I was relieved at not having to become a Christian. But I still wanted to know whether the standard Christian beliefs about Jesus were true. “Lord, is Jesus Your Son?”
Yes.
I wondered about the doctrine of the Trinity, that God comprises the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. “Lord, is Jesus God?”
Yes.
I had trouble tracking these answers. “But You told me I should not become a Christian.”
Yes, you should not.
“But You just said …”
To believe that Jesus is My Son is not the same as being a Christian. Christianity is a sect, with some truths but many limitations. Study Jesus, learn from him, but do not become a Christian.
What are the alternatives, I wondered? There are Messianic Jews who accept Jesus as the Messiah and perhaps as God. “Lord, should I become a Messianic Jew?”
You should look into it.
I did look into it and, as far as I could tell, they were about the same as evangelical Christians, except they retained a strong sense of their ethnic Jewishness. Since I am not Jewish and had been told not to become a Christian, and they were both, this was not for me.
God: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher – is the true story of a philosopher’s conversations with God. Dr. Jerry L. Martin, a lifelong agnostic. Dr. Martin served as head of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the University of Colorado philosophy department, is the founding chairman of the Theology Without Walls group at AAR, and editor of Theology Without Walls: The Transreligious Imperative. Dr. Martin’s work has prepared him to become a serious reporter of God’s narrative, experiences, evolution, and autobiography. In addition to scholarly publications, Dr. Martin has testified before Congress on educational policy. He has appeared on “World News Tonight,” and other television news programs.
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Listen to this on God: An Autobiography, The Podcast– the dramatic adaptation and continuing discussion of the book God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher by Jerry L. Martin.
He was a lifelong agnostic, but one day he had an occasion to pray. To his vast surprise, God answered- in words. Being a philosopher, he had a lot of questions, and God had a lot to tell him