Here are the questions that everyone came up with; things that they have always wondered about but never found an answer. These may well form the basis for discussion topics in the coming weeks/months/years.
- Is the Biblical account of creation literal - if so what about the dinosaurs?
- If humans evolved form apes, how come apes are still around today?
- How literally do we take the BIble - what does it mean to call it the 'word of God'?
- Why is Jesus nice but God in the Old Testament nasty?
- How controlling should people in authority in the church be?
- Other faiths
- Baptism - child or adult? What if the parents of a child are not sincere believers themselves?
- What does it really mean to be a Christian - which things are essential?
- Do we bring our children up to be Christian or is that tantamount to brainwashing?
- Do all paths lead to God if you are sincere?
- Are all denominations equally valid? How much 'heresy' is allowed before you draw the line?
- How do we explain paranormal experiences?
- What is heaven like?
Phew. I hope I got them all down - plenty to be thinking about then!
5 comments:
I wanted to tackle this on Thursday. but the flow of things moved on:
- If humans evolved form apes, how come apes are still around today?
Very simply, the question is wrong. Humans did not evolve from apes. The apes we see today share a distant common ancestry with humans. So, in the same way different families descended from one common lineage can be remarkably different from each other, yet still retain something of their ancestors' appearance, so can can apes etc and humans, who each retain something of their distant ancestors' traits.
That's how I understand the theory.
:o)
- Do we bring our children up to be Christian or is that tantamount to brainwashing?
Bring them up to reflect on what they believe, why they believe it, and the necessity of faith as a choice. (A choice to believe, or a choice not to. There's a bewildering array of choices to be made, with loud voices, bright lights, tempting ways, and "my Bible says this...". If we don't equip them with a framework for handling choices of belief (even amongst Christians), dilemmas of conscience etc, then the media and playground will.
Bringing up Children for me isn't indoctrinating them to believe ABC by rote, but enabling them to understand, use informed choice with wisdom, and follow intuition and inner promptings when things seem unclear.
Yes, I also believe in "original righteousness" as well as "original sin" in that humans can innately intuit things that are good, as well as not so good.
I agree with Tim on the apes one - it is a misconception that humans evolved from apes. However, evolution doesn't happen at a uniform speed, and today's apes might well have evolved less from our common ancestor than humans have. It depends on how well suited a species is to its habitat. Sharks have changed very little since before dinosaur times; they are very well suited to their habitat so there is no 'selection pressure' to change.
- Do we bring our children up to be Christian or is that tantamount to brainwashing?
As a small child I remember praying every night with my mum or dad, which was really lovely and very comforting.
When you're bought up to think of God as a member of your family like that, it's very hard, having reached adulthood, to take a step back and look at things objectively.
I can't not believe in God because I know He's real and it's all true. But I worry that the reason I'm so convinced has more to do with what my parents taught me than any genuine experience of my own.
I remember sitting in a church service at about 15 and thinking, "That's it - I'm not going to be a Christian anymore" so that I could consider it all for myself. But I knew that it was pointless to deliberately take the wrong path when I believed otherwise (and couldn't not believe it).
Of course we'll bring baby Fish up as a Christian. The Bible says to for one thing, plus it's an amazingly reassuring thing as a small kid to know you've got this wonderful loving Father who never leaves you.
It does still bother me a bit that I'll be giving him (or her!) no option but to believe, in the same way I felt I had no real choice.
Another question came up last night, so thought I'd add it while I remember.
If God is the God of peace, and we all worship the same God, how is it that religion causes so much war in the world?
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