Categories: uncategorized
Date: 30 August 2010 21:05:44
I’ve started to move to the world of Liberalism, and have just started to attend a discussion group. Last week was an initial getting to know each other, and deciding how we want the group to function. This was therefore the first proper week. We are using the DVD Living the Questions to prompt discussions. It is a slightly weird experience going from being use to being the most liberal in evangelical settings, to becoming the most evangelical. It is a refreshing experience however. It seems that evangelicals start with the bible and see what it says about life and apply it. This is fine in theory but it means that when life doesn’t fit we can end up feeling hurt and guilty. Also t seems like the aim of the whole thing is to end up in heaven. So far I would say that the liberals start with real life and then ask what has the bible to say. It also feels like heaven (and hell) aren’t a big feature, it’s about what difference does it make to now. I wait to see how my thinking develops.
Also had an interesting conversation about language and meaning with a friend who’s first language isn’t English. It helped me to see that we need to be aware that the same words can have different meanings and that as long as we are aware of that, that it can be an enriching not separating experience. As long as we are able to remember that words may have different meanings, and not insist that our definition is right then it can be a positive.