Thinking Out Loud About Christianity

I wrote the book, The Unorthodox Believer, but you might be one too. This is some one who cares about the original biblical message and getting it right. The unorthodox believer cares more about the original message of scripture than fitting into a religious scheme or fitting into a social structure. For the Unorthodox Believer, truth is more important than tradition or status quo.

The book explores the cultural manner in which we modern westerns think versus the thinking patterns of the ancient easterners who wrote our scriptures. It explores how modern orthodoxy was invented via the logic argument methods of the ancient Greek philosophers — the educational background of the early century theologians. Then it contrasts that with the manner in which the ancient Hebrew believers derived their beliefs, based on their Hebrew background. Essentially, modern Christian beliefs were derived from Greek and Romans studying the biblical texts with no regard for the Hebraic culture.

To say it that way, makes the whole process of converting an ancient Hebrew faith into a modern gentile faith seems like the modern version is on a shaky foundation. And it is. However, every culture must understand the message of God's salvation for His people. It must be understandable to the intended audience. Introducing ideas completely foreign to a culture is a sure way to be misunderstood. When we read and study our Bibles, we are reading God's message intended for the ancient Hebrew culture, as it was, at a certain time in history. However, we are at a different time in history and in a very different culture. Without understanding the original message as given, we might not understand how to translate it correctly into our culture and I believe we have missed a lot.

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