Hello, I am an Ex Christian Rediscovering the Bible

[talented_scarf]

Hello Religious Forums dot com,

My name is talented_scarf, or scarf for short. I grew up in a fundamental religious environment that was too rigid for my taste. I left home when I was 17 to start my own life. I married early because my religion prohibited sex before marriage under penalty of shunning by the entire church including immediate family. Luckily I chose someone who was compatible with me rather the lack thereof which happened to many of my peers.

In my early adulthood I was diagnosed with Bi Polar II disorder and PTSD from pervasive childhood abuse growing up. It's been a wild ride for me and I saw no reason not to question everything even very existence itself.

I am now 27 years old and own a business and have the same wife, just with a 2 year old son now. Things are still extremely rough "up here", but I have developed coping mechanisms through many years of psychotherapy and my wife is an absolute doll. I live in California and got myself a prescription for Marijuana. This was only after 4 years after giving the medical community a go. After gaining and losing 100 lbs and being told I was "treatment resistant" I ventured out into the great beyond for alternative treatments. So far, Marijuana has enabled me to start a business because my mind is able to function. I am able to support my wife as a stay at home mom which is something we really want for our child.

Anyway, I look forward to speaking with you about my many ideas and hearing yours. I have had to create a framework of existence from the ground up because of where I come from. I would love to tell you guys my ideas and hear yours because I am definitely religious, I just wont ever be setting foot in a church of any kind ever again. I love to study all religions including mystical "pagan" (which just means country folk! Which is what I am) stuff.

-Scarf

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Ooh a person with backstory. Welcome to RF.

 

[CynthiaCypher]

Hello ex-Christian person

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

Welcome

 

[tumbleweed41]

Welcome to RF!

 

[Caladan]

Welcome to RF!
what are your latest revelations about the Bible?

 

[talented_scarf]

what are your latest revelations about the Bible?

Thank you for the welcomes!

Hello Caladan, The Bible to me is no different than a complex language of morality and ethics. I believe it to be an ancient textbook before the advent of modern scientific logic such as the scientific method. Before our current systems of logic were developed and refined, people had books such as the Bible to teach them about morality and ethics by the use of folk legends and past ideas for governance. Before the Bible was canonized by the Council of Trent people used the books of the Bible Cannon separately. Before the Bible the books were considered highly mystical and were only well understood by deep study of them. Many of them are still considered magical today and are still used separate from the Bible Cannon.

I believe the Bible was meant to end the story which was started with the writings of Moses who allegedly freed the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. Revelation speaks of a Dragon who it identifies as "that original serpent." This is the Bible attempting to solve what was an ancient riddle as to the true identity of Moses' Serpent. I believe to have found profound truth in the Bible in regards to the human brain and it's various systems that control our daily life and behavior. I think the Bible is a typical system for an evolved social species such as homo sapiens. However, there are many things in this world that are both typical and awe inspiring at the same time. Humans being included in that category. I look forward to speaking with you all about my thoughts.

-Scarf

 

[Caladan]

Thank you for the welcomes!

Hello Caladan, The Bible to me is no different than a complex language of morality and ethics. I believe it to be an ancient textbook before the advent of modern scientific logic such as the scientific method. Before our current systems of logic were developed and refined, people had books such as the Bible to teach them about morality and ethics by the use of folk legends and past ideas for governance. Before the Bible was canonized by the Council of Trent people used the books of the Bible Cannon separately. Before the Bible the books were considered highly mystical and were only well understood by deep study of them. Many of them are still considered magical today and are still used separate from the Bible Cannon.

I take it you are refering to the Apocrypha and Jewish Enochian literature such as the Book of Enoch?
very fascinating stuff.

I believe the Bible was meant to end the story which was started with the writings of Moses who allegedly freed the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. Revelation speaks of a Dragon who it identifies as "that original serpent." This is the Bible attempting to solve what was an ancient riddle as to the true identity of Moses' Serpent. I believe to have found profound truth in the Bible in regards to the human brain and it's various systems that control our daily life and behavior. I think the Bible is a typical system for an evolved social species such as homo sapiens. However, there are many things in this world that are both typical and awe inspiring at the same time. Humans being included in that category. I look forward to speaking with you all about my thoughts.

