Jesus was God, according to a few writers in the Bible, and not according to others, but, for the sake of argument, let's pretend that the Bible is a single organism and everyone agreed. Let's pretend there are no irreconcilable contradictions between the writers and Jesus was described as perfectly and unequivocally as Christians desire him to have been.
I know...we'll have to really pretend hard! I realize that.
Anyway, read this article about what you would have done if you were Jesus in this situation. It's a fun read.
Enjoy!
I love Jesus, and He is God. I don't need someone else to tell me that. I live in Him and have my being in Him every moment. He's amazing!
ReplyDeleteChristians aren't right about everything. We don't even know Jesus perfectly. We're still growing, spiritually.
It is as you say it is because you say it is so it must be so.
DeleteI.C.- have you ever heard of the brain-in-a-vat theory? I do think that no absolute certainty of anything is possible without some choice based on faith. And no, it's not just because I like the matrix. :) I would never say that because I said so something is true, because that would make my opinion factual evidence of whatever I want. While that would be totally awesome, it isn't reality. I believe what I believe based on the fact that when given a number of possibilities, this is what I choose. I do not choose it in a vacuum; I wouldn't want to hold a belief for which I could find no evidence or support, naturally. But in the absence of proof negating that belief, I will continue it, giving tradition prejudice and placing the burden of proof on the innovator in this case. I derive very real personal good, according to my perception, from my current system of belief. Therefore, I will continue in it until proven wrong or offered a better option. Would I like it if you would jump on my crazy awesome bandwagon of belief too? Yep. But I cannot conclusively prove the truth of my beliefs, so I'm not going to try to convince you. Critical thinking is always good, and I find it logical to believe that if God created the universe including but not limited to the laws of physics and logical arguments, that every truly logical or reasonable belief will inevitably lead back to the truth of human creation and faith. Any true theory should be able to withstand any logical criticism, though conclusive proof may not be possible. If a belief I hold seems at odds with science and logic, then it follows that one of two things must be true- either my belief is mistaken or science is misreading something. I'm sure I don't get it right all the time, but I try to be as objective as I can when attempting to divine the truth in such cases. I will freely admit that if I can find a way to reconcile science with my faith, I will, as I love both of them. Case in point- human origins. I get to believe that the bible narrative is true, though not entirely literal, without ignoring science. I find it possible to be a creationist, just not a young earth creationist. :) I think of it like this- When my child, a certain mr. 6 yr old who when told that this is a glass of milk will ask ” but is it really? What kind? From where? How do you know?” gets into question mode, I love it, and whether I can prove by any empirical data whether or not it really is milk, I'll always encourage the questioning. I like to think that God (who, in my perception, is real) is the same way- encouraging questioning and testing, knowing that real truth in a situation will stand up to the questions. I do believe, though I cannot prove it, that he knows the answers much better than I do, existing outside of space and time as she does. :) (and no, I see no evidence that God is a dude. I don't think that God has gender, actually, though again that's just my opinion.)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteIt's really hard to find evidence when there is none. That's the nature of the supernatural. You can make up whatever you want and not worry about contradictions. That is why people scream that the Bible is so holy. They know there are terrible contradictions and obvious infractions by the holy god they love, and yet they sweep them under the rug because logic matters not.
I choose to look at religion in simple terms. If it doesn't affect me, why should I care? Religion, to me, in whatever form, is a waste of time. I have better things to do with my life.
I would even go so far as to say, as per the brain in a vat theory, that we have no absolute certainty of our own physical existence apart from our own perception, and so any belief, whether it admits a supernatural realm or not, requires faith, if only faith in human perception. Assuming that and admitting possibilities outside my own perception leads me to believe that a belief in the supernatural does not require the tossing of all logic and reason. And what is the supernatural, anyway? I have heard it said that technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic, or, I date say, the apparently miraculous. So basically, I believe that there may well be realities that we may not yet fully perceive or understand, and my faith seems reasonable within that framework. And yes, I'm a bit of a scifi geek. :) Really, at its core, I don't know how much the supernatural (distinguished from religion here) differs from theoretical science.
DeleteI hear you.
DeleteI despise sci-fi, which is probably why I don't put much stock in anything that I can't grasp with my own hands and mind. As long as I can eat and sleep and love and feel loved, I'm perfectly happy.
And that is a perfectly understandable stance; the visceral, sensory and emotional perceptions, no matter their degree of quantum verity, are the cream of human existence. :) yet.... In a way, by making your own (arguably) subjective sensory perceptions the standard of your reality, you are in effect also saying that ” because I say it (or see or hear or feel it) it is so. I don't view sensory reality as any more reliable or objective than mental or metaphysical reality, so believing as I do your (valid, personal) choice to reject all extra-physical/sensory/visceral reality, aka the supernatural, seems no more logical or enlightened than my choice to admit it as a possible reality and choose the path of faith in certain aspects of it.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog, by the way. I hope you do get your author site. :)
All that and still no reason I, with my faulty perceptions would ever want to be chums with the Bible god, derived from arguably, some pretty interesting and murderous peeps.
Delete