I read this yesterday in a book and I thought it was worth posting. Enjoy!


The story as it tends to be told makes God out to be a frustrated failure just waiting for the day when he can get even with us. See if this sounds familiar. God created a perfect world and put Adam and Eve in the garden. They disobeyed the one instruction God gave them. As a result, everything went to hell. We now live in a fallen world filled with the horrors that God never intended-everything from crazy weather to physical death. But it's our fault because through our human willfulness we brought all this misfortune upon ourselves.

To make it worse, we've made God really, really mad. But, never fear, God has a plan. He'll send Jesus and take out his frustrations on him so that everyone who believes God has punished Jesus can avoid punishment themselves.

Along the way, God took a liking to a special people and decided to make Jesus one of them. Meanwhile over a period of about 1500 years, those people disobeyed him and God punished them royally. So much for being chosen people.

The story continues. In the days of Augustus Caesar, God determined it would be the right time to send Jesus and set up a kingdom to fix the original problem. Unfortunately, God's special people rejected him and conspired with the Romans to have him executed.

Now God is just biding his time. In his infinite mercy, he's waiting for people to stop being rebellious so he can save at least a few folks before he blows up the world.

At this point on this version of the story, we might start wondering what God can do right.

But it gets worse. God becomes so frustrated with all of this failure that he decides to send Jesus back to earth to take care of the things one way or another.

One version of this story has God renovating the planet and establishing a kingdom for a thousand years or so. But at the end of the day he'll still bring about the end of the world. Another variation has God just blowing everything up once and for all.

That is what passes for the gospel-the good news. I don't know about you, but that sounds more like a plotline from a Wes Craven film than the Greatest Story Ever Told.

A big problem with these traditional ways of telling the Biblical story is its view of the relationship between God and humanity. How can humanity foil God's purpose and corrupt the entire physical universe? Are we powerful enough to spoil the world created by an omnipotent God?

An innovative way of reading the story allows us to see a progressive creation. Notwithstanding Augustine, humanity did not fall, and we have not tainted the universe from the inside out. This was never in our power. God placed humanity in a world-order that God fashioned for the specific purpose of creating humanity in the divine likeness through Christ.

You have to be retarded to believe traditional Chistianity. I was once reluctantly retarded, but it never made any sense. It always seemed "small", cheap, and stingey, and it made God a royal petulant immature jerk who gets pissed because He creates something, and then His creation doesn't work as He planned, and even though He knew all this beforehand, He still presses ahead with a plan already failed which consigns billions to eternal torment, but never mind, the Creator is all-knowing, all-poweful....sheesh!

Another thing that is weird is although God never changes, He goes from killing all the men, women, children, oxen, sheep, dogs and cats of the heathen in the OT, to suddenly passive, turning the other cheek, teaching that a man can't even protect his own wife and children from violence, and then suddenly, turning back again into this exacting judge who eternally torments 99% of His creation who don't quite make the grade, i.e., don't drive plain cars, have cameras, or play an instrument. And at the same time, He claims to love us with a love, mercy, and forgiveness we can't even imagine. LOL!

Hi, Mark, I read the book you gave me. I really did try to keep an open mind about it but it left too many questions unexplained or unanswered. I appreciate the fact that we both love the Lord and don't have to agree on this issue to be saved:) Have a great day. The coffee is still on! calledoutPTL

"it left too many questions unexplained or unanswered."

Why would a God who cast Lucifer the archangel out of Heaven and condemned such a one for ever not also cast those who do not serve Him into the same eternal judgment? Why do some men hold themselves in higher esteem in God's eyes than archangels (i.e. God will cast away angels who rebel against Him, but not a human being)?

TR: Exactly. I'll go one step further. God is a jealous God and won't tolerate anything else besides the blood of Jesus for salvation. Works don't count according to the word, nor men's traditions. The word says they are no avail. Doesn't matter if you do or don't keep them as long as you don't equate salvation with keeping them. calledoutPTL

I appreciate the fact that we both love the Lord and don't have to agree on this issue to be saved
Now that is a mature and refreshing way to look at it.

Have a great day. The coffee is still on!
If I ever travel through Kansas I will take you up on the offer.