Reply #43: You would be correct, except you are forgetting the Holy Spirit. [View All]

[Tigermoose]

The "huge book" becomes clear when you accept Christ and the Holy Spirit works within you. Will you have some different understandings than other Christians? Sure. That's not a problem though. We are moved by the Holy Spirit to interpret the Word in a way that best fits God's plan. The basics of Christianity, are agreed upon most major Christian denominations. C.S. Lewis shows this well in his "Mere Christianity." Many people like to tear apart the differences on the leaves and branches of the Tree, but the Tree has a shared trunk that all must attach to -- Christ. If a "Christian" doesn't attach himself to that core trunk -- or Vine as it is explained in John -- then he or she really isn't a Christian but instead a fraud.

In the end, you must understand that Christianity is an experience that must be lived to be known. The Bible never gets old to me because as I grow as a Christian, and the HS works through me, whole new levels of understanding open up to me. My heart has a larger capacity to love others then it did before, and I can't explain that other than to say it is so because I feel/know it. I know right from wrong now, and I understand that making right decisions is not based on intellectual finagling but rather on submission rather than rebellion to that which I know to be right or wrong. Another neat thing that happens is that the Bible begins to re-pattern your mind in a way that is good and beneficial. I am less nasty and dark then I used to be. I like joyful music and good times. Once you begin to experience it you know it is Right and True, and then you never want to go back that dark forest of suspician and rebellion that you once lived, where your only satisfaction is in proving to someone how much smarter you are, and how better educated.

I'm not sure if that makes sense to a non-Christian. But the amazing part is that I know that all Christians have experienced these basic similarities when they have submitted to Christ. Granted, this assumes they have really submitted themselves to Christ and have been regenerated. I once considred myself a Christian even though I hadn't really taken that plunge, and even now I feel I have a long way to go.