Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Never Have I Done This

As you know from the side of blog, I am reading the book Paul. However, I must stop reading it on only page 16. Cory bought me the book super excited because I love Paul and I love history. The book says it is a biography of Paul, and I am sure it is according to the secular world, but not me. The claim of the book is that Paul is more central to Christianity than Christ himself, and without Paul, Christianity would have remained a herectical sect of Judaism. Some disclaimers: I am by no means against educating myself so as to increase my intellect of what world believes in order to show them how awesome Christ is; I love reading; usually I don't become angry at a book so early.

1. Wilson claims any history of Jesus' life and shortly thereafter is irrecoverable.
2. Wilson claims Paul had no reason for murderous attitudes toward Christians.
3. Wilson claims Stephen, first martyr in Acts, did not believe in the divinity of Christ, that he was the Son of God, or part of the Trinity.
4. Wilson also claims Revelation written by John only pertains to the destruction of Jerusalem and he got it wrong.
5. Wilson claims Paul nor Jesus believed that Christianity would ever be a religion because the world has existed 1900 years longer than either man anticipated.

This are simply the claims I remember as I forgot to bring the book, and only in the first 16 pages. I understand that if you aren't a believer, this could make sense to you, but it enrages me. Cory and I are doing the Truth Project, and Dr. Tackett say we should not be surprised that the Word of God is questioned as it is the only perfect yet incomplete picture of who God and Man is. Therefore, since man is trying to distance himself from God, he will attack the Scriptures.

I struggle with myself to stop reading it but I am angry. What aggravates me more, the same author has the best-selling book Jesus: A Biography. At this point in my life, I am to come down on the side of caution and not let someone who does not love God influence my opinion of Him. While I am stubborn, I also am weak. Finding something for a quiet time and doing it more regularly is more important. Thanks Amanda for sending for the study on Ruth! I started this morning and already feel blessed and at peace.

Now, I need to find a new book to read.

2 comments:

Cassie and Chris said...

Just wanted to say its 75 degrees today! I am reading Prayer: Does It Make a Differnce by Philip Yancey. I'm only in chapter 2 but so far he has really caught my eye and I'm interested to see what he has to say. I've only heard good things about his books. What's So Amazing About Grace, and The Jesus I Never Knew are his other books if you are interested. They are cheap on bigwords.com too.

Anne said...

i'm reading The Reason for God: Belief in the Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller here in TN with Discipleship Focus and would love your thoughts on it.