Why would you live with the condition of having personal qualms with Scripture but not questioning it?
In my early years, I was taught (by my parents and my church, more implicitly than directly) that it was unrighteous to even allow oneself to sustain personal qualms with Scripture. It wasn't really until I attended Bible college that I found a context where questioning was welcomed to any degree. In so many ways as a child, I was told to turn my brain off and just "have faith." So that's what I associate with that phrase.
(Me at an early age: "Mom, have you ever thought about what if God doesn't exist?" Mom, startled and appalled: "No!" Me: [never mentions it again])
This I find a little strange, because I've certainly seen it in Christian contexts. Perhaps not necessarily with respect to women, but certainly a lot of Christian discourse on retaining youth involves talking about ways to communicate the meaning and value of Jesus's message in a way that young Christians can understand, right?
Oh yes, absolutely with the youth! (When I look back on my upbringing, though, I can see that by "the youth" they really meant "the young men." Young women weren't going to grow up to assume church leadership.) I was referring specifically to women, though. I have yet to observe or hear of any conversations about how the meaning and value of Christianity can be better communicated to them. Perhaps this is because there are pretty consistently more women than men in most churches, so it seems like they're figuring that out on their own. But also, perhaps discussions of this nature have already happened in churches I have found to be more equitable, and though I haven't encountered the conversations, I have encountered the results. I dunno.
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Date: 2015-11-08 06:37 pm (UTC)In my early years, I was taught (by my parents and my church, more implicitly than directly) that it was unrighteous to even allow oneself to sustain personal qualms with Scripture. It wasn't really until I attended Bible college that I found a context where questioning was welcomed to any degree. In so many ways as a child, I was told to turn my brain off and just "have faith." So that's what I associate with that phrase.
(Me at an early age: "Mom, have you ever thought about what if God doesn't exist?" Mom, startled and appalled: "No!" Me: [never mentions it again])
This I find a little strange, because I've certainly seen it in Christian contexts. Perhaps not necessarily with respect to women, but certainly a lot of Christian discourse on retaining youth involves talking about ways to communicate the meaning and value of Jesus's message in a way that young Christians can understand, right?
Oh yes, absolutely with the youth! (When I look back on my upbringing, though, I can see that by "the youth" they really meant "the young men." Young women weren't going to grow up to assume church leadership.) I was referring specifically to women, though. I have yet to observe or hear of any conversations about how the meaning and value of Christianity can be better communicated to them. Perhaps this is because there are pretty consistently more women than men in most churches, so it seems like they're figuring that out on their own. But also, perhaps discussions of this nature have already happened in churches I have found to be more equitable, and though I haven't encountered the conversations, I have encountered the results. I dunno.