INDEED. At least.
Though I don't think that the wide divergeance is near as attributable to the written Scriptures as seems to be contended.
If God were dictating your own thoughts, word by word, you'd have no time to think, let alone enjoy. You'd be focused on writing down everything exactly as He said, perhaps the only thought in the back of your mind being the knowledge and any distraction (your thoughts or desires) would and thereby commit a sin.
In my experience and observations, that's just not true--for a number of reasons.
1. GOD is NOT UNIdimensional. Multiplexing; multichannel; multi-everything does not begin to define nor describe God. When God plays an individual--plucks an individual's strings, He easily uses all His fingers and toes.
2. EVEN IF God were to focus the experience in some sort of unidimensional way--that one dimension would STILL have SOOOOO MUCH INTENSE AND DENSE CONTENT as to be still at least somewhat overwhelming on a number of levels.
You make it sound as though God would only be pouring water through a clear lucite pipe. NOT SO! God created us individuals with unique personalities FOR HIS PLEASURE. He has plenty of angels utterly devoted to robotish roles and tasks. And even they are evidently far from robots. But we are a far different order of critter. I'd have thought that was as obvious in the Orthodox/RC Scriptures as in the Protesty versions.
Moses transcribing text dictated letter by letter would have ended up being more enriched and FULL of content, intimacy, meaning, robustness than Nixon watching 9 TVs at one time by far.
But inspired scripting via Holy Spirit can also be incredibly subtle . . . sometimes one is aware only on reflection or later realizing what just happened and how awesome the content was through no agency of one's own mind or doings. Sometimes it's so intense and multidimensional and dripping with Holy Spirit goose bumps that one is kind of standing aside watching one's self and Holy Spirit do their dance dumbstruck and awestruck and hopeing it doesn't end very soon.
NEVER is it a dull robotish mindless thing as you characterize it. NEVER. That idea seels like one from the pit, to me.
Regardless, I still do not understand the point. I insist that your point is not valid--the furthest thing from the truth. But even if it were true--what does it gain your side of the discussion? I don't get the point.
The story of +Peter walking on water as long as he was focused on the presence of Christ in front of him, and sinking the moment his attention was taken away is what I mean by 'mindless.'
Doesn't wash for me. Focused on, feeding on, intimate with, dancing with Christ is far from mindless. It is the most MIND-ENGAGED, MIND-ALIVE, MIND-ENLIVENED, MIND-ENERGIZED, MIND-EXPANDED, MIND-ENLARGED, MIND-FLOWER-EXPLODING sorts of experiences one can imagine. Looking at the water and taking one's mind OFF Christ would be the beginning of mindlessness.
If you love something with all your heart, mind and soul, there is no room for anything else, let alone your own thoughts, distractions and desires.
Ahhhhhh, but we are not talking about just someone else here. We are talking about GOD ALMIGHTY. And He is pouring a fire hose worth through a drinking straw or a hollow hair. And HE IS NOT doing so while obliterating one's personality in all it's richness. NO! HE IS ENGAGING THAT PERSONALITY OF RICHNESS WHICH HE CREATED FOR HIS PLEASURE.
And Alamo Girl not so long ago said that Christ's commandments tell us, as she paraphrased, to love God absolutely. I have no doubt that Moses, in his humility, did just that.
Of course. See above. All the more so for the dance of the two personalities--the robust one God created as Moses with God's own infinitely robust personality.
+Paul reminds us that we are to become "slaves to righteousness." There is no freedom in slavery. The true bliss is to be with God 100% in your heart, mind and soul. That leaves no room for independent thinking, personal desires, or distractions.
So, on the wedding night, the true bliss of hubby is that wife has become so one with him that there's no personality of the wife left and hubby is sort of having sex with himself?
I don't think so.
If God had wanted mindless robots, He'd have made mindless robots and we'd not even be aware of it enough to have this 'dialogue.'
God didn't walk in the Garden with Adam in the cool of the evening to enjoy mental . . . manipulation . . . with Himself. For some reason, He enjoyed the fellowship with Adam. The dance. The robust personality to personality dance.
I seriously doubt that anyone in the presence of God would be thinking of anything else. He would be so awestruck that he would for all practical purposes be mindless. And that's what the eternal bliss is all about.
Actually, Roland Buck's experiences and those of a host of others indicates otherwise. You can check out his ANGELS ON ASSIGNMENT as a free online book here:
FREE ONLINE BOOK LINK: http://www.angelsonassignment.org/index2.html
Now, it can be true, as with so many who are "slain in The Spirit" that the ATTRACTIVENESS of God and what God is pouring through and into an individual is SO INTENSELY PREFERABLE to other considerations that other considerations are in the background and hardly noticed, if at all. But one is ABLE to notice the range of things including individual silent thoughts as well as what's going on in the environment. There can be exceptions but that's a fair general rule, imho.
I don't think that in heaven the souls are running around fulfilling their needs and desires, having ciritcal discussions and disagreements. I's pretty much mindless state of eternal joy, not thinking.
Evidently you have not read of many such visits. Your description is wholesale inaccurate. Not that there are disagreements. But the idea of everyone being on some sort of robotic mindless lock-step unified mind meld obliterating all personality and individualized thought--just is not so. NO ONE I've read (amongst probably more than 100 such reports) has EVER described Heaven to be any such place with any such sort of state for those there.
Lastly, I do not believe God dictated the Five books of Moses to him word by word because I don't believe Moses could have written all of them, but that's opening another thread, so I will just leave it at that.
I just think you're wholesale wrong about that. God enabled Moses to do all kinds of things. Scribing the 5 books would have been RELATIVELY child's play--for the super educated Moses and especially with Holy Spirit's pouring through Him and assisting him. And the more I study the Bible Codes, the more I'm inclined to think that the Jewish tradition is right about letter by letter. At least with Genesis.
I will address only one part of it to consider once again a metaphor we have previously discussed, namely the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem as described in the book of Revelation.
Each of the gemstones has a different color. Moreover, the color of a stone is determined by how much light is absorbed v passed through v. reflected off the surface.
Rubies, emeralds and sapphires – for instance – let some light through but absorb quite a bit in the process. Opals are translucent and the onyx reflect light off the surface but are dark inside. Diamonds allow the most light to pass through – but they too can be different colors. But the clearest of the diamonds disappear when dropped in water.
The gemstones to me are metaphors for how we choose to live in God's Light.
My prayer is to be like a diamond, i.e. that His Light may shine through me unobstructed. Even so, I'll be happy to end up as an amethyst. LOL!
The stones and colors in Revelation 21:
If God were talking to you, I iamgine you'd be paying attention to Him without commenats. If He said "Write this down..." you'd write it obediently. Your comments and thoughts and feelings would not be relevant.
I would say: that's pretty "robotish."
I just think you're wholesale wrong about that. God enabled Moses to do all kinds of things...
Perhaps, but some parts of the Pentateuch are not very likely his writing.