I'm not sure if anyone will even find this blog or even care that it exists, but because I know that there has to be thousands of other folks in a similar situation, I felt it was time to at least share my feelings, if only in an anonymous state. If some one does find it - and it helps them to know that others like them are questioning - then I will consider them led of the Holy Spirit to the discussion.
Comments are welcome and encouraged. I really hope this is a conversation and not just a monologue. However, I'm not here for heated debate. I will gladly listen and respond to your comments, but I'm to the place where I really believe what Paul quoted in Romans: "Is there anyone who can explain God?" So don't try to "force" your opinions or even what you consider "dogma" or "doctrine". My suspicion is that you believe most of what you believe because it's the way you were taught by someone who was also taught that way. If you're honest with yourself and you've given our Scriptures a thorough, open-minded reading, you'll see the contradictions I'll be raising in this blog. The real question is "What do YOU believe based on your own personal search of the Scripture? Not what your seminary textbook says, not what your favorite preacher/teacher says. Have YOU done your own study of the subjects I raise?"
Victor Christus is not my name. It actually comes from a term for an Atonement doctrine - Christus Victor - or Christ the Victor. It was the primary teaching on the subject of what happened on the Cross and through the resurrection for the first several hundred years of Christianity. It is a form of what some would term Universal Atonement, something I never dreamed I could believe! But after finding some incredibly compelling verses in the New Testament, I actually am starting to lean that way. But I'm way ahead of myself.
This blog is not just about Universalism, though no doubt it will play a major role in my musings. I just want to pose questions that I've wrestled with all my life. Understand, I'm a radical believer in the love of Christ in my life. I am NOT on the verge of walking away from HIM. Quite the contrary! I just want to find a way to reconcile my questions with my belief. Yet, as I've already stated, I'm also convinced we can't "explain God". I'm really not looking for absolutes. What I am trying to figure out is why mainstream Western Christianity, of which my roots go back generations of ministers, me included, proposes a theology of absolute authority, yet the Scriptures clearly contradict some of our own teachings.
Again, I will be stating some of my beliefs. They're going to seem radical to some and elementary to others. My hope is that this blog will reach pastors and ministers on staff at churches of conservative, fundamental, evangelical nature. That's where I am. And there is not a Sunday service that goes by that something is said or done that makes me ask BIG questions. For 20 years I've been suppressing it. No doubt, there are many of you out there experiencing the same thing. You don't want to call yourself "liberal", you don't want people to think you are a heretic. But when people ask you the tough questions, you generally give the generic answers you know you're suppose to give, yet on the inside you're not really convinced.
I'm not asking you to "come out of the closet". Stay anonymous if you need to, but join the conversation. Again, you don't have to believe everything I propose, just join the conversation.
And finally, please know that everybody is welcome to the conversation, not just vocational ministers. I have no doubt there are plenty of pew-people out there have the same questions I do!
Since this is sort of an introductory post, I'm going to bring it to a close and immediately start typing away at some of my thoughts. Read on if you're interested! Join me in Seeking the Truth!
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