As i said in your intro post, I am christian. I do not believe in a literal interpretation of the bible in any way, however. I believe that the story of jesus is a wonderful myth with immense ability to speak to the human experience. I do not "disbelieve" the stories of virgin birth and of miracles or of the crucifixtion. I believe that they are beautiful symbols that act as a guide to the full human experience. I believe that the question of belief or disbelief misses the point.
I believe that reading it as though it was a newspaper report misses the point of the message. Read it as poetry and it's illuminating.
Jesus is attributed to have said: "The kingdom of heaven is spread out on the earth right now. It is only that men do not see it." (gospel of Thomas).
I believe that christ's unity with the divine is something attainable by all people. You will not find me criticizing the message of christ's teachings. It's one of compassion and self realization and I think it's beautiful.
As I said in the other thread, you are most welcome here. I've been confirmed and baptized and have done missionary work in northern mexico and have been a jr. high youth counselor and was a musician (guitar) and singer in a sunday morning contemporary worship service for 2 years.
I have a deep appreciation of christ's teachings and I don't have the typical blind faith which i see associate with people living in the bubble of western culture. I see the elementary ideas in christ's message across the world in mythologies far older and in mythologies far younger than christianity's. Christianity is, however, my culture, and my folk expression of these elementary ideas, so I consider myself a christian.
It's not your typical idea of a christian, but I definitely have the love of god in me
