I don't know if this will make any sense, but these are some thoughts I have had on the Genesis story of man. First of all these are purely my own thoughts and certainly flawed, but they help me carry around a kind of understanding that I can deal with. In my mind, I have drawn a parallel to events in history that have played out multiple times in multiple places. Once upon a time, there was a primitive tribe of people cut off from all contact with the outside world. It developed a way of living that included right (rules for living and working) and wrong (taboos), and it lived closely with nature and it's God(s). This way of living worked well for these people and they had very few, if any social problems. Theywere not embarrassed by things that people in the outside world find embarrassing or wrong, because those concepts were foreign to them. They would not consider living any other way than they have lived through the ages. Then comes the outsider. He says, "Look, folks. There are things your God(s) have not told you. There is a whole world of knowledge out there. And by the way, those rules of society and taboos of yours, you don't really have to follow them, if you don't want to. Nothing bad will happen to you if you decide to do what you want. Why don't you put it to the test? Oh, one more thing, some of the stuff you think is ok, well out in the real world, it would not be acceptable." Then what happens? Someone adventurous tries breaking a taboo to see what will happen. Nothing does, of course. He spreads the word. But what that person does not see is the future. Soon his orderly society is in chaos, life is no longer pleasant. Harmony is gone. Selfishness reigns. It is no longer possible to live the way they once did, so they must leave their isolation and enter another world, one that is harsher and crueler, in spite of the vast amounts of knowledge (good and bad) available. Many of them become grief stricken and ashamed and try to retain some vestige of the past way of life while learning to live in the new world. Many others embrace the new world so wholeheartedly that they completely forget what was, and couldn't care less about the past. The two groups become known as The Sons of God and the Sons of Man. I've never put that in writing before. :D It is not meant to be a statement of belief, just the way I make sense of Genesis.

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But aren't you assuming that time and space are everything?

Flatland.

Oh, I would love to explore the idea of Logos. I've pondered it off and on for years. I also have considered studying eastern religions because of Jesus's statment, recorded by John, that he is The Truth, The Life, and The Way. Of course, he is also called The Light. If I am not mistaken, each one of those titles has its counterpart in the ancient world of philosophy/religion. Is Jesus saying he is the fulfillment and embodiment of all of them, or is he just making a statement using terminology people will understand? If he is referring to the truth found in other parts of the world, shouldn't we be exploring those parts and comparing them to Jesus's teachings? But that is just too wierd for most people I know. Guess what I've been doing for the last 3 years? Teaching the babies. :D

I remember thinking recently (when the minister called the Bible "The Word of God") that the Bible wasn't really the word of God, Jesus was. That is not something you would say out loud in a large group of Christians. :001_smile: Not to mention that Logos was a Greek concept, before it was a Christian one. I think the apostle John was brilliant.

I do it because I see myself in the people around me. I didn't arrive at this point in my faith in one day. It's been a journey. I was once where they are, and I haven't reached my destination yet. Didn't Jesus "squash" himself, in a sense? Talk about a gifted intellectual who was not understood. As much of himself as he did reveal, I don't think he revealed all, only what we needed to know. I am convinced that our understanding is puny, compared to the reality. I am certainly not convinced that I have the answers, only that none of us knows as much as we think we do. I do go to a small group Bible study once a week, where the discussions are freer and more thoughtful. My teenage son keeps me on my toes too. He doesn't accept anything at face value. My younger children keep me honest because I won't let them be dogmatic about certain things, and instead I take the time to present alternate points of view to them. I also try not to take my self too seriously.

I know it's not perfect, but it's the life I've found myself in and I have had to adapt.

Hi, my name is Angela and I am a practical, cynical, nature-loving, God-fearing, realist.

I can identify with this: "I have a faith in a God that is bigger than my intellect can totally comprehend." As the years go by, I find myself increasingly in disagreement with many things taught or assumed to be true in my faith group (kind of fundamental/evangelical Christian). When I look at the Bible, I no longer see what they see, in fact I've come to realize that so much that is taught is not really in the Bible at all. Recently, I began to press someone I respected for some definite answers to some questions I had. To my dismay, I found him not able to answer them directly, but not willing to admit it. In the end what he did admit was he didn't think the answer to the question mattered in the big picture, the message was the same no matter what. If there are many things that don't matter one way or the other, why don't we teach that? Because so many people believe that so much does matter, it causes discord, arguing, and sometimes downright nastiness when they are told otherwise. It may even cause some to leave the church and God. So, I don't openly question or express personal opinion. I do a lot of study on my own. Sometimes I might nudge the boundary a little in a Bible class. :-) When I see a sea of blank uncomprehending faces, I know that is one direction I might avoid in the future. I might go further with a friend that I trust, but I still choose my words carefully, so that she understands I am not rejecting God or the Bible. As a woman, I stick to the things that are expected of me and those that are allowed, because really it doesn't matter to me how I serve. Service is worthwhile no matter what your personal convictions and intelligence. I think what people respond to negatively is intellectual arrogance. Humility goes a long way. Plus it is Biblical. ;)

Two things: *Is this a private college? If it is, I don't know if you are going to get a better offer. She may have to seriously think about a different school. I know that's not what you want to hear, but she could get all her general ed out of the way some place cheaper then transfer later. *Is this a state school? If it is, those numbers don't sound right. Did you help her with the FAFSA, or did she do it herself? If she did it herself, I would go over it and make sure all the info is correct. I would NOT go for 20,000 a year in loans. There are not many professions that would have an easy time paying back that debt accumulated over 4 years. It may be annoying and frustrating, but it won't hurt to delay the attendance to that school for a couple of years and go somewhere else in the meantime.

Number 1? I don't know if there is a number one. If there is, maybe it is just "progress": industrialization, synthetic everything, chemical alteration of natural products, labor saving devices. Of course all those things contribute heavily to the awful modern diet as well. Add that to the fact that we are never happy with what we have and we feel the need to fix people who are.

I never heard it either, till I married one. I was shocked when one of my friend's parents said something about my "mixed marriage." I had never thought of dh as anything but American. :D I could identifying with his culture somewhat because I had spent some years in Puerto Rico as a child. We had military life and religion as a common connection.

I think it depends. Is your goal for others to consider you well read, or for your own personal development? Maybe both? SWB has a book The Well Educated Mind that might help. When I was in high school, a teacher gave us a list of "good books" to read from. I used that list for years. This made me a well read young adult according to the standards of the day. I read many more books preparing for homeschooling, because I didn't like the idea of handing my children books I hadn't read. So I tried to stay a couple of years ahead of my oldest child. I still look for lists in libraries or on the internet, but I'm more and more picky about what I read. When I find an author I enjoy, I read everything I can find by that author. Now I tend to look for lists that are the "best of." For example: the best of classic mysteries, the best of science fiction, the best of time travel, etc. Don't exclude non-fiction on subjects that interest you as well. Hope this helps some.