Our
time together yesterday was, to say the least, an interesting
serendipity. I am still not sure how to categorize/describe our
conversation, but it was interesting if nothing else.
I
must admit that my experience with “good-willed skeptics” over the
years has been less than satisfying. Generally I find the discussions
to be a mildly interesting walk down a dead end street. This is often
due to each of us holding our opinions/perspectives without any
intention of changing or being changed. As a result, I will engage
friends in intellectual discussion, and if I seem to win the day my
friend will go away thinking he simply needed more education, study,
etc. to counter whatever argument that was persuasive in the moment.
The same is true for me. If I face an argument for which I have no
answer, I will simply go back to the drawing board, looking for the
counter argument. All of that can be interesting, but rarely is it
productive or life changing.
That
is not to say I am opposed to good intellectual interaction….but at
this stage in my life I need a bigger context for that interaction.
That is to say I need a relational context for that discussion. I
need/want to know the person with whom I am having dialogue. So if you
would be interested in spending some time getting to know each other as
people, sharing our stories and how we have come to the places we are
in our theological perspectives and world views, I would love further
dialogue. I would suggest some occasional lunches together and we could
see where that leads. Certainly up to you.
In
terms of reading material, I would suggest starting with “Letters from a
Skeptic” by Greg Boyd, as a kind of primer/survey of how/where I am
coming from in my thought processes.
Let me know what you think about my invitation and if a future lunch would be of interest.
