My own belief is that the NT is a collection of writings of men who believed in a supernatural Jesus, WITHOUT any direction, oversight or inspiration by God.
I believe the Apostle Paul would be shocked to his toes to learn that many today believe his writings were inspired by holy spirit. I believe he would direct our attention to quite a few passages from his writings and ask us what we were thinking to come up with such an asinine idea. Then he would draw our attntion to the entity that collected together and authorized what we call "the Bible" and ask us, simply, "Do you believe the Catholic Church was inspired by God to know what is and is not part of inspired Scripture?"
My answer to that simple question would be, "No." Others might answer differently.
That said, I read the Bible for the value I get from it. I still find more valuable food for thought from it than from Shakespeare. But that doesn't prevent my finding nuggets of truth in Lao Tzu's writings, or the writings of Confusingus, Voltaire, Pliny, or others. However, I have yet to find another collection of writings from which I gain as much insight into life as I gain from the Bible.
When it comes to the concept of holy spirit, I believe that once again something is being described that was very poorly understood at the time (much like the garden of Eden and the angels blocking the way back in). However, I think we may have already discovered holy spirit and labeled it as something else. Once we get to the point of manipulating it ("coaxing it" might be a better term) many miracles will no longer seem quite so miraculous (except in context of the time in history at which they occurred).
I identify myself as a Christian because I believe that Christ was present in the flesh and sought to restore our relationship with something greater, a relationship that was lost long ago. I believe he was successful. I believe in beings that do not live on earth (angels, etc.) and I believe that many myths and legends are rooted in fact expressed in terms humans used to explain the inexplicable. I do not believe that is far-fetched or fanciful from an athropological standpoint. From an archeological standpoint, there is evidence of technology that we cannot replicate today present on earth some 4,000-5,000 years ago—not in just one location, but on continents separated by raging oceans of water—popping up nearly simultaneously.
Civilizations emerging simultaneously from many parts of the world, advanced technology spreading at blinding speeds before there was trans-oceanic communication methods. Irrigation principles, terraced farming, waste management, large stone structures built from VERY large stones quarried in distant locations, starcharting, timekeeping, measuring of season cycles—all popping up from seemingly nowhere.
Something happened 4,000-5,000 years ago that surged humanity forward, some Promethean moment when we were gifted knowledge that was hidden from us before. Much of the technology was lost again within 1,000 years. Technology does not arise quickly from nothing. This argues strongly in favor of an external source for such knowledge.
Respectfully,
AuldSoul
