Well, I recently finished reading The Sacredness of Questioning Everything by David Dark.
This book was phenomenal. I really think it's a book that all college-age (or older) Christians should read.
It definitely challenged me in very good ways. I know that I have a passion for knowing things and wanting to be able to explain things. I'm coming
to appreciate the freedom found in admitting that I doesn't know everything! Praise God! I often am tempted to give answers to people that do not leave them hungry for more...for going deeper. I often find myself wanting to be able to give the perfect answer--air-tight, no holes, no way out. This inevitably leads to suffocation.
Now, don't get me wrong, please please please seek answers! Ask big questions, and look for big answers. The problem is not with having answers...the problem is when we think our answers are the end of the line; when we think we have things sooo figured out,
that there are no more valid questions to be asked. When we cease to ask questions, perhaps this is the tell-tale sign that we think we are fully self-sufficient, making idols of ourselves.
Here's a blurb from Zondervan about the book:
Is Your God Big Enough to Be Questioned?
The freedom to question is an indispensable and sacred practice that is absolutely vital to the health of our communities.
According to author David Dark, when religion won’t tolerate questions, objections, or differences of opinion, and when it only brings to the table threats of excommunication, violence, and hellfire, it obstructs our ability to think, em
pathize, and live lives of authenticity and genuine engagement.
The God of the Bible not only encourages questions; the God of the Bible demands them. If that were not so, we wouldn’t live in a world of such rich, God-given complexity in which wide-eyed wonder is part and parcel of the human condition. The possibility of redemption and revolution depends on the questions we ask of God, governments, media, and everyday economies.
It is by way of the questions that we resist the conformity that deadens and come alive to visions that redeem.
Here's a link to get it from Zondervan. (Click here...you know you want to!)
Here's an interview with David about why he wrote it...check it out! (Click here)
I know this is a long post already...but I haven't written in a while.
I'll try to be brief here...
I also just finished reading The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis. Wow!
I've owned it for about two years, but I only just read it. I started reading it Friday, and I just finished it yesterday. I think I read through it in 3 or 4 sittings. Until the last 3 pages, it's actually a very easy read...but don't let that fool you. It's very thought provoking.
So, I have to say, between David Dark's book, and C.S. Lewis', I think God is at work in my life. On several occasions reading Dark's book, I would start to think about topics, or have certain thoughts...and then read further thoughts on those from Dark himself! Like, God was preparing me to read it ahead of time.
Likewise, with Lewis' book, I had recently been thinking about our freedom of choosing Heaven or Hell...and if that still occurs after death. I need to research more on the doctrine of Purgatory...
Here's what I've been reading in scripture that makes me wonder...
What do you think this means?
What was Jesus doing while in Hell if not preaching the Gospel?
What does "to hold the unrighteous for punishment until the day of judgment" mean?
Make sure, I do not believe in the heretical doctrine of Universalism...I believe Jesus is very clear about this (see Matt. 25)...but what is currently happening after life before the Day of the Lord for those who never knew Jesus before death?
Anyhoo...I was discussing this with a student, and then he asked if I had read The Great Divorce. I said, "no," but it's here in my bag, I've been wanting to read it for a while now. Now I know why he asked me...because Lewis deals with this very topic in the story he tells therein. I highly recommend it. Check it out.
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