On 4/11/06, Charlie Bell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I have discussed religion with a > number of Lutherans other than Nick (mainly Germanic Europeans, > either in Cyprus or in Australia), and all bar one of those still > practicing that I have met in the flesh (so 6 or 7) are biblical > literalists.
Are you sure? That's not a typical Lutheran belief, not at all. At the core of Lutheranism are scripture, faith and grace... the inclusion of faith and grace means that scripture does not stand alone, leaving no room for literalism. They'd regard themselves as Good Christians. I don't > know whether anyone still active on this list is a literalist, but if > one isn't a literalist, then that's a different measure for what > Christianity is or what a good follower means than for those that > are. How do we decide what is right? Perhaps that the wrong question. Perhaps the challenge is how to live with uncertainty, as Harris challenges us. To me, this is why the traditional teaching of the major religions > fails, because frankly if one can just make it up as one goes along, But that's not it at all. > > Faith in a deity/deities/force/whatever is one thing. It's highly > personal. But faith in a book is something else, and that's where the > argument starts - if the book says one thing, but a follower > disagrees and does something else, where's the value in the book? Plenty of Christians go astray by worshiping the Bible. Nick -- Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] Messages: 408-904-7198 _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
