an essay of the heart......
THE BIBLE, MY BIBLE; BY FAITH
©Robert C Burnham
I am a Christian. I do not or never have forced anyone else to be. I do not read my Bible to look for fallacies in God or to build an arsenal of responses for those who choose other beliefs or simply to belittle my own. My religion centers on a central figure who lived and walked among men of this world but who was divinely created within a virgin's womb. My religion centers on the Son of God and only my religion can (and attempts) to claim this. Mohammed was a prophet and a great man and ancient writings and witnesses have attested to his life. Confucius was a wise scholar. I am not sure about Buddha; I think he was a rock or a thought.
Jesus Christ said He was the Son of God, many witnesses attested to His miracles, and His birth and life satisfied hundreds of Old Testament prophecies. True, the early writers had different witnesses with their own stories, their own style, even their own interpretations so every chapter of the Bible does not say the same exact thing and God never intended it to. In His divine wisdom, God gave us all free will AND inside of us placed the seed of Faith. And it is by FAITH, that God would have us accept His Son as Lord and Savior. It is by Faith, God would have us accept His Word. And it is my Faith which makes me, and all men and women of Christianity, Christians.
As for the Bible, it is the inspired Word of God - though written by men. The poetry that I write is inspired by God as is the poetry of many other authors; and even though I have come across many authors who have written on the same subjects I have, I have yet to come across an author who has written a poem completely identical to one of mine. So, if the Bible presents different accounts by different witnesses with their own different backgrounds, idiosyncrasies, languages, and even agendas; my Faith will have to elevate above that and it has.
Where we as Christians get some heat is in the wrong perception that we are forcing our religion onto non-believers. We are not. Well, most of us are not - all religions have extreme zealots who would have you convert under threat of harm, and shame on them. What Christians have are basic directives from our creator to 'Love One Another', 'Have no other Gods', and 'Spread His Word'. Now, I ask, if your Faith insists that God is asking you to do these things; are you going to tell God 'no'?
Closing thought: The Bible is for all. Even if someone is 100% devoid of all spiritual thought or even if they are 100% enshrined in another religion; they could still read the teachings of Jesus Christ and the letters of Paul and they would see that, even without any promises of an afterlife, the Bible shows us a compassionate, merciful and righteous way to live. It shows us a way to peace.
Goodnight & God Bless.
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Comments: 36 ( 2 removed by Robert - just a simple man - B. )
Well said!!! Yeah this is what a lot of Gather people should follow!!!
GREAT job Rob....:D {hugs}
So very true and again, written straight from the heart. Our beliefs are very much the same.
God Bless....
Marilyn
postman of Autumn
life, family, and love. All of my poems reflect what you wrote above.
Jesus Christ died for us all. It is our job as Christians to live a life of love,
mercy, and compassion for all.
You are a man of great faith.
God bless you, Bob Wallman
Thank you for posting to Gather Writing Essential, Monday, this is so true.
Marilyn
I know that all this did come from your heart Robert. I'm so glad
you have this testimony of Jesus Christ our Saviour and Heavenly
Father. May He bless you and Streaker, my friend.
Hugs n Love, Barbie
God Bless and Good Light to you always!
I also read it constantly so as to be able to explain why I have faith in it.
I got irritated at persons who define faith as belief without proof or in spite of evidence to the contrary. I needed the proof beyond reasonable doubt, so i dug very deep and ardently for it. But that's me. My position is a minoroty one which I will not insist must be adopted by everyone.
If you look for reasons not to believe, you will find lots of them. If you look for reasons to believe, you will find lots of them.
The problem I have sometimes is with people who are so insular that they believe totally ever single word in the large collection of historic documents, without knowing or bothering about the backstory of the actual collection itself and the stories, myth and accounts within it, not to mention the translations, the interpretations, the special selections by the self-elected religious heirarchy and their biases, depending upon which type of 'christianity' they hold.
I've had many discussion with those who meet me on the street or knock at my door, tactfully, but persistently, trying to convince me that they have 'the one' true faith, just as if it was door-to-door selling household products.
The essence of treating your neighbour well, kindly and with friendship is an old philosophy, probably discovered when early Man decided to live in communities, clans or groups, for security, safety and survival. The belief, or need to believe in something, began when Man worshipped the Sun, the bringer of warmth and life to his crops. See this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNf-P_5u_Hw
I can only question the need for a collection of documents dealing with historic events, when beliefs, cultures and problems were so different, then, to our own. I also question the history of its use which included the murder and torture of thousands during the various Inquisitions, about which little is now spoken.
I wish you an enlightened future.
Peace.
I am happy to hear that. I know too many ppl that do and I cannot stand to be around ppl like that pea 1. my grandfather is like that and it gets on my nerves. he preaches a lot yet, he needs to practice what he preaches.
Hugs buddy.
Thanks for posting to my group, Anythingwriting