Over at pomomusings, Adam Walker-Cleavland is asking people to give their definition/understanding of "salvation". The discussion, as with all other theological discussions (it seems) devolves in to proof-texting, and declarations of the superiority of Biblical claims to the evidence of our senses and experiences in life.
I am, to be blunt, goddamn tired of this.
All I want is to have a serious, thoughtful discussion on a serious issue (at least, serious for me and other Christians). I want to figure out what it is I think and believe. I want to understand what, if anything, "salvation" means for me. Incidentally, I ventured a tentative beginning by saying that we cannot answer this question beforehand, but should instead listen to the experiences of those who claim "salvation'; only then can we understand what it might mean. When I get replies that say, in effect, "But the Bible says . . .", I feel like I am talking in to an dead telephone. I would say, "I don't give a rat's left testicle what the Bible says," but I do. I just prefer not to elevate it above the real lived experiences of real people. The Bible is a wonderful starting point - but it is only that and nothing more as far as interpreting the Christian life goes. A better, and less provocative, way of saying what I want to say would be, "I know what the Bible says. How would you interpret the experience in your life? What concrete examples from your life have made the words "salvation" meaningful for you?"
Every time I or others try to discuss issues such as these, we end up not getting very far because someone enters the conversation who insists that such discussions are pointless because the Bible has all the answers, the Church has a prescribed teaching, and anything else is nothing other than false teaching inspired by Satan to lead soft-headed non-believers to hell. I wish I wish I wish such people would simply allow us to go to hell on our own, uninterrupted.
After all, we're trying to have a conversation here.
Virtual Tin Cup
