There was a time when I loved the King James Bible - both as a literary artifact and as my window into the Christian faith.
It's time to come back and read through the Bible. Every project needs a target, and mine is a complete read through of the New Living Translation in 100 days, or approx 3 months.
So far, I'm a little behind. I will need to go through about 11 pages a day, or the equivalent of one large book a week.
At the moment, I'm not reading for Biblical or religious study but just to become reacquainted with the text of the Bible - the stories, the psalms, the prophecies, the teachings and the timelines. A fuller understanding can be explored in conversations, at church, etc.
I'm not sure why all of a sudden I needed to return to Christianity. I was never baptised, but for a short time when I was younger, I believed.
With the recent changes in my life, I've realised that the mould of my life hasn't set yet - I could still change my mind on issues and ideas that I hold dear, and so I return to the faith - this time as a man.
3 comments:
How are you finding the Bible so far? I think I tried once but am too entrenched in Buddhist symbolism to get used to the biblical format of stories.
At many points I did want to embrace one of the Abrahamic faiths (namely Islam) because of the b&w clarity and cohesiveness of its rules, but there are often times when I like vague gray areas of right and wrong.
I hope things are going well!
sorry for getting back to you so late! I've been keeping very busy.
The Bible is difficult at times, but always a joy to go through. I'm learning that there is a big difference between the different translations, with the King James Bible being the most variable - at its best, it's beautiful and inspired. At other times it's taciturn and very difficult to understand. But that's an artifact of the language, and not of the Bible itself.
I'm reading a book by Timothy Keller "The Reason for God" - and it is very well written. It goes into how Christianity differ from other faiths, as well as how it fares against nonreligious faiths.
I like the fact that there are absolute rights and wrongs. However, these rights and wrongs are completely different from what the world believes them to be.
In many circumstances you think - hey that's just wrong - but go ahead and do it anyway or let it happen while looking the other way - and for me, by coming back into the Christian faith - I am stronger now in being able to plant my feet down and say - that's wrong, and God will make it right - either by acting through me (ie in my life, in my actions, etc) or somehow else.
Does that make any sense?
oh yes! I've started singing again, so my voice is back! 8)
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