Pensive

I've been thinking a lot, like people tend to do. I've been challenging myself to be less skeptical, and I see it paying off when it comes to being critical of other people. The part of my skepticism I cling to so dearly, however, is with my faith. I am constantly questioning my faith. Am I really a Christian? Have I just "gone with the flow" of my upbringing, or do I actually believe, and do I challenge myself enough in this belief? This is both a good and bad thing, and based on the history of the church, it is, in my opinion, completely necessary, at least in moderation.

It is puzzling to me but it seems that the church has always clung to tradition. Recently an article was written in the school newspaper challenging the concept of the trinity, and I am amazed how many people view it as ridiculous and blasphemous. Is this right? Should we throw ideas like this aside, or actually take the time to examine them? But the concept of the trinity alone is not the purpose of this spiel, and thus I diverge from my tangent.

When the notion was made that the Earth might not be the center of the universe, was it not the church that argued against this claim? Are we really so unstable in our faith that such things could throw into question the supremacy of the Creator of the universe? Did not the church once look down on interracial dating and marriage? Do such things that have their roots in culture have the power to hold a candle to our Bible, which teaches us to treat all men (and women) equally? The church has had a history of falling behind, but has managed, often a bit later than most of society, to adapt. My question is this, what kinds of ideas do we, as Christians today, accept on the basis of tradition, rather than faith? It is foolishness to think that we "finally have it right." The trinity is hardly a threatening idea, since it is just a model of our understanding of the gospel. But what about bigger things? What kinds of things are we not seeing? I suppose that question is rhetorical, but my goal is this; not just to be open-minded about new ideas, but to seek them out. We have one life on this earth, one chance to get it right. We owe it to Him to ask such questions.