The Asbury “revival.”
I humbly submit, absent of cynicism, as a former pastor who’s spent years studying so many of the teachings, we were handed in evangelical christianity, with only a desire for people to become free…
…that the very NEED for REVIVAL, aka to have new life breathed into something followed by a return to stability, is first evidence that the death of something was imminent, and instability present.
We must first ask ourselves what was unstable and near death resulting in a need for revival, aka new life and a return to stability?
I hope that once the worship sets end, the volunteers become weary, and the energy to sustain 24-hour prayer wanes, that CURIOSITY reveals itself as that which was near death, and that which God wishes to revive.
CURIOSITY to know how followers of “the Way” followed the Christ message for the first 4 post-resurrection centuries without a holy book.
CURIOSITY to know why they were known for their non-violence, refusal to engage in war, and inclusive love for all people, and yet christians since the 5th century or so, right after the bible was compiled, began to be known as an exclusive, war-hungry people who believed mass killing was justified to “expand God’s kingdom.”
CURIOSITY to find out who first called this library of scrolls (that’s what the root word for bible means: library of scrolls), holy? I mean seriously, when was the word holy placed on the front of the word library of scrolls?
CURIOSITY to know why a library of scrolls was compiled in the first place.
CURIOSITY to find out if those present at the councils of Hippo, Carthage, and Nicea, “heard God correctly” as to which scrolls to include and exclude. Honestly, how do any of us know that they didn’t miss it?
CURIOSITY to ask why there is such an overwhelmingly patriarchal narrative present in the bible, except during Jesus’ ministry in which He consistently legitimizes, elevates, listens to, and empowers women.
CURIOSITY as to why you see James, Paul, Peter, and other new testament writers disagreeing theologically throughout the new testament.
CURIOSITY to ask if the bible is one cohesive, non-contradictory, inerrant, univocal, unquestionable book, or if it’s in fact a library of scrolls as its very name informs, compiled from different writers, at different times, from different cultures, with different ideas of what deity was and what deity wanted to accomplish in the earth, that absolutely needs to be questioned.
CURIOSITY regarding whether it was ever Jesus’s or Paul’s wish to compile and bind these scrolls together.
CURIOSITY as to why the first King James bible had 80 books, then the second 73, and the protestant bible we were handed 66? If the KJV is the one perfect translation of the copies of copies of copies of scrolls used to compile the bible, which KJV, for there are three.
CURIOSITY to ask if Paul was mindful he was writing to anyone other than his IMMEDIATE, 1st century audience…did he ever imagine the letters he penned to those he cared about across the region would be compiled and presented as a flawless, cohesive, close-ended theological narrative for all people for all time in endless centuries to come?
CURIOSITY to ask why doctrines of afterlife punishment became part of the christian narrative centuries after Christ’s death, and to ask who benefits from these afterlife threats.
CURIOSITY to ask why the word “hell,” defined as conscious torment in flame for endless afterlife duration is absent from the biblical text, and only appears in about 1/3rd of bible translations.
CURIOSITY to wonder if you’d ever have believed in afterlife torment if your parents had given you a young’s literal translation for instance, which as a literal translation, doesn’t even contain the word hell because, well, it’s literally not there.
CURIOSITY to ask why when you read the new testament, it appears the 1st century people, including all the apostles, sure seem to believe the death and destruction so many popular TV preachers say is looming ominously in OUR future, was going to happen THEN, in the 1st century, TO THEM. Perhaps it’s because when Jesus said it was going to happen within THAT GENERATION, He wasn’t wrong?
CURIOSITY as to why when a baby is born, we all see pure and innocent love and light in their eyes, yet our preachers insist they’re vile, separated, guilty sinners deserving of endless afterlife torment in flame?
CURIOSITY to ask that if one of your children turn out to be LGBTQ+, if it’s really God’s will to withdraw your love from said child, take them to conversion therapy, no longer welcome them in your home, etc. CURIOSITY to ask if you want to be on your deathbed thinking about how you abandoned your own child and clung to your interpretation of a holy book…an interpretation you most likely never questioned. Harsh sounding, I know, but it’s time to get real or we cannot move forward.
CURIOSITY to ask if Heaven would be heavenly at all if you find yourself there one day, yet the God you’re with has created and is sustaining a scenario in which your children and others you love are burning in conscious, unimaginable fiery anguish as you sing “holy, holy, holy” eternally at this God’s feet. CURIOSITY to ask if this deity is worthy of worship at all, or perhaps this is a false narrative.
CURIOSITY as to whether you want to remain in a life path that discourages questions, curiosity, doubt, open-mindedness, and growth, and if you want to raise your children in it and perpetuate this narrative.
I hope CURIOSITY takes hold among Christ followers like never before, including the self-appointed theological experts and gatekeepers themselves.
These are just a few of the teachings I hope CURIOSITY leads christians to begin questioning; there are many more.
I hope adults begin to listen to the hearts and words of unindoctrinated children regarding what the divine is, rather than old men who are entrenched in their theological training and particular interpretation of the library of scrolls we call the bible.
I hope when history looks back on this revival, it will be known as the revival of CURIOSITY: one marked by a lasting and unprecedented increase in human consciousness, love, maturity, growth, understanding, and dedication to making sure the next generation never regresses back into the fundamental, fear-based religion we escaped, thanks to a divine REVIVAL of CURIOSITY.
I hope a stability remains like the one Jesus was attempting to usher in.
https://www.facebook.com/jstringer22
Jake Stringer
Words from the Editor to the Hispanic global Body of Christ
I know that just asking these questions or having these curiosities in the Hispanic religious world is enough to shout Heresy! I am not approving anything the author has said, only saying that every brother has the right to have curiosities.
My question is why have we rooted ourselves in the bible and not in the Author? He is not offended by our questions.
Here are my Curiosities:
Why as a Hispanic people we have fallen in love with a text translated by Catholic priests who were full of religious viruses that did not come from the New Covenant? **
Such as
1. The infallibility of the Pope
2. The Clergy-Laity division
3. Sanctification via the obedience to sacraments
4. The weekly church service.
5. The training of religious professionals via the seminary
6. The worship of scripture
7. The actual conversion of communion elements by the priests
8. The sacredness of religious buildings
9. The separation between sacred/spiritual time and secular time
And many more.
Why is it that Hispanic people can readily quote verses from the Bible, but they don’t know how to live them?
Why as God’s people have we allowed the Voice of the Lord through the Holy Spirit to be supplanted by a book, that without the help of the Spirit, is nothing more than pure human theology?
Why do I have to go to a place or building like Asbury Kentucky for the Holy Spirit to revive my life?
Why do I have to chase after for His presence in a “revival” when He dwells in me!
Why do we have to be so judgmental! Why can’t we just let time reveal what’s really happening there. Why does everything have to be yes or no? Why is there is no place for immaturity in our environment? Long has been the road and no of us here has arrived.
Thank you, Lord, for your patience with us. Father have mercy on those who come to this “revival” with a great need of you in their lives. Meet them where they are for your great love!
The glory is yours Papa!
Jose L. Bosque
Article in Spanish – Un Avivamiento de Curiosidad
Spanish – Avivamiento@aol.com
English – ForRevival@aol.com
** For the record, long before there was a King James Bible there was a Hispanic translation called La Biblia de Oso 1569
