I've been tagged by Sam Norton in the following challenge:
Post a collection of 10 things you believe, ethical, philosophical or theological. You choose how much to connect them or make them coherent: do you want people to know where you belong, or do you want to mix and match to keep them guessing? I encourage you not to aim for a totally coherent credal statement of faith, and I also encourage you to put one or two in about controversial topics.
If you want, tag three other people whose beliefs you think you’d like to read about.
1. God is there, and he has spoken.
2. God is probably less bothered about sex than we think he is, but that doesn't mean he's not bothered at all.
3. The church has a future, but that doesn't mean that every church denomination has a future.
4. The primary calling of the church is mission.
5. I shall probably change one of these beliefs in the next few years, but not sure which one.
6. The greatest challenge to the church at the moment is discipleship, the quality of Christian life among professed Christians.
7. The Christian faith will never be able to rely on the mainstream media, broadcast, printed or online, for a decent presentation of what we are about.
8. Marriage between a man and a woman is God's good intention for the core of human family life.
9. There is no sacred/secular divide: there is more genuine spirituality in rock music and modern art than in many things which carry the name 'Christian'.
10. The collapse of the 'Christian' book and music market might be a good thing, as there is far too much substandard stuff out there, and too much marketing of gimmicky franchises (the power of a praying... etc.)
I tag.... well, anyone else who wants to have a go!
Nice idea, makes you think.
ReplyDeleteConsider yourself tagged Steve! You may want to tweak the bit in the terms of reference about 'theological' beliefs...?
ReplyDeleteD, the following list would be my stab at this, (its not as easy as it sounds - I kept wanting to add more!)
ReplyDelete1.Basic Human morality is innate; however we must add to and evolve the basics as we learn more about ethics and endeavour to reduce suffering in the world.
2.All human beings share the same set of emotions and feelings, for example love, hope, fear, wonder, awe, transcendence and human solidarity etc. our differences are much less than our similarities.
3.Planet Earth is it; we just get one life, it defies probability that we are even here at all, we are the lucky ones.
4.We make our own purposes in life, it’s up to us to take responsibility, grasp the nettle and make the most of any potential we have.
5.Sexuality, like race and gender are continuums, not binary and driven by genes; we don’t understand all the mechanisms yet but we shouldn’t fear any of them.
6.The fewer reasons there are in the world to divide people the better.
7.Knowledge cannot be gained by tradition, authority or revelation, it requires effort!
8.Our universe is utterly awe inspiring; our most beautiful, most complete and most reliable explanation for it comes from the natural sciences.
9.Reason is our species most valuable ability (by far) and evidence is the ultimate arbiter of the truth of our beliefs.
10.Dave Gilmour rocks and Luc Besson is a genius.