>>7622365what faith is is essentially trust and hope in God, and God is Love. a person doesn't need to ascribe to biblicism or literalism in order to please God. people seem to have a difficult time differentiating between the bible and God. the bible was written by people. yes, these people were all members of the same community seeking God, but God didn't write the bible. which is why a person of faith, that is, someone who trusts and hopes in God who is Love, can be inspired to faith by the gospel and feel revulsion when they read the book of numbers.
let's say a person overwhelmingly follows the demands of love in most moral decisions they're faced with, that is, when faced with a moral decision they choose and act out the most loving option they're aware of. this in practice is unable to be distinguished from the genuine following of jesus christ.
church can be good when its comprised of people who genuinely follow jesus christ in this way. communities made up of people whom only nominally are christian are just as unremarkable and awful as every other human institution
you see, if God is there, and i believe he is because i hope and trust that he is (i don't know, and KNOWING is a realm for fanatics), when you die he isn't going to ask you whether you were a member of the correct religion. he's either going to know you because you've lived in communion with him through the love you have, the love you do, and the love you become, or he isn't going to know you because you haven't chosen communion with love. this is the great test, and it's pass or fail, and if you pass, you owe it God, and if you don't, you are responsible
