Well, so I have now attended the first two classes at a local church entitled The Christian Story: How Christian Theology Affects Everyday Life.
I have not written much, so far, about the class itself, although I have talked a little about the book we are using (John Frame’s Salvation Belogs to the Lord) and will continue to quote and comment soon. I have not commented on the class because there has not been much to comment on.
In my opinion the class runs too short. For any real discussion more time is necessary. The problem is that the class tends to thin out as people leave to go to the 10:45 service. I do not attend the service, because I feel no need to do so and because I have already seen it once at this church. The sermons are not sufficiently enticing to sit through the singing to Jesus and so forth.
Really, nothing is worse than Christianed-up rock chords put to words of praise to super-Jew.
The first class drew around 20, the second about 15. Mostly people in their 20’s-30’s, some married (with or without their partners), and few single people. Don’t worry, I’m not planning on currupting any nice young Christian women with my wily ways. Although there is a certain appeal to the idea.
Really, I’m not evil.
3 classes remain. I’m hoping that we will have a chance to dig into this stuff more, because while some interesting questions have been raised, and then subsequently glossed over, I feel like there is potential for actual discussion to get going. Likely, it will get going as the class nears its end. And I don’t want to give myself away and distract the purpose of the class by asking too many questions myself.
Yet.
But the book’s view is so conservative, so absurdly literalistic, that it really does seem (as one other class member stated) that the Bible says it, and then it’s rigfht because the Bible says it “30 times.” You know, argument by assertion.
He still made sure that, in saying this, he was clear that he still believed, despite bringing up the issue of justification for belief. No, not Justification (wherein God decalres us righteous, in a legal sense–see, I’m learning!), but epistemological justification of why to accept points of theology at all. That is hardly brought up at all, except to say that the Bible is God’s Word.
Sorry, I need more than that.
3 more weeks….
Skepticism, Properly Applied 
Per your comment about the class member who said that the Bible had to be right due to assertion, that reminds me of a line from the movie “Dogma.” One of the characters says that because the Bible was written by mortal men, and that allowed for certain messages and/or facts to be changed.
One thing I definitely believe is that NO ONE on this planet can even pretend to know what God has said directly. Some can say that faith will give people certain messages (i.e. people say that God works in mysterious ways, etc.), but to deign knowledge of what God said directly? I don’t think so. Messages can get skewed along the way, as the movie so rightly points out. But then, that’s just me.