I like how you use texts from the Bible, it is a nice Book.

With the exception of God, Who IS Truth, ultimate truth exists apart from the one who professes or practices it (Though one can profess to know, understand and practice the truth, one can never be that Truth in themselves). Neither can that knowledge be measured on the basis of one’s academic or “popularity” credentials.

In contemporary society, largely because of bureaucratization, a paper trail is deemed necessary in order for one to be considered credible in any given subject.

A few weeks ago, our oldest son stated; “Though 80 percent of the adults in my church have gone to Bible School or college, most of them are doctrinally illiterate”. It seemed to him that though they had the paper credentials, they did not have the actual knowledge. As someone else stated regarding graduates from a local Christian college, “They have a lot of knowledge, but very little conviction”. Why?

A few weeks ago, our youngest son took his 2003 Jetta TDi to the Porsche VW dealer because of the lack of power. He had already personally diagnosed the problem to be the Turbo boost modulator (whatever it is technically called). The mechanic came to the same conclusion, replaced the part and sent him on his way. The car functioned worse than ever, and on his way home the engine code light came on. He returned to the dealer. After replacing a number of sensors, our son finally asked the mechanic how he had adjusted the modulator. The mechanic replied, “…by the previous one that failed”. Our son suggested that the mechanic go to the instruction manual and get the actual adjusting data. The mechanic did not do so, and again sent him on his way. The car functioned as badly as before. When our son came home, he went to the net, got the data, removed the modulator, adjusted it to spec (It had been adjusted to full boost continually), assembled it, and the car again functions like new. In this case the one who was “officially” qualified did not know what he was doing, and the one who had no “official” qualifications, did.

That is one of the dilemmas in the church. We depend on Christian “professionals” to think, work and even believe for us. Yet Paul states; Co 14:29; “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other(s) (Plural in the original Greek) judge”. Every last one of us is called to hear, understand, believe, live and judge, where Truth is concerned.

The thing I find odd is that it seems to me that many people who are attracted to your site seem to be very intellectual and mental in their approach to their faith. That’s why I often lose interest in the chains of comments that often devolve into doctrinal fine tuning sessions. I think you even hang out blog-wise with those who seem of that bent just looking at your links.

But that is not my take on you or at least that is not what I take from your writing. It’s the heart that you display on your journey.

Evangelicalism has lost the music and the poetry of the Christian experience. You seem to be able to sense it in a new and fresh way, sometimes from rediscovering the old and sometimes from re envisioning the new. I can’t do that but I enjoy reading it when you do.

But there is an opposite problem of sorts as well, which is the tendency of some evangelical churches toward anti-intellectualism — to be always suspicious of the profession of “intelligent” people (however defined), and not to welcome them into their communities.

I remember as an undergraduate philosophy major (years ago now), I was speaking to someone from a church I had just begun visiting. She looked at me and said, “People like you usually don’t get saved.”

I wrote about this recently on ex-icarus in the post Confessions of a Philosophy Major.

Ah what sweet gentleness is in these words. Paul writes elsewhere that we can be all up with the insider secrets of angels, but it is pointless if we don’t *do* love. Cheers.