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SecretMethod70 · 09-03-2004, 10:50 AM

I'm not particularly a fan of the traditional (but slowly degrading) Original Sin explanation. As far as I understand it, even the Catholic Church in Vatican II rejected the former explanation of original sin only to begin leaning towards a more interpretive explanation that original sin is better described as that which is inherently flawed in the human condition - selfishness, greed, fear, etc. I wouldn't say I have a firm belief one way or another yet...still sorting it out and learning...but it seems to me likely that, considering Jesus' message as one of God's unconditional love and life free from fear, his life and death and, ultimately, resurrection, were profound examples of how God is behind us, if we allow Him (Her, It) to be, through even the most extreme evil: death. It seems to be a life of example, coming to the ultimate representative conclusion. He taught, and showed, how to live a life of trust in God and, in the face of death, and on top of that, the most horrible, vile, and evil form of death of the time, he continued to trust God and not let fear control his actions, and His resurrection shows that God IS behind us even in the most evil of times and if God is supporting us even in death - the ultimate evil - there is no reason to allow fear to get the best of us in the face of even lesser evils.

In my opinion, the surest way to screw up understanding the Bible (not that there's a sure way to get it right) is to try and take most of it literally. It's been translated and retranslated, and beyond the obvious fact that figures of speach are lost in those translations is the somewhat less obvious fact that a large majority of the Bible is poetic in nature. Add into the fact that we are not the "intended" audiences that were in mind when the people who wrote it did so and you have a nice little recipe for mass confusion and misunderstanding.

Thankfully, as we evolve as a society, our understanding of how to read scripture is slowly evolving as well.

09-03-2004, 10:50 AM	#30 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	I'm not particularly a fan of the traditional (but slowly degrading) Original Sin explanation. As far as I understand it, even the Catholic Church in Vatican II rejected the former explanation of original sin only to begin leaning towards a more interpretive explanation that original sin is better described as that which is inherently flawed in the human condition - selfishness, greed, fear, etc. I wouldn't say I have a firm belief one way or another yet...still sorting it out and learning...but it seems to me likely that, considering Jesus' message as one of God's unconditional love and life free from fear, his life and death and, ultimately, resurrection, were profound examples of how God is behind us, if we allow Him (Her, It) to be, through even the most extreme evil: death. It seems to be a life of example, coming to the ultimate representative conclusion. He taught, and showed, how to live a life of trust in God and, in the face of death, and on top of that, the most horrible, vile, and evil form of death of the time, he continued to trust God and not let fear control his actions, and His resurrection shows that God IS behind us even in the most evil of times and if God is supporting us even in death - the ultimate evil - there is no reason to allow fear to get the best of us in the face of even lesser evils. In my opinion, the surest way to screw up understanding the Bible (not that there's a sure way to get it right) is to try and take most of it literally. It's been translated and retranslated, and beyond the obvious fact that figures of speach are lost in those translations is the somewhat less obvious fact that a large majority of the Bible is poetic in nature. Add into the fact that we are not the "intended" audiences that were in mind when the people who wrote it did so and you have a nice little recipe for mass confusion and misunderstanding. Thankfully, as we evolve as a society, our understanding of how to read scripture is slowly evolving as well. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling Last edited by SecretMethod70; 09-03-2004 at 04:07 PM..