As I have mentioned before, I am currently in the second year of a four year Episcopal program called Education for Ministry, or EfM. I have studied religions since I was a young child and my M.A. degree is in Humanities with an emphasis on religious studies. I was drawn to this program not because I want to become an official minister, but to continue fleshing out the beliefs I've gained over my lifetime and see them in the context of Christianity as I understand it at this point in time. By strict Christian definition, some would call me a heretic, but I've grown quite comfortable with my way of thinking. Some think I'm a cafeteria Christian, but I like to think that if I do no harm to others purposefully, find comfort in my relationship with God, Higher Power, or Christ, and that I live in community as best I can, my participation in religion as I know it is good enough for this go-around. This program starts with the Old Testament the first year; New Testament the second year; church history is third year, and the fourth year covers theological choices.
When I was studying Christianity at the university, I was extremely drawn to tehologians Paul Tillich, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth. When I was studying my class material this week, a Karl Barth quote leaped out: "We hold the Bible in one hand and today's newspaper in the other, if we are to be faithful to what we know and who we are."
