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yt
(68.117.160.158) on 4/23/2011 - 2:02 p.m. says: ( 42 views
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"I think there's both "big tent" and strict doctrine in Christianity..."
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CONTEXT ADDED BY ADMIN:
END OF CONTEXT
Christianity is full of paradoxes - comfortably so.
On the "big tent" side, you can see evidence that Christianity was big tent enough to absorb other religions (or baptize them, depending on your POV). That's why we have Christmas trees and wreaths and so forth. That's why the Gospel of John calls Christ the Logos - a very important idea to Socratics.
But, then there is the doctrinal side which is also important. It's why we've had to have counsels to decide such things as: the canon of Scripture, the nature of Jesus (fully God and fully man - another paradox), the Trinity, and so forth.
But, you know, if you talk to someone who has really studied these things and try to pin them down on even some of the most fundamental doctrinal truths, you'll many times get to "it's a mystery".
Because it is. Ultimately, Christianity is about relationship with God. If you think about that word "relationship", it unlocks a lot. For example, I have a relationship with my wife that can be defined as X, Y, and Z. However, it's kind of silly to think that X, Y, and Z comprise the sum total of my relationship with my wife. It's quite the opposite, really. The definition of the relationship is only useful insofar as talking to other people about it. In my personal relationship with my wife, I don't really think about the definitions of our relationship. I just act on them.
Sort of the same with God. When you're talking about a relationship like that, you get to a personal experience that is, ultimately, beyond words. The doctrine is important to "test the spirits" as it were because we are all still blind to the truth to some degree and need to be healed.
The reason we "define each other away" is because we are talking about revealed truth. Accepting revealed truth on a community wide scale depends on recognized authority. If my recognized authority is different from yours, we will get to different doctrines.
But, at the end of the day, Christianity is not about being right. If admission into heaven were dependent on getting every doctrine right, we'd have a kind of Promethean religion. In Christianity, God comes down to save us. We don't save ourselves by acing some sort of cosmic theological exam. If we are saved, it is because God saves us. And, as Christians, we hope that God saves everybody.
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