Curious Christian

5 responses to “Dissappointed (with God)?”

1. 

   Dan Danforth

   2010-11-05

   I’m still pondering the questions you ask Matt, maybe you meant them that way. But here’s one I have: Is it possible to be a Christian agnostic?

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2. 

   Fire-girl

   2010-11-05

   In answer to the above, I don’t know how you can be Christian & not be, because questioning & holding your own knowledge/ belief lightly seem like part of believing. In response to the video, just wanted to share that have found singing Psalm 22, for my own pain/ others/ with Jesus, one of the strongest connections for me between God & the present moment.

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3. 

   Kalessin

   2010-11-06

   > Is it possible to be a Christian agnostic?
   An agnostic could be a person who lacks both belief in God and disbelief in God; or a person whose belief and disbelief is equally forceful and so cancels out. The defining element is that they don’t know and can’t sincerely commit for or against either position. Either would be a leap.
   So the obvious answer would be “no” Christianity or Atheism are wheer you go when you’ve sorted out your Agnosticism; but I doubt it’s that simple in practice.
   (1) Life decisions still have to be made; would the person choose to be a practical atheist, a practical Christian, or something else (or even a nominal or inconsistent Christian?), in the interim.
   (2) … assuming there is an interim. Is the question considered to be soluble, or is the agnosticism expected to be permanent? What is the Christian approach to existential angst or uncertainty? Is a person who pursues it, a “Christian Agnostic”? Is there an Atheist approach for “Atheist Agnostics”?

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4. 

   Andrew Park

   2010-11-09

   Brueggemann suggests that in embracing our grief we also open the door to new hope.
   I think Jesus also said similarly, “blessed are they who mourn…”
   In declaring our helplessness, our spiritual poverty, our seemingly futile and uncontrolable situations, we can also become opened to the One is a true helper…
   Someone once said, “if God seems far away, guess who moved”. And yet, our perception that God is “far away” is often at times when God is at His closeness to us.

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5. 

   Matt Stone

   2010-11-13

   Dan, I’m inclined to agree with Kalessin, that Agnosticism – technically defined – is incompatible with both Christianity and Atheism. But by saying that I don’t want to be heard to be saying that there is no space for doubt in the life of the faithful. On the contrary, in the past I’ve said, here are elsewhere, that facing your doubts is essential for spiritual development and that hiding from your doubts will stunt your growth. I regard fundamentalists, with their fear of doubt, as spiritually immature. What I think needs to be teased out here is: what are deconversion issues and what are not? I think one can doubt many things we’ve been taught by Christian leaders without concluding we’ve become Agnostic. We need to differentiate between essential teachings (which, were they to be abandoned, call Christian identity into question) and peripheral teachings (which many Christans have debated with one another over the centuries). I am not, for instance, inclined to call myself Agnostic just because I doubt the young earth interpretation of Genesis. I am also not about to call myself Agnostic just because some days and in some circumstances God’s presence seems illusive.

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