Posts Tagged ‘faith’

For me, the book of Job has always been a mysterious story. What is God trying to tell us through the story of Job. I guess its that if we always have faith, that ultimately God will be there for us. Job was diseased, tortured, he lost everything, and he still kept his faith. I guess the story also tells us that no matter what happens on Earth, God is in charge and can do anything.

And then there’s Revelations: that story is just full of mysterious and strange things.

What books and stories in the Bible confound you the most?

{{Let me say first that I respect all religions, & I do not believe that any religion or faith is "wrong". I think religion is a beautiful thing that can sometimes be warped by people, but is overall a beautiful thing.
Let me also state that I am not interested in hateful answers, or anyone trying to sway my beliefs, I am quite happy with my life. All flaming will be reported!}}

I have been sick lately, & cannot work. A couple of my friends are single parents, so I’ve volunteered to babysit, when needed. I’ve ended up babysitting more than I’d ever expected for a group of siblings, all of whom I love & adore. Their ages are from 2 & a half years to 11 years.

I knew they were being raised in the Protestant Church (as was I), but I never saw it as an issue until last week.

My husband & I are Pagan, my stepson is Christian (He’s 10, we’ve encouraged him to worship in any way he is comfortable, so long as he has good values) & my youngest boy was Christened in the Methodist Church (A family tradition of mine), but is not old enough to claim a religion.

One of the oldest children asked me what my pentacle was & I explained to her that it was like my version of a cross. I cut her off, because I don’t want to confuse her in any way.

Later on, she approached me again about my Ankh necklace & I explained that it was also like a cross, but that it came from the Ancient Egyptians.

She was puzzled, & her younger brother joined the conversation. I tried to skirt the issue & change the subject, but she was so inquisitive.I finally told them a story from the Bible that I love & distracted them with a movie.

I have known their parents since we were all in high school & their mom is not in the picture (long story, but she’s basically a deadbeat & might as well be non-existent in their lives). Their Dad knows that we are pagan & very open about religion & has never instructed us to hide these facts, but he hasn’t told us how to explain them either.

I love these kids dearly & I do not want to lie to them, but I don’t want to upset their dad or drive a wedge between the kids & us either.

How would you broach this situation? Any ideas are greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
To Chris, Yes, I am fully aware of what the Bible says, I’ve read it hundreds of times, as well as The Book of Mormon, The Apocrypha, & hundreds of other Christian texts, I’m NOT interested in being saved. Jesus happens to be a personal hero of mine, I’m just not Christian. Thanks for caring, but I’m perfectly ok with myself.

When I was about 8 years old, I picked up a Children’s Bible and started reading it from the beginning. I never got all the way to the end. But the thing that really puzzled me at that age was dinosaurs.

From what I could recall, the world began with Adam & Eve. There was no mention of dinosaurs living thousands of years before that. (Unless I missed it.)

So when I was learning about dinosaurs in school, I kept telling the teacher that I didn’t believe in them because they weren’t in the Bible.

Now, I am not here to dispute science or their existence… nor to refute anyone’s faith.

What I am curious about is….

1. Did you have any conflicting thoughts as a kid between science and the Bible?

2. And how have dinosaurs been explained in the Christian world where there is clearly a conflict of information?

Just something I have pondered…

(..and again, I am not looking for proof that dinosaurs did exist… I already know about all that now that I am older
The part that clashed for me at that age is that I was thinking that Adam & Eve were the first living creatures. And that if they were the first… how could it be possible that dinosaurs had come and gone before them.

It’s not a question over what name they had, if the word dinosaur was around back then, or any of that.

I found my own resolution as a teen when someone told me that the length of "days" in the bible were similar to thousands of years to us.

But the actual question was what ideas did you have as a kid… and what were you taught about the conflict of Dinosaurs.
I actually never knew that many people had differing opinions on the subject… or that it was sometimes a heated subject.
I guess my Children’s Bible was still too hard of a read at 8 years old. LOL. I was a pretty advanced reader… but still not adult level back then.

And admittedly, I never really went back to read it over later.