My position is and has been that Christianity and the notion of relativism are
mutually exclusive: if Christ is who he claimed to be, then all other religions
are false; if Christ is not who he claimed to be, then discard all of
Christianity and keep looking.
This position is fine assuming an inerrant Bible. How does one hold this view if one believes that The Bible has been manufactured in places, and Jesus’ word corrupted? If The Bible is not inerrant then there is at least a third option “Jesus lived and could do miraculous things. Raise the dead, feed the 5000, resurrect Himself. Man made up all this stuff about Him being the Son of an omnipotent creator”. Why would man do this? You could answer that question in many ways and I leave that as an exercise for the reader :-)
There are things God can't do because he is limited
Yes, many Christians have the widely held belief that God cannot sin. Is God limited in this fashion? Can he in fact sin but chooses not to?
Everyone knows there really isn't an absolute truth
My experience tells me that this is not relatively or absolutely true. I usually get people wanting to start a fight when I propose to them that “Truth is relative”. It’s ingrained in our nature to fight against this .. “relative to what??” they say … “relative to God” I retort. People so very much do not want truth to be relative, ask any child.
Note: In my experience you are potentially onto something good when everyone poo-poo’s it. Like using an orbiter to circle the moon while you land on it in a lunar module. “What??” said everyone in 1960 “Are you mad?? Of course you just drive a rocket to the moon, land it and then drive it back again. Don’t overcomplicate things.” Turns out the maths for the fuel consumption needs a command/lunar module split to make the mission a possibility in the 60’s. You’re either onto something good or the proposal is a complete non-starter :-)
So when I hear tell that this new Pope holds firm to fundamental
principles of the Faith, I am heartened. I understand full well what he is
concerned about.
Yes but then he goes on to say that The Church of England is not a “real church” and that unless you subscribe to his particular brand of Christianity (Catholicism) you are not a real Christian.
I guess he never heard the saying: "No one will allow their basic beliefs to be attacked with impunity".
How does a committed Christian hold firm to basic Truths about Jesus yet still
demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit in the face of unrelenting attacks against
those Truths? I honestly don't know the answer to this.
I don't know, but I believe that one has at least two options
1) Just say it’s a matter of faith, suspend your reason and Believe. Many people will think that this is a cop out and that you’re just being lazy and refusing to think. My answer to that is in that song “It’s no big thing, it’s a small thing, what people think.”
2) Go the route of reason, in which case look for evidence that Jesus Christ exists. He spoke to me so I know he exists, He works in my life so I know He exists.
People are upset with God and Christ, because they believe that they are betraying someone who they have never even seen.
Can one argue back in a loving and Christ-like way?
Yes. But not if you are a Biblically Inerrant Brigadier -- in that case you have to make homosexuals feel like they are sinning and you have to get your stick out to beat up Pharisees in your Church. Or choose something else? :-)
Does Christ expect us to deny him or remain silent when others around us smear
his name?
Only the individual can answer that, I don’t think He wants us bashing Bibles. I think he wants us to live happy loving lives, smiling when we can, rarely judging. We’re all sinners of course so we are incapable of doing any such thing all of the time.
How does one stand strong yet do so in a humble manner?
You told me the answer to that, by living a good life so that people may see it. And by SMILING. Pull a big one, right now, go on, try it :-)
Love and Peace.
Current Song: “Do you believe in magic?” – The Lovin’ Spoonful
PS. A new book turned up unannounced and for no reason as far as I can tell in the post this morning, from Amazon.co.uk; “Dawkins’ God” by Alister McGrath. I guess I’m supposed to read it?
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