My reflections on the HQG: past, present and future

I originally joined the HQG because I wanted reassurance that it was OK to have questions, even doubts, about fundamental principles of the Christian faith. I didn't really expect that any of these questions would be answered definitively or once and for all, and nor has it happened. I can say, however, that while I still perceive some contradictions in my beliefs, I feel that I am a little closer to resolving them. I have struggled at times with the sense that my main motivation for wanting this group has been intellectual pride, and that I should just accept things more on faith without necessarily trying to understand them intellectually (1 Cor 3:18-19 "If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a 'fool' so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight."). On the other hand, I definitely don't believe that one should accept an idea only if the evidence and/or arguments for it are watertight. (In fact, this is impossible: if one rejects - or doesn't yet accept - a certain proposition, then by default an alternative one will be accepted, at least provisionally. In practice, there is no such thing as "pure agnoticism".)

I keep going to HQG partly for the same reason that I joined, and partly because of you other members. I get encouraged, not just by your words and ideas but by your lives, by your commitment to being Christ in this world and to each other.

Some ideas for the future:
I would like to map out our meetings (on a three-weekly cycle) preferably a year in advance. Of course, if something were to come up that made it impossible for one of us to attend, we would firstly try another day in the same week and then a week earlier or later. But such a one-off rescheduling would not affect the following meeting dates. I prefer a three-weekly (or possibly a fortnightly) frequency to a weekly one because I don't ever want to think to myself, "Oh no, it's HQG again!" and because meeting once a month might be a bit too infrequent. I also think three weeks is a good length of time for reflection on ideas between meetings.

As well as tackling some of the questions we haven't discussed yet (particularly the virgin birth and the sexism of the Bible and the church), I think it would be valuable to revisit some of the questions we've already discussed. I would like to start by revising what "answers" we came up with before (even taking notes) and then seeing if we have any new insights. Topics such as:

• The authority of the Bible as the 'inspired Word of God'
• The atonement
• Hell
• Free will
• Other religions
• The nature of Christian experience / putting God first in our daily lives