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Post by Patrick on Mar 30, 2010 0:27:24 GMT -5
Growing up in the church, I have often heard the phrase, "I found God." As I am sure many of you have. The logical question to ask someone who says that would be, "Can you please show me where He is?"
How small would a God be that we could just find all of a sudden? That phrase brings Him down to human level and cheapens His name. No one has found God, but why would anyone refuse to look? Finding God is an eternal process, not instant gratification.
The best anyone can say is that he or she is beginning to find God, but still has a lot more to discover. The best a person could ask for is to stand in awe of the things beyond himself, and be blessed to have an eternity to uncover the truth. Existence (the Universe) always turns out bigger than each of our previous theories, and we keep discovering more. So why should we be satisfied to disregard or belittle God with our small thinking?
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Post by Jeremy on Mar 30, 2010 1:11:15 GMT -5
I thought this thread was going to be about communion.
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Post by dlectronic on Mar 30, 2010 1:13:21 GMT -5
Good stuff! I'll post more when I get time, but it's interesting to think about indeed.
We are knowledge thirsty, we human beings. I think if it means leading somebody to Christ, it's there is certainly warrant for seeking to "really understand God" via logical explanation and stuff.
Some people say "If I had proof for God THEN I would believe." In actuality I disagree with that claim. William Lane Craig writes that nobody ignores God due to lack of rational metaphysical and scientific evidence, rather because they prefer to live in the way they live; they prefer a life apart from God, in sin.
I say these things lovingly to those here who are not Christians.
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Post by Muffy on Mar 30, 2010 1:18:42 GMT -5
Good stuff! I'll post more when I get time, but it's interesting to think about indeed. We are knowledge thirsty, we human beings. I think if it means leading somebody to Christ, it's there is certainly warrant for seeking to "really understand God" via logical explanation and stuff. Some people say "If I had proof for God THEN I would believe." In actuality I disagree with that claim. William Lane Craig writes that nobody ignores God due to lack of rational metaphysical and scientific evidence, rather because they prefer to live in the way they live; they prefer a life apart from God, in sin. I say these things lovingly to those here who are not Christians. lol, big claim for such an assumption. Assume God exists, assume he is offended, assume that we ignore the offense in spite of the assumption that everyone knows what God is offended by. |
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Post by Patrick on Mar 30, 2010 1:42:59 GMT -5
I have two points to get across: one to believers and one to unbelievers. What I think we Christians should realize is that God is bigger than we know. It is easy make statements from our limited understanding that belittle Him in the eyes of others. We are all learning because we have opened our minds to the fact that He is real and we can learn from Him, but we always must be prepared for our paradigms to be completely shattered and redefined.
What I want to say to those who think that belief in God is foolish is that people thought the idea that people could fly was absurd. We tried so many times to fly before the invention of the airplane that people were getting sick of it, and saying it just cannot happen, but it did. We all have limited understaning, and things are being discovered that challenge it everyday. Modern physicists think that there may even be parallel universes. There have been medically documented miracles. I don't see what makes belief in God foolish. It actually makes a lot of sense.
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Post by dlectronic on Apr 2, 2010 12:02:24 GMT -5
Good stuff! I'll post more when I get time, but it's interesting to think about indeed. We are knowledge thirsty, we human beings. I think if it means leading somebody to Christ, it's there is certainly warrant for seeking to "really understand God" via logical explanation and stuff. Some people say "If I had proof for God THEN I would believe." In actuality I disagree with that claim. William Lane Craig writes that nobody ignores God due to lack of rational metaphysical and scientific evidence, rather because they prefer to live in the way they live; they prefer a life apart from God, in sin. I say these things lovingly to those here who are not Christians. lol, big claim for such an assumption. Assume God exists, assume he is offended, assume that we ignore the offense in spite of the assumption that everyone knows what God is offended by. I assume you were talking about the W.L. Crag paraphrasing? Like it or not, I think that message is a heavy hitter in the core of man's existence. It's scripturally grounded as well. |
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runny
New Member
I am cool or something.
Posts: 11
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Post by runny on Apr 2, 2010 12:53:38 GMT -5
Bite-sized cheesecake  |
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Post by Scott on Apr 2, 2010 21:44:36 GMT -5
It is not that God is offended; it is rather that completely unconditional love is a torment upon the unrepentant and vile heart.
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Post by dlectronic on Apr 2, 2010 21:46:30 GMT -5
Bite-sized cheesecake Ha?  |
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Post by davo on Apr 3, 2010 2:00:35 GMT -5
Bite-sized cheesecake that's not cheesecake, that's a victoria sponge. |
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Post by Metzuda on Apr 25, 2010 22:33:19 GMT -5
Hmm, a couple of friends and I were discussing perceptions of God, the other day.
The "conclusion" we came to was this... that even our most accurate perceptions of God are necessarily skewed to His reality; "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known." (1 Corinthians 13).
God is incomprehensible to us. He is completely other than anything else in existence... which is why the Seraphim in Isaiah 6 proclaim "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts" (3). All of what we perceive of Him is what He has revealed to us in our infinitesimal capacity of understanding, which is infinitely removed from the fullness of His reality.
Our discussion went the way of worship... how short do our praises fall? To say that God is "good" or" merciful" or "graceful" or "loving" is nearly blasphemous, when we aren't even able to truly understand all that "good" entails, and we are worshipping Him for being something so much less than He is. Not that our worship is blasphemy... surely not! But... it is humbling to think about.
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