“Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when he had taken him in His arms, He said to them: Whoever receives one of these little children in My Name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not me but Him who sent me” – Mar 9:37

“And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water…” Matt 10:42a

“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea” – Matt 18:6

“Pure and undefiled religion before God is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” – Jas 1:27

With regards to literalists, there are many that you really cannot reach. Not directly. I think we need to avoid getting to bogged down in battling a specific person, and continue looking for those that have “eyes to see and ears to hear”. (I gotta pull more Biblical references here. Do you know how useful these teachings are, when you come to the conclusion that everything’s a little reversed? That the message is the opposite to what some people think?)

I don’t know what hope you have, but the future here looks interesting. My impression is that Stellenbosch is picking up the pace with regards to re-establishing the kind of all-inclusive movement that was found in early Christianity. Of course translated to the contemporary context. At least from the leadership side of things, there is great cooperation happening between many of the bigger churches. Old-fashioned: not particularly, in the context of this country. Judgemental: no. Hypocritical: no. Involved in politics: “in a good way”… hehe… anti-homosexual: tough one. Not in the leadership, but congregations have a lot of inertia. A lot of the “Christian baggage” that people have, comes from parents, grand-parents, family members and friends, rather than directly from church leadership.

Many people don’t like this. And they run to e.g. Shofar, where “what you see is what you get”.

Anyway, this is why I have some hope for this town’s religious future. The necessary structures are already in place. In USA, I think you’re going to need the support of what some people label as the “emerging church movement”.

And I have said too much…

Oh, another piece of progress I could mention: a few years back, I had an email exchange with a friend, and “planted some seeds”. Again, a process that takes time… He is still in Shofar, but it seems he no longer believes in hell… Hehe, that’s *huge*, for a Shofarian. Not that I can really take any credit for that either, the point is rather that it is a long journey. A journey that takes time. And that’s where the trouble occurs: places like Shofar have “cell groups” in order to keep people from straying from the path. Aint peer pressure a wonderful thing.

The very act of writing this comment already frightens people away, if they’re reading it. Unfortunately. So yes, any Shofarians reading this, feel free to run away in fear or to distrust me, on the grounds that I’m someone that thinks and asks questions. I will not force anything down your throat, I will not tell you you are wrong, but I will ask you questions. And if you ask me questions, I will try my best to answer them as best I can. I believe God wants you to use your brain, else why did you get one? Else why did Jesus speak in parables, rather than just laying down the new law, simply and straight forward? What conclusions you end up reaching, is really none of my business, if you want it to be none of my business. If, however, you need some support for whatever reason, I’ll try my best to be there for you, or find other people that can be there for you.

Of course, I can’t say the same for some of the other people commenting on my blog. The limits of WordPress… May mengelmoes reach a state of usefulness before Easter…

Hugo, show me some successful interaction you’ve had with a biblical literalist – where they’ve become less literal. (I haven’t had one, myself.) I’ve just about had to stop posting at friendlychristian.com, for example, because withholding severe criticism of a friendly pro-ignorance anti-civil rights Christian is beyond me.

I pretty much lost my ability to not be snarky here:
http://www.friendlychristian.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=86

I’ve heard tons of liberal Christians talk about how they can influence literalists better because atheists are so polarizing. I’ve yet to see an example.