Spinoff of Lori threads - silly questions re Christianity

[2xx1xy1JD]

I'm not a Christian, but seem to be playing one on the internet. ;)

I don't know many religious Protestants IRL, esp. of the more evangelical/fundie variety. I'm more familiar with Judaism, and the bit of Christianity that I learned about Christianity growing up was either Catholic or Anglican.

1. I noticed a whole discussion about God leading or calling people. Is this common? Is it seen as authoritative? How do people separate out their own thoughts and feelings from what God is supposed to be telling them?

2. Is it common to look at Bible passages in detail, analyze original language, or consider context? I admit that I come from a background of constant text analysis, but the lack of it amazes me. I get the sense that Lori and Ken read a few select passages, interpreted it in their own way, and never bothered to read anything else.

I've had some online discussion with Christians before who would at least look at whole passages and give some real thought about meaning and context. Lori's inability to do so is frustrating.

[emiliawasframed]

I'm not a Christian, but seem to be playing one on the internet. ;)

I don't know many religious Protestants IRL, esp. of the more evangelical/fundie variety. I'm more familiar with Judaism, and the bit of Christianity that I learned about Christianity growing up was either Catholic or Anglican.

1. I noticed a whole discussion about God leading or calling people. Is this common? Is it seen as authoritative? How do people separate out their own thoughts and feelings from what God is supposed to be telling them?

2. Is it common to look at Bible passages in detail, analyze original language, or consider context? I admit that I come from a background of constant text analysis, but the lack of it amazes me. I get the sense that Lori and Ken read a few select passages, interpreted it in their own way, and never bothered to read anything else.

I've had some online discussion with Christians before who would at least look at whole passages and give some real thought about meaning and context. Lori's inability to do so is frustrating.

In my experience (raised Southern Baptist, now PC (USA)):

1. Yes, super common. Most people seem to equate their consciences with the voice of the Holy Spirit in this regard. It can be tough to differentiate between what you want to hear and what God tells you. IMO, if God thinks the exact same as you all the time, you're hearing Him wrong.

2.This depends on denomination and tradition. In the church I grew up in, absolutely not. In the one I attend now, absolutely. One of the big reasons I'm no longer Baptist.

[jenny_islander]

I'm not a Christian, but seem to be playing one on the internet. ;)

I don't know many religious Protestants IRL, esp. of the more evangelical/fundie variety. I'm more familiar with Judaism, and the bit of Christianity that I learned about Christianity growing up was either Catholic or Anglican.

1. I noticed a whole discussion about God leading or calling people. Is this common? Is it seen as authoritative? How do people separate out their own thoughts and feelings from what God is supposed to be telling them?

2. Is it common to look at Bible passages in detail, analyze original language, or consider context? I admit that I come from a background of constant text analysis, but the lack of it amazes me. I get the sense that Lori and Ken read a few select passages, interpreted it in their own way, and never bothered to read anything else.

I've had some online discussion with Christians before who would at least look at whole passages and give some real thought about meaning and context. Lori's inability to do so is frustrating.

1. This is handled differently in different denominations. In the Episcopal Church, learning what calling (vocation--same thing) God has for you is a matter of years; you pray, think, talk to people, get some life experience, think and pray some more, and it becomes clear. Some people receive a calling like a bolt out of the blue, but it isn't common or seen as better than the usual way. And there is no expectation that certain callings are better than others or that anybody can just plop themselves down next to you and announce that God told them that you have a calling to missionary work or whatever. I experienced the same thing in the American Lutheran Church of my childhood.

2. Yes, but not, generally speaking, in fundamentalist churches. The Episcopal and American Lutheran churches I have attended feature sermons packed with context and dig into the original Hebrew and Greek as needed. Both churches also follow the mainline tradition of reading 3 different text passages (Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel--that's passages, not verses) and reciting 2 psalms every Sunday, with calendars ("lectionaries") available that give 5 readings for every single day if you do daily devotions.

[mockingbird]

1. This is handled differently in different denominations. In the Episcopal Church, learning what calling (vocation--same thing) God has for you is a matter of years; you pray, think, talk to people, get some life experience, think and pray some more, and it becomes clear. Some people receive a calling like a bolt out of the blue, but it isn't common or seen as better than the usual way. And there is no expectation that certain callings are better than others or that anybody can just plop themselves down next to you and announce that God told them that you have a calling to missionary work or whatever. I experienced the same thing in the American Lutheran Church of my childhood.

My experience as a Catholic was similar to this. Also, "callings" were reserved for the big life decisions - I heard it the most regarding being a religious person [priest, brother, nun, sister] vs. a secular life, maybe even towards a particular career. Maybe it started with a gut feeling or pull towards something, but you can't just rely on that alone and you should give it time to ruminate and talk to other people about it, and even check in with yourself every so often if you do decide to start on that path, to make sure it is the right thing for you (in the Catholic church this process is called "discernment"). I feel like the fundies throw out "callings" way more often than someone from certain Protestant denominations or Catholicism would. (Haha and sometimes with some of the fundies on here I get the feeling their "callings" tend to be made by money, not God!)

[apple1]

I've had some online discussion with Christians before who would at least look at whole passages and give some real thought about meaning and context. Lori's inability to do so is frustrating.

I almost didn't post to this thread because I don't want my response to sound like the "no true Scotsman" fallacy. But anyway, while I am sure that there are a few others like Lori, in my own personal experience, the Christians I know bear little to no resemblance to her. (I self-identify as Christian). I often wonder why we give her so much air time here on FJ. In the days before the internet, the (hopefully relatively rare) person like her would have had very little audience. I find it frustrating that she even thinks anyone really wants to read her crap.

[Arete]

My experience as a Catholic was similar to this. Also, "callings" were reserved for the big life decisions - I heard it the most regarding being a religious person [priest, brother, nun, sister] vs. a secular life, maybe even towards a particular career. Maybe it started with a gut feeling or pull towards something, but you can't just rely on that alone and you should give it time to ruminate and talk to other people about it, and even check in with yourself every so often if you do decide to start on that path, to make sure it is the right thing for you (in the Catholic church this process is called "discernment"). I feel like the fundies throw out "callings" way more often than someone from certain Protestant denominations or Catholicism would. (Haha and sometimes with some of the fundies on here I get the feeling their "callings" tend to be made by money, not God!)

1. Ditto on #1 from the Eastern Orthodox pews. Callings were for big life decisions, everything else you have to use your head.

2. Yes on number #2, we do a lot of analysis of the original Greek in the NT (we make do with the Greek of the Septuagint translation for the old Testament, there is a historical context given, and it is also interpreted together with church tradition (meaning looking at how theologians in the past have interpreted the passage, even and especially if there is more than one opinion). A big cultural difference is that an Orthodox Christian almost never reads the Bible and thinks a specific passage is speaking directly to them, much less that a verse here and there can be pulled out and simply applied to modern life. We don't read Paul to make our marriage better and we don't read the Hebrew Bible to find out how to discipline a wayward son. That is an evangelical Protestant approach to the text.