Minutes ago I finished seven weeks of study with a group of about fourteen women (the membership varied from week to week.) The book we looked at, The Rapture Exposed, was daunting at times because it was examining one ot the most challenging and confusing books of the bible, The Revelation to John.
Most mainline Christian denominations studiously avoid the book while some conservative Christians are almost obsessed by it. The wildly popular Left Behind novels are loosely based on Revelation.
What struck me again is how willing this group is to study and grow in faith. The bible can be both transparent and apparently inpenetrable at the same time. We can read passages that speak to us with great clarity and then turn to others that baffle us.
This makes sense, really. The Good Book is a collection of books written over centuries by many authors in diverse cultures. Even though we may believe that scripture is divinely inspired we must "work up a sweat" to understand the bible. I learned a great deal through my preparation and from the people involved. We had some tense moments at the beginning because of our different viewpoints but in the end this was a valuable and faith-affirming exercise.
In November we are going to have an evening study looking at different forms of prayer. If you are close at hand, please join us.
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