Hello everyone
This is my formal introduction to the Steemit space. My name is Philip Joseph Brenman according to my certificate of entry this time around and my earthly coordinates are as follows. I was born in from Denver, Colorado, USA (39.7392° N, 104.9903° W), but have been living in Arequipa, Peru (16.4090° S,71.5375° W) with regularity since 2009.
Arequipa is located in the southeastern part of the country and really is one of the major commercial hubs on the South American continent, primarily because if you are traveling by land transport from the north on the Pacific side and you want to get to the Atlantic side, then the quickest and most direct route is through Arequipa.
Well… I’ve had a long history with this country that may go into another lifetime--- who knows? Nevertheless, Peru has always held a fascination for practically anyone who has ever laid their eyes on a photo of Machu Pichu or the Nazca Lines.
For me, of course, there has always been that pull, but how I came to be here is another story. It was in 1993 when the seed was really planted by sponsoring a child through an organization called Compassion International, a nondenominational evangelical ministry that provides support for children in over 28 countries around the world and when asked from what country I would like to sponsor a child, I said Latin America. A few days later a child packet showed up in the mail -- back in the days before email -- with the photo of an 8-year old boy named Natanel Rojas Gutierrez. So I came to Peru to visit him and his family for the first time in 1999, as well as making my pilgrimage to Machu Pichu. I have yet to go back and how greatly I desire to do so. Below is a photo of Natanel and me with his three younger brothers in the jungle town of Satipo on the east side of the Andes taken in 2004.
At that time, I was a regular churchgoer, studied the Bible a lot and I thought I wanted to be a missionary. That trip really defined the second half of my life as I connected with some missionaries that opened up the door to come to Arequipa. Yet sadly my adventure here has not turned out the way one might expect it to be. Cultural adaption to the realities of another country can be quite the challenge especially when one comes expecting to find the same efficiency of the United States to be exactly the same here. Things that might be accomplished back in the States in one day can often take upwards to several weeks or even more here in Peru.
During this time, as a result of my church-goings both in Peru and back in the States, I inevitably came to the conclusion that I was never going to fit in with any these so-called religious organizations because I always asking the pastors the difficult questions they could never answer. Finally, in 2012, I sat down and cranked out a 20,000-word exposition summarizing my reasons for exiting the church scene and titled it: “Exposing the Blind Spot of the Evangelical Church/ If the blind lead the blind they both fall into the ditch.”
Though I was somewhat satisfied with what I had written, I knew the road to making it suitable for publication plus the promotion of it would be much more of a task than what I had done so far, so it was put up on the top shelf and forgotten about. Two years later, I shared what I had written with a close friend who was very supportive of the content encouraging me to continue with what I was doing so I produced another 20,000-word dissertation bringing new material to be considered and this time I called it the “ The Relevance Today of Biblical Archaeology and Scholarship.”
Nevertheless, my attention, for the most part, had been focused on recouping some money from a business project that I initiated in 2004 in which I started out with the highest expectations; but ultimately, in the end was faced with the recognition that it was a "dog that was never meant to hunt." In 2016, the project reached its natural closure where I recovered only a very small portion of the total money invested. It had consumed 12 years of my life; ironically, the length of time it takes to go from kindergarten to graduate from high school. In December my father passed away at the ripe old age of 98. Below is a photo of him and me back in 2003 just prior to one of my departures for Peru.
As I look down the final stretch of this year, it is very clear that that now is the time to integrate the ideas which I have offered for consideration in each writing project by eliminating sections that overlap while bringing other material together which complement and support the arguments being introduced, this time calling it: “Rethinking Christianity in the Light of the Scientific Method and Honest Biblical Research.”
My objective really is to bring to the table many important facts of history concerning the book which has essentially been the linchpin of western civilization with the intent to receive feedback from the Steemit community who recognize their importance in putting the pieces of the puzzle together regarding the true origins of Christianity.
Below is a general table of contents of the format to be presented, hopefully, on a weekly basis.
- Is the Bible Truth? Challenging some basic assumptions
- Reason and the Scientific Method applied to Biblical Study: There are two approaches to studying Scripture: one leads to truth and the other leads to error
- Geology, Astronomy and Archaeology and the interpretation of Scripture
- Can the Bible be relied upon as an accurate historical document?
- Fact or Fiction: the Exodus, the Conquest of Canaan, the Rise of the David and the Golden Age of Solomon
- The Historicity of Jesus Christ as represented in the Gospels: Did those events really happen?
- Is the Bible a book of the Roman Church?
- Why People come to Christ
- Being Right as Opposed to Knowing who we are
- The Doctrine of Eternal Torment: Does Hell Exist?
- Did the Early Church believe Reincarnation?
- Is Gnosticism the true Christianity? Where do we go from here?
It can never be underscored too many times the importance of developing a panoramic scope of our history, which includes an overview of the various doctrines of Christianity. Ultimately it is about understanding our true origins as the human species – what is the true significance of creation story and the garden of the Eden? All of us are awakening to the reality that most everything we have been told is a lie and much our work is about untangling ourselves from the convoluted system of beliefs we have accepted as truth. These systems of thought rather bringing humanity together so that we might solve the important problems confronting us as a global community continually are used as a wedge to drive us apart. So irrespective of your faith -- Christian Buddhist, Muslim, agnostic, or atheist we will be digging into the heart controversy to find out the truth.
This is a summary of my intellectual and spiritual journey spoken out of necessity and obligation. I really have no choice but to give a clearer and more precise understanding concerning the path I have walked and my conclusions as to how the spirit of truth works within us. Its function primarily is to guide the thought processes of the mind to think with absolute clarity on the subject at hand; additionally taking into consideration all previous knowledge and experience into the equation so that we might make a fully informed decision as the direction we need to move in. That is pretty much it, in a nutshell.
So if you are intrigued by what I have presented so far, please give me a vote up.
With highest regards to the Steemit community. I am really humbled by this opportunity.
Philip J Brenman