Separate Truths

[Jeremy D. Scott]

This article was sent to me this morning by my good rabbi friend. This may not be a difficulty for many, but it is here in the Northeast US. I mentioned in another thread two days ago that I participate in our local religious leaders group. I'm often challenged to think about distinctives and what my role is in circles of multiple faiths. I believe that it actually strengthens my faith and understanding of the primacy of Jesus Christ as Lord.

I often think that living Europe would be better...easier, even, in understanding who I am as a follower of Christ. It's funny...as much "black & white" as there is in the US, I feel like there's a lot of unassumed grey as well. I think this is what draws me to postliberalism.

There are some misconceptions about the Christian faith in the article, but there are a lot of great thinking points as well, so I thought I'd share it.

[Billie Goodson]

Actually got into a discussion the other day with a young man over this topic -- so it surely isn't confined to the NE. The young man asserted that he had studied comparative religion in high school and his teacher taught that all religions are the same. I drove the discussion toward equating that statement with a generalization that all people are the same if we only think of them as arms/legs/eyes etc. With a little prodding, I got him to argue that there are differences between people that we miss if we view people from that perspective. We miss the beauty of the diversity and we disservice people. Prothero goes the same route in the article -- does that mean he is a genius or that I am an idiot?

I have a coworker that is Jewish. The other day, someone walked into my office and asked a question about a section of Genesis. I consider it an honor that we could all sit and have a discussion where we have differing views but the discussion was fruitful among essentially three different viewpoints. The fact that it happened at work is just astounding to me. I used to believe I had to keep my faith very private so as not to cause problems. I think that belief caused more problems than it cured.

[Rich Schmidt]

Excellent article. Thanks for sharing it!