Part II: Emotional Baggage
People also determine what they will and won't believe based on their emotional experiences.
"My sweet old Grandmother just taught me to love people and not to worry about a lot of religious rules. I can't stand the thought that she might be in Hell, so I will only believe in a 'All dogs go to Heaven' style of Christianity."Again, we see the need for a standard by which to judge competing religious claims - in our case, claims about Christianity. The knowledge of the presence of sin in our lives should give us enough pause to consider where we may be making spiritual determinations about reality based on our emotional past. If we cannot fully trust ourselves to accurately formulate these determinations then we must look for a standard by which to judge our conceptions."My eighth grade science teacher belittled me and my youth group in class and embarrassed us in front of everybody. All science is junk done by Satanists trying to deny Christianity."
"When my Dad worked for NASA, my old country preacher publicly condemned him for contributing to the view that God was not in the 'heavens.' I can't be a part of backwards people like him, so all naturalistic philosophical conclusions are true and the Bible must be wrong."
"My church-going parents were very strict disciplinarians. Christianity is about dominance and control. People should have the ability to do want they want."
"My parents were liberal Christians who denied the basics of the faith. I almost was not saved as a result. That's why we need a return to a strict literal interpretation of the Bible."
"I think it is o.k. for two people to have sex if they want - like me and my boyfriend do - so I think that any religion that keeps people from doing what they want is just backward."
"My best friend in high school was gay. I can't be part of a religion that would exclude him."
Some would argue that this standard is the consensus of community opinion. "Surely God would not allow all of his people to go that far astray, so if a lot of Christians believe a certain thing, then that thing must be the thing to believe." The problem with this view is that it simply pools the emotionally derived opinions of a lot of sinful people. You might get a thread of common grace that you can follow to a godly conclusion, but more likely you will attain the accumulated wisdom of sin. Which is to say, no wisdom at all.
The Bible is the only option the Christian community has for a standard. Though denominations differ as to the roles of Scripture, tradition, and philosophy - we must acknowledge that our traditions are grounded (in some form) in the Scriptures, and the earliest Christian applications of philosophical thought were measured by what the Scriptures support. Ultimately, it is the Holy Bible upon which all authentic forms of Christianity rest. It is the collection of writings that grant us the knowledge and vocabulary for the formulation of our systematic theologies, our traditions, our philosophical conclusions. By definition, the wisdom conveyed by the Book is the basis for the understanding for our faith. When Christians reject the Christian Scriptures as the authoritative standard by which to measure their faith (knowledge / traditions / beliefs / practices) they divorce themselves from the Way and float in the oft-charted outer realms of selfish, man-centered religion.
Does it have to do with where one places authority as much as personality?
Posted by: Jake at February 10, 2004 12:38 AMI am not sure I understand the full emphasis of your question. Try this answer on for size:
I think too many people allow their personal preference (or emotional bias) to determine what they will accept as authoritative - which often leaves the self as the ultimate authority. This is a no-no.
Posted by: Blandus at February 10, 2004 07:19 PM