Too be honest. this is an overly mystical interpretation for me. and also begs the assumption that the Hebrew Bible and the book of Revelation were written by the same class of people. which is not the case, as the Hebrew Bible is part of a Jewish canon and was written by the priestly scribes of Jerusalem and the book of Revelation was not. but still an interesting theory, which possibly actually touches several facts.
this is me giving you a debate baptism of fire we do this a lot here. but since this is your welcoming thread, maybe we can debate it in another thread sometimes.

 

[The_Evelyonian]

Welcome to the RF!

 

[talented_scarf]

Too be honest. this is an overly mystical interpretation for me. and also begs the assumption that the Hebrew Bible and the book of Revelation were written by the same class of people. which is not the case, as the Hebrew Bible is part of a Jewish canon and was written by the priestly scribes of Jerusalem and the book of Revelation was not. but still an interesting theory, which possibly actually touches several facts.
this is me giving you a debate baptism of fire we do this a lot here. but since this is your welcoming thread, maybe we can debate it in another thread sometimes.

I thank you for your honesty. That is what I am looking for in a forum community. I very much prefer debating of the fire type. Flame wars, no, but passion is always a must in my book. When I speak of the Bible I mean what was canonized by the Council of Trent and the Roman Catholic Church. Until that council the Bible was not considered a closed cannon. This does not mean I put special credence in that particular creed or council. However, no one has since decided to reopen the cannon even though the RCC has broken into countless denominations since the Council of Trent. This, to me, is evidence of it's widespread acceptance since the 1500's across multiple cultures. All the major denominations of Christianity give complete credence to the Bible Cannon.

To illustrate lets say if someone made a YouTube video with clips from a bunch of movies which ended up being the length of an average movie. When interpreting the YouTube movie's message you could just look at the clips and think about the ideas they represent in the whole, which is the YouTube video not the movies from the clips. You could choose to watch the movies they were from, but that's not necessarily required. A contrary message to the original intention of the YouTube video could be concluded upon if you relied solely on the movies rather than the compilation of clips.

To me it's very important to get a sense for what was compiled by the Council of Trent and why. A simple reading of the history is not satisfactory to me. I must study the document and determine it's purpose for myself. When a group gets together and compiles a bunch of ancient writings that creates a linear narrative, I think it's important to establish the narrative and it's characters before venturing off into any other frontiers.

-Scarf

 

[Quagmire]

Welcome to RF Talented Scarf.

I admire anyone who's walked away from the religion they were brought up in but who can still read the pertaining religious texts objectively.

A lot. :yes:

And for some reason this made me smile:

I am definitely religious, I just wont ever be setting foot in a church of any kind ever again.

Looking forward to your posts.

 

[9Westy9]

welcome, from a fellow ex-Christian

 

[LeftishBritInPA]

Hey scarf,

I grew up similar to you. My parents were devout Anglo-Catholics. I went through a phase after getting out of my house where I started to question everything including my religion but eventually came back with a different understanding.

Right now I consider myself an agnostic and secular humanist Christian. I believe that a Christian is someone who follows Jesus Christ and you don't necessarily have to believe in the dogmatic and "religious" aspects of what I call "churchianity" to be one and can just follow the secular and social teachings of Jesus.

 

[Badran]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

 

[talented_scarf]

Hello again, thank you for the welcomes!

Hey scarf,

I grew up similar to you. My parents were devout Anglo-Catholics. I went through a phase after getting out of my house where I started to question everything including my religion but eventually came back with a different understanding.

Right now I consider myself an agnostic and secular humanist Christian. I believe that a Christian is someone who follows Jesus Christ and you don't necessarily have to believe in the dogmatic and "religious" aspects of what I call "churchianity" to be one and can just follow the secular and social teachings of Jesus.

Hello, LeftishBritInPA. I totally agree. I think many humanists and even a handful of atheists could just call themselves Christians without the mysticism. Jesus was a humanitarian in the spirit of the Egyptian King Joseph in the Book of Genesis. I think it's wonderful that people no longer require the confines of religion to follow the teachings of Christ.

