Well I changed my views in the sense that I did not grow up in a Christian family and lived as a very active member of the secular gay community and was not particularly fond of Christians as a general rule, to becoming a Christian and in doing so leaving the gay community, my gay idenity and much of my past ideologies behind. Not quite a complete 180 but pretty close.

I believed the line that the bible is inerrant and completely true as well, until I learned in Bible college to study it using Hermenuetics (the study of the interpretation of Scripture) and started to apply the things I learned in a Christian Bible college to those passages that are used against homosexuals and became convinced that what I had been taught was not what the Bible actually says.

I get frustrated by being told that the Bible must be taken at face value, and then told that the parts that don’t suit the majority are not for today, while parts that do suit the majority still apply, even when they’re all found in the same book, the same chapter and the same purity code…it’s selective blindness imo.

I could post what I found, too, but the studies I wrote are long and it might actually be better to post links to them, as they’re online.

Blessings,

I always believed in God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and it never changed, I just didnt know about being born again. My g/f and I broke up in 1992 because she believed that being lesbian was wrong, where I didnt, then one day when I saw Sy Rogers speak, I was born again that day and also believed that being lesbian was wrong and that I just needed to fix my past to be straight. I dealt with my issues over time but my attraction to women never left. So here I am today, still a christian with a new g/f and a better understanding of certain passages but also an evolving understanding of the word of God and the bible which makes me draw closer to God, I see what he is getting at sometimes and the rest well it just takes time, he is a massive mystery but one thing i do have a grasp of is grace and love and faith, although that just continues to grow, I havent arrived yet wink .

I believed that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and still do really but its necessary to interpret it properly given culture and background and also from a counseling perspective I can just see how much it is a great book on healing and life application when applied correctly in the right perspective. Jesus teachings were simple, too simple in fact to the point people had to almost complicate it nowadays. I also learnt you cant just take one scripture and run with it, you have to look at the message in the bible as a whole, new testament especially since that is what we live from now.

There are running themes all through it and you just have to be open

enough to receive from God to see it. Psalms and proverbs are very helpful in piecing things together about life and Gods character and human nature and that coupled with Jesus teachings very insightful. Dunno, this is just me, I find the Bible so rich with so many good things, regarding anything, I always ask that the Holy Spirit helps me see it as I should, sometimes the pieces fit and certain things just reveal themselves, other times Im just bamboozled.

I”ve changed lots of my beliefs about lots of things, the bible, god, Jesus, heaven and hell……but you may have noticed that I rarely speak about those things.:D 😀 😀

thats because previously, I was so sure I was right and had interpreted the scriptures in the light of the Holy Spirit. I think of that now as being rather cocky…..sometimes arrogant….to tell others what Gods Word actually said and that their interpretations were wrong. If i was wrong before…..then how can I be sure i am right now. These days I tread more cautiously when talking about truth.

I feel more comfortable allowing others to find the truth for themselves instead of me telling them what it is.

Interesting discussion Frogger……..i’m glad that we’ve set up F2B as a safe place without an agenda to convert or proselytize…….i’m sure if people felt that the only way they were accepted here is if they had a particular belief system then we’d never see them here. 🙁

I’m with you, Mags, I will answer if someone asks the question of what I believe, but I try not to get pushy, and I endeavor to be gentle and respectful and back away when it’s just becoming a war of words with little objectivity.

I don’t push my findings or beliefs on anyone, although I have posted them on my blog from time to time, that is just by way of saying: “Here’s what I discovered.” more than “Here’s the truth!”

At least I hope that’s the way it comes across…I could be way off base 😆

No one will ever believe anything until they’ve worked it out for themselves anyway, which is why I think Paul wrote “Let each be convinced in his own mind…”

Blessings,