whether that is actually true.

To save us? When I think of a God demanding the blood sacrifice of a virgin to atone for sins, I think of the Incas drugging and killing children as sacrifices. It’s ancient, tribal insanity and barbaric. I wouldn’t willingly love a God who required that their own child be brutally murdered. How did I ever think that was OK? The only sense that Jesus saves us is by his teachings, which promoted love and grace and often railed against the harm done by religion.

To draw closer to us. I think this is asking if God humbled himself by becoming human and who then sacrificed himself to himself so he could choose not to send us to hell if we believed correctly according to the required doctrine of at least one of the 45,000 denominations. Um, no. I believed this most of my life. I’m sad about that. It’s irrational.

That’s where I am today, but I’m always evolving. If anyone is genuinely inquisitive, not proselytizing, and wants to discuss things, that would be great.

I’m a former pastor, attorney, and mediator who is also a trans woman. I’ve had a fantastic life and look forward to telling you many more poignant and amazing stories. Please follow me and consider buying me a beverage by clicking here. Thank you.