It really just seems like a good time for a reboot. Like what Christopher Nolan did with Batman Begins. Tim Burton's masterpiece with Keaton and Nicholson was made a mockery of with the 4th installment staring a much less refined Clooney and Schwarzenegger. The whole world stood bewildered and with a bad taste in their mouth about Batman! But Nolan comes in with Bale and Neeson and effectively reboots the Batman franchise and now has the world awaiting a final chapter. I think the same of the humanist movement of the world.

However, there are dark sides to the world without God. Mainly because many have taken up the empty throne themselves.

-Scarf

 

[zenzero]

Friend talented scarf,

Welcome to RF!
Best Wishes.

Love & rgds

 

[LeftishBritInPA]

Hello, LeftishBritInPA. I totally agree. I think many humanists and even a handful of atheists could just call themselves Christians without the mysticism.

In all fairness to the various diverse traditions of the world it would be wrong to say that they could call themselves "Christians". Christianity alone doesn't have a monopoly on truth or morality. In fact truth, morality, and other ideas are subjective, there isn't just one objective truth, but a number of infinitely and equally valid narratives. Which is different from saying that there aren't thinks which are clearly wrong (like murder), but just because someone is a decent person doesn't mean they are following "christian" morals. They could be following Jewish, Wiccan, Buddhist, Baha'i, Hindu, or even "Indigenous" values, the labels don't matter.

 

[talented_scarf]

In all fairness to the various diverse traditions of the world it would be wrong to say that they could call themselves "Christians". Christianity alone doesn't have a monopoly on truth or morality. In fact truth, morality, and other ideas are subjective, there isn't just one objective truth, but a number of infinitely and equally valid narratives. Which is different from saying that there aren't thinks which are clearly wrong (like murder), but just because someone is a decent person doesn't mean they are following "christian" morals. They could be following Jewish, Wiccan, Buddhist, Baha'i, Hindu, or even "Indigenous" values, the labels don't matter.

Good point, but Jesus grew up in an environment that guaranteed that he was going to be Jewish. Instead of bowing to an archaic and Draconian system of law, and working up the vanity latter, he simply superseded it with a doctrine of love and showed it was worth dying for. This is what humanists did with the archaic teachings of Christianity, the Bible and other religions. However, they didn't need to do anything but shave off the bad parts leaving behind Christ's universal values that even atheists could subscribe to. You don't have to know anything about Christ to act like him. That's because he didn't have anything special inside of him other than a passion that has rarely been matched since, if ever.

-Scarf

 

[miss interpret]

Hello Religious Forums dot com,

My name is talented_scarf, or scarf for short. I grew up in a fundamental religious environment that was too rigid for my taste. I left home when I was 17 to start my own life. I married early because my religion prohibited sex before marriage under penalty of shunning by the entire church including immediate family. Luckily I chose someone who was compatible with me rather the lack thereof which happened to many of my peers.

In my early adulthood I was diagnosed with Bi Polar II disorder and PTSD from pervasive childhood abuse growing up. It's been a wild ride for me and I saw no reason not to question everything even very existence itself.

I am now 27 years old and own a business and have the same wife, just with a 2 year old son now. Things are still extremely rough "up here", but I have developed coping mechanisms through many years of psychotherapy and my wife is an absolute doll. I live in California and got myself a prescription for Marijuana. This was only after 4 years after giving the medical community a go. After gaining and losing 100 lbs and being told I was "treatment resistant" I ventured out into the great beyond for alternative treatments. So far, Marijuana has enabled me to start a business because my mind is able to function. I am able to support my wife as a stay at home mom which is something we really want for our child.

Anyway, I look forward to speaking with you about my many ideas and hearing yours. I have had to create a framework of existence from the ground up because of where I come from. I would love to tell you guys my ideas and hear yours because I am definitely religious, I just wont ever be setting foot in a church of any kind ever again. I love to study all religions including mystical "pagan" (which just means country folk! Which is what I am) stuff.

-Scarf

HI scarf and welcome, can i ask were you Jehovas witness or latter day saint, hope you don't mind me asking.

 

[Revoltingest]

Greetings!