tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20930767.post2770094955191570124..comments2023-06-01T14:08:49.977+00:00Comments on Confessions of a Doubting Thomas: Lessons from EmmausUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20930767.post-4222176994806013162009-05-04T06:55:00.000+00:002009-05-04T06:55:00.000+00:00Absolutely!
Thanks for that. I wasn't really equa...Absolutely!<br /><br />Thanks for that. I wasn't really equating belief with understanding. If anything, I was pointing out that understanding is not required for belief or salvation. It is quite possible to be a Christian and not have understanding. Or, as I believe the case to be, that most Christians only have <I>partial</I> understanding.<br /><br />I suppose my point was really that we should hold our beliefs a bit more lightly, because some of them may be wrong - however much we know our bibles and however long we've been Christians. We should always be open to new ideas, because they <I>might</I> be right and we might be wrong. And (and most importantly for me at the moment) we should not let minor differences in understanding lead to rifts in the church. The church is so fragmented these days, and often over very minor issues that should not really have been divisive. If only we had the grace to say "you could be right, I could be wrong, lets try and get along", the church would be a much better place.Ricky Carvelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17975085318645232701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20930767.post-29586986387644084942009-05-04T02:25:00.000+00:002009-05-04T02:25:00.000+00:00Here's my stab at answering your (probably rhetori...Here's my stab at answering your (probably rhetorical?) question, "What if you haven't got him yet?" <br />Answer: He's got you! And that's the beauty of the gospel for those believers on the road to Emmaus as well as for his children now (flighty, disbelieving, forgetful, and truly safe all at once children)<br />I am really proud to be your sister, though continents away, so I just wanted to share a preconception I'll believe in to my dying day: the pure childlike trust that Jesus most definitely espouses can produce no shame about our preconceptions. In his eyes, you know who exactly who he is if he's given you his love, calling you his beloved son. That's your righteousness--not living nearest Jerusalem, not memorizing Torah scroll to scroll, not even learning by osmosis all the teachings of your Rabbi with whom you spend time night and day. Evidence of that sonship is giddy in-your-gut hope that one day he himself will come to show us what he is so we can be all of what we hope and more. It seems like you're equating their belief with their understanding--I wonder if you'd elaborate some more on how you come to that. I think that their understanding and their belief or "heavenly standing" so to speak can be shown to be quite unalike and even unrelated in the eyes of the Christ. Note that he chides them not for misunderstanding (intellectually?) what was written, but for being "slow of heart to believe" (v25). When they do catch on that they were wrong, I think their tone in saying "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us?!?" is elated, free of shame or regret. At once, all he laid out for them from the Scriptures gave clarity, repentance, and pure joy. To me, it's like they're jumping up and down, chuckling despite themselves, "It never depended on uuu-us!!! WE GOT A PRESENT!" ...just like a bunch of rambunctious munchkins... in beards and tunics. :)<br /><br />1 John 2:28-3:3<br /><br />And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming... If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that every one who does right is born of him. See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.Carishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10293213217651808672noreply@blogger.com