#Izzy is more culturally Christian than a dedicated church goer as is a lot of America

[insanescriptist]

Hii~ so this is a question for Umei, if thats okay? I really resonate with how she writes God in her stories but im new to all of this and i wasn't sure what..denomination(?) She is? I have religious trauma and ive been trying to work through it and just what she writes...how she writes about her faith and how she incorporates it into her stories..it really really speaks to me and it's made me interested in learning more but im not really sure where to go from here and what resources i should be looking into?

From Umei,

Firstly, I'm really sorry that people you should have been able to trust have taken advantage of you. You're so, so brave for facing up to that and keeping going despite it. I'd suggest finding an up-to-date translation of the bible as a starting point; I like the New International Version (NIV) but there are plenty of other options out there. One that you find readable -or listenable, if you want an app, there are online translations- and just reading the Word. Start with the New Testament and the gospels, to get used to who Jesus is in his own words, but do read all of it. Jesus says that if we know him, we know the Father (John 8:19 and John 14:9) and we get to know Jesus' character through reading the bible. I know I'm still finding new revelations in my daily readings. Prayer! You can talk to God directly any time you want, and it's good to make space in your day just to listen to him. That's all he wants from us: that we be close to him. If you want more material on how to interpret what's in the gospels and hear good, solid theology I can recommend Ellel Ministries International, as they're non-denominational, have local centres all over the world and excellent online material as well as courses you can take. I know the director, who is a really kind and humble guy, if that helps! Don't be afraid to take your time. The bible explicitly instructs us to test everything against the word of God, to make sure it's trustworthy, so don't feel you need to rush into picking a church. Get to know Jesus through the Word, get to know God generally through prayer, and know that God won't push. Anyone or anything trying to force you into something you're not ready for is not of God. God created free will! You get to choose what you are up for, every single step. Safe travels!

From Izzy,

First off, I'm quite fine with being asked to relay a message to Umei. She can be quite hard to reach otherwise

Second, as to religious trauma... There's quite a large difference between people who claim to be Christian and people who are. That is Faith

Real faith is amazing to behold and motivates people to be kind and help others, to let them know that they are not alone in their struggles. It is the hand held out in friendship, to help, to cheer and comfort. It is the ear that will listen, the heart that chooses to heal

Fake faith is a social performance, complete with social policing and ostracizing of those who fail to perform believably. That's how you get fear-mongering, zealotry to the word and no actual True Christian behavior, because they're not living the principles of the faith

Izzy lives in the Bible Belt of the US, so Izzy's seen both. In all kinds of denominations. A Church doesn't determine your faith, it determines your community. Your faith is determined by you and your relationship with God.

Congrats for having kept that hand out for Umei to have reached. You had the faith to reach out and you've been answered for it.

Third, the KJV (King James Version) of the Bible is the most popular, but it's also the one of the oldest modern translations. Like 1611, or 1612 Izzy wants to say? It has issues inherent in that, as it was written to stop the fracturing of the Church (Calvin and the Protestant Movement says hi) by providing a cohesive book for the common man and not just the church. By virtue of being widely available and so popular before printing became a thing, it's also the version most prone to being misused by anyone who means to do so, because most people don't read it or truly study it

Anyway there's been a lot of scholarship and debate about how things were translated, because languages have nuance that doesn't always translate. There's a lot of contextual difference between Ruler, King and Tyrant for example. So if you want a bible with more pure scholarship behind it, a lot of the modern translations are what you want. There's probably annotated versions if you look.

Lastly, as Izzy's not particularly devout by common definitions and not a dedicated scholar of theology, Izzy can't really recommend any sources to look up. Izzy's certain there there's lectures of seminary classes on the internet somewhere to watch though. Seminary classes being meant to train priests, rabbis and the like, you can see what they're meant to be teaching and how they're supposed to teach it

may kind thoughts find and comfort you, Izzy