Christian Aspies
Good morning Nobody's Home. Technically you are accurate. You are part of the tree and we gentile believers are grafted on branches.
I am ok with being a branch because if I am connected to Jesus then I am alive. Besides I can also see the centuries of connotations (some negative) that identifying yourself as Christian would be. Again, I can own up to that too as my ancestors may or may not have been involved, but the sins of the father translate. There is nothing I can do about that.
What I can say is this: for those who are Jewish who don't believe in Yeshua, I can certainly say that Yeshua knows them. Not all who say they are "Christian" really are, and not all who say they are definitely "not" Christian, aren't. If we truly believe that no-one can be saved by any name under heaven, but also state that the pagans or gentiles can see God in his handiwork, (creation), I think we need to follow the logical step to say that a tree bears fruit then it may need to be considered as such.
The kindness of one of my closest friends (who passed away and was Jewish) in his love for God and care/love for others far superseded mine should be considered closer to Christ then all of my dogma and labels. It would be hubris for me to assume that his generosity and sincerity were purely driven by a desire to "work" his way into heaven as well as to say that his rejection of the name of Christ was truly a rejection of the real Christ. It could possibly have been only that of the connotations and history of what we have done in Christ's name. In short, did he reject the reality or the packaging? Was he the son who said "I will never do it" but then thought better of it and went into the field? Who can say?
My two cents.
I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome before becoming what most people would really consider a very knowledgeable or devout Christian, so having Asperger's has always just been something I've lived with. It hasn't impacted my view of God in any way.
At any rate, I do sometimes feel more than a little alone in being a Christian with Asperger's syndrome. Out of the few people who I know with Asperger's, I am the only one who I know for certain is a Christian (one other might be, and two I know for certain aren't). Part of me wonders if the reason for this might be the fact that, because many people are "Christian" for solely social reasons, people with Asperger's don't have that reason to try to hold religious beliefs that they don't really have. It sort of makes sense.
Douglas_MacNeill
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Joined: 10 May 2007
Age: 60
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,326
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Baptism is a symbol of what has taken place spiritually. Born again means that you are now living a new life in Christ.
For what it's worth:
I'm definitely Aspie (diagnosed by a psychiatrist) and a mainline Christian (Anglican Church of Canada).
As far as I'm concerned, John 3:5 states clearly that being born again means being born of water and the Spirit.
In other words, being born again refers to nothing more, nothing less, and nothing other than the sacrament of
new birth.
Yes, I do mean baptism. Yes also, I do judge conservative evangelical Christians [whom I also call
capital-F Fundamentalists] to be unBiblical when they use being "born again" to refer to conversion as an adult.
When capital-F Fundamentalists ask you to "invite Jesus to be Lord of your life", I reply "As if He isn't Lord of All already?"
Rather, it is for me to honour my baptismal promises by repenting and returning to the Lord whenever I fall into sin.
And yes, I find that Fundamentalists have been bullies against their mainline siblings long enough; it's time they faced
someone who can fight back.
I call myself a Christian because I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the One who takes away the sins of the World. Other people would call me Baptist because I grew up in a Baptist church and frequently find myself around other Baptists. I would not call myself Baptist because I cannot adhere wholly and completely with all Baptist theology and beliefs. I have noticed that across denominations (Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, etc.) there is a common unity among those who truly believe in what they read and the Bible and don't make excuses for what it says in spite of many significant theological differences.
The foundation for my personal theology is that God is Truth. Truth is not some standard that exists outside of God. If it were, I do not think it would be possible for God, as a personal being, to fully know Truth. God is Truth because He is the standard by which all things are measured. He created all things and all things are known by Him and through Him. His Laws are not arbitrary "Thou shalt"s and "Thou shalt not"s because right and wrong are determined by His very nature. If we truly want to know what is true and what is right and what is wrong then we should get to know God. Like a beginning music theory student a good place to start is with the dos and don'ts. Right now, God is intangible as is music theory. (Granted, God is way better and way more complex than music theory.) The rules introduce you to the intangible and once you get to know the nature you can understand why something is right or wrong. Which means that once you begin to get to know God you start to find out that certain things weren't as nearly wrong or right (which is way more unsettling) as you once thought them to be. ...Okay... I don't have the time (and you probably don't have the patience) for me to get as deep into my theology as I'd be likely to go if I keep going so I'll sum up now if I can.
I try to live by the following verses...
"If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God." ~ 1 Corinthians 8:2-3
"Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." ~ 1 Corinthians 10:12
Sorry if that's more post than you wanted to read but I wanted to see if I could put a little bit of my theology out there so people know where I am coming from. I'm really happy to find this thread. Hi everybody.
I am a staunch athiest (or antitheist to be a pedant) myself but I believe one of the UKs most well known Aspies, Daniel Tammet is christian in some respect.
_________________
AQ46, EQ9, FQ20, SQ50
RAADS-R: 181 (Language: 9, Social: 97, Sensory/Motor: 37, Interests: 36)
Aspie Quiz: AS129, NT80
Alexithymia: 137
AnonymousAnonymous
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Joined: 23 Nov 2006
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 71,800
Location: Portland, Oregon
I always feel alone as a Christian Aspie. Christian NT's reject me, Non-christian aspies reject me too.
I accept you as a Christian Aspie
Me, Greenmouse or both of us PHISHA?
@ Greenmouse: I understand how you feel. Every time I go to church, I usually sit in the middle, or whenever I'm running late, I sit in the back. The majority of people who I see at church, who are obviously NT, have chips on their shoulders against people like us, especially families who have very young children; they're the worst.
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Silly NTs, I have Aspergers, and having Aspergers is gr-r-reat!
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