If Salvation Theology Is Not for You
Here is a different slant.
I attended a meeting of Alpha last night. Based on the first meeting, it seems to be for those who are questioning life and looking for answers. The eight-week program takes participants on a journey to find and have a relationship with Jesus. I support the idea wholeheartedly. It is based on salvation theology – the idea that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. I do not agree with that premise. I probably will not continue.
As we went around the small group, several people had been through the process. They shared their ideas and how they had been helped.
Some people talked about feelings of guilt and shame. Many nodded their heads. I remained silent.
The leader asked, “Bob, why did you come?”
I replied, to compare this to my own ministry. What if you didn’t feel any guilt or shame? I continued with my ideas about Genesis. I explained that Adam and Eve did not obtain truth when they ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. As evidence, I asked, if being naked was evil, why didn’t God clothe them? Of course, nobody answered. That is part of the Alpha process. Being able to ask questions without being judged is a fantastic way to allow people to find their own ways.
I will probably not continue. I do not want to become the teacher. Many people may be helped. I do not want to get in the way. My ministry is for people who have difficulty accepting salvation theology.
What if the basis of salvation theology – the fall of man – when Adam and Eve disobeyed God - has been misinterpreted? What if you do not have to feel guilt or shame?
We have free will because we are a duality. We are a spirit controlling a body. Computers and computerized robots show us that many of the actions we attribute to being human can exist without a spirit or soul. When I think of the brain as a biocomputer, I realize that it can run without my intervention. However, its actions are determined by the programming and the environment. There is no free will – unless my spirit/soul intervenes.
Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the father accept through me.”
That was not his brain programming. He was speaking from his divinity. As spirit/soul he was being a child of God. Each of us must do the same thing to know God. It is the only way.