Chamblee54

Abraham Piper has a blog called TwentyTwoWords. The concept (often violated in the comments) is to say what you like in 22 words or less. On Friday, he posted this: “This isn’t an exciting, encouraging, or inspiring reason that I’m a Christian, but it is a reason.When I can’t believe something about Christianity, I ask myself if I can believe the opposite? I’m Christian because I answer No.” (The first sentence is the title of the post. The second part was the post, and was exactly 22 words)
To PG, this is not a good reason to follow a path of spiritual discipline. There are numerous issues with this line of thinking. What does it say to a person who prefers practice over belief? How can you tell what “the opposite” of something is?
PG made an answer, which he kept under 22 words. (It is one thing to believe in saying everything in 22 words of less. It is another to count your words, trim the fat, and practice this. PG thinks a gram of practice is worth a pound of belief.) The comment was “When I ask if I can believe in the opposite of the homophobia that infects Jesus Worship, the answer is yes.” A person named Dawn replied “How very cliché.”
A few hours later, Drew asked (in 44 words) “I’m a little confused by this. For instance, if you have trouble believing Jonah really lived for a few days in a fish, you ask, “Can I really believe Jonah *didn’t* live in a fish?” And the answer you come up with is “no?”
Dawn contributed (40 words, believe misspelled) “The real question you are asking is…Is the Bible true? But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. Jonah 1:17 Can you beleive the opposite?”
PG starts to get antsy. What is the opposite of the Jonah story? Is it really capable of being described as the opposite of something? And, if the real issue is the truth of the Bible…
One of the two major problems that PG has with Jesus Worship is the notion that the Bible is the word of G-d. PG is of the opinion that G-d does not write books. Using the Bible as a lens to focus G-d distorts her.
While there are some good things to say about the Bible, there are also more than a few negatives. As for the story of Jonah, it has been translated several times. There is no doubt a context, and much for scholars and theologians to discuss.
So PG has a reply… “Would the opposite be that Jonah swallowed the great fish?”
Dawn replied with a link. “http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/486-answering-the-fool ”
PG was brought up thinking that fool was a serious insult. There is probably a Bible quote about calling your neighbor a fool, and being in danger of hell fire. Even if the magic book doesn’t say that, PG does not feel it is appropriate to call someone who disagrees with you a fool. The fact that PG asked a  reasonable question does not make him a fool.
The final ( for now ) comment by PG was soon made. “Regarding the Jesus Worship custom of insulting a person with whom you disagree, I try to practice the opposite.”