<As far as the Bible verses, much of the Bible was written after Jesus
died>
Yes....the whole new testament, ie Christianity. The old testament is about laws and codes, institutions and such, not about the teachings of Jesus, which dealt with grace replacing those things. The thing is, the new testament can be really confusing and contradictory, written as it was over a long period of time by several authors and subjected to various translations, political and religious realities, instances of nationalism, imperialism, war, expanding global commerce....not to mention pestilence, crummy weather, and the fantasies of artists.
About churches: overall, there is decreasing church membership and attendance. A friend of mine remarked about this by saying "That's because people are searching for God."
I looked at her. She smiled. Then I got it. "Because people are not finding God in the churches?"
She has this endearing, wonderfully silly smile, my friend.
Best,
Charliss |
