Some bovine lovin' in Sweden. I think this photo captures my anticipation of these 12 books exactly
Growing up in a Christian home has been one of the largest boons bestowed upon me. I am a more complete, contented person because of it. However, gathering religious ideas at young age, caused me to think some funny things, not by direct teaching necessarily, but rather by youthful inference. For example, I once thought that non-Christians were wicked people and there was no good in them at all. Or that sex was evil, and marriage was for the weak minded. (Up until I was 17, I was all for being a celibate saint.) Or that no one should ever take communion, because, who really is completely without sin and wants to drink damnation on himself? No, thank you.
Well, once I got to UNC, I realized some of these Christian ideas were whacked. Some of my favorite people were non-Christians, and even (dare I say it?) better people than some of the Christians I knew. This led to a lot of confusion and then to skepticism of the organized church. I continued to retain my beliefs, but for the past few years, I've avoided reading overtly 'Christian' books: every time I tried, I would just get angry. (Come on: who hasn't read a really awful 'Christian' book? Left Behind series, anyone? Which, I was told when I was 13 that this was excellent literature.) So after a six-year Christian-reading hiatus, I figured it was time to objectively read tenements of the faith.
My goals are to approach these texts humbly, to try and not get angry, and to be open to allow these works to shift and shape my notions of Christianity and its doctrine. I want to be critical, but not cynical. No longer spoon-fed; no longer anemic; but, shall we say, chewing the cud? A revisiting of the essentials, the mains, the hay, the grass, mindfully considering it once again.
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