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" 'History attests that religion and religious people tend to be narrow. Instead of expenditure of capacity for life, joy and mystery, religion often contracts it. As systematic theology advances, the sense of wonder declines. Brennan Manning' Facebook post/quote from Escape to Reality "
This struck a cord in me. I do not disagree nor do I agree with Mr. Manning's statement. I agree when he talks about religion and religious people being narrowed minded, but that is due to their mind and spirit's devotion to the 'theory' of the religion and its practices instead of focusing on the true nature and purpose of it. I also agree that the mindless follow of a religion and its practices keeps is from truly yearning and learning about ourselves and the world God created for us. The final sentence is true as well.
It seems that I have only been agreeing with his point and that there is no fault in it. However, that is incorrect. I believe that religion, in today's culture and mindset, has been given a bad rep. Well its no surprise with all the scandals the church has been through, especially in the last 10 years. On the other hand, that gives us no excuse to cast the church and God aside. We are stereotyping God, the church and believers in Christ all because of a few peoples mistake. But that apparently is how the human mind works, even though we are not perfect it is much easier to condemn another imperfect person when they fall and then categorize them for their imperfection. That attitude and way of thinking is why I am on the bench on Mr. Manning's statement.
I find that our perception of what religion is, is corrupted and based on imperfect human understanding and wisdom. If religion is 'so bad' and 'not Christ like', then did the Lord inspire James to write the meaning and true purpose of religion. Christ has a meaning for 'Religion' and it is not how we depict or treat it. James ch 1 & verse 27 says " Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."
Original date: September 17th , 2013
This struck a cord in me. I do not disagree nor do I agree with Mr. Manning's statement. I agree when he talks about religion and religious people being narrowed minded, but that is due to their mind and spirit's devotion to the 'theory' of the religion and its practices instead of focusing on the true nature and purpose of it. I also agree that the mindless follow of a religion and its practices keeps is from truly yearning and learning about ourselves and the world God created for us. The final sentence is true as well.
It seems that I have only been agreeing with his point and that there is no fault in it. However, that is incorrect. I believe that religion, in today's culture and mindset, has been given a bad rep. Well its no surprise with all the scandals the church has been through, especially in the last 10 years. On the other hand, that gives us no excuse to cast the church and God aside. We are stereotyping God, the church and believers in Christ all because of a few peoples mistake. But that apparently is how the human mind works, even though we are not perfect it is much easier to condemn another imperfect person when they fall and then categorize them for their imperfection. That attitude and way of thinking is why I am on the bench on Mr. Manning's statement.
I find that our perception of what religion is, is corrupted and based on imperfect human understanding and wisdom. If religion is 'so bad' and 'not Christ like', then did the Lord inspire James to write the meaning and true purpose of religion. Christ has a meaning for 'Religion' and it is not how we depict or treat it. James ch 1 & verse 27 says " Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."
Original date: September 17th , 2013
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