Posted on 12/30/2002 11:02:27 PM PST by JohnHuang2
No apology is necessary since it is clear that you are sincere and if I appear to obfuscate, then I apologize to you. That is not my intent. I do sometimes speak more in "sound bites" than I should and I sometimes exaggerate to make a point, but I am also quite sincere.
I wish you the best as well for the New Year.
These all demand choices. The only thing "inherent" in them is that God is good, which I personally believe He needs us to aspire to.
And of course "you" CAN "impute certain beliefs to people based on their beliefs on this..." or any other "particular matter".
They either have the courage to actuate their beliefs, which are fundamental, or they don't.
There is great correspondence between my structure of belief and philosophical Christianity and those who are familiar with my posts will, I think, agree that I am among the most effective debaters against the so-called Theory of Evolution as well as for Christianity as the essential foundation of Western Civilization. We part ways, I think, when specific doctrine and dogma and the primacy of the institutional church come into play. But this in no way degrades or overcomes my deep respect for and agreement with philosophical Christianity.
I could go more into my structure of belief with the outcome that it might cause controversy here but that, I think, would be counter-productive. The "bottom line" for me is that Christianity is reponsible for Western Civilization, for very good and specific reasons, and I would not want to live in a non-Christian society, so I would emphasize those areas of correspondence to which I refer.
I disagree with this. If we are the image and likeness of God, since we know that God is beyond physical form, then this must mean spiritually. If so, then the Love that God is must be reflected through us. That would be inherent in our very being. That is why every human being is important and every human life is sacred.
that evil emanates only from the human mind and that it must be named, confronted and fought.
That's partially right, IMO. Evil is an illusion stemming from the human mind -- the Collective Unconscious, the Race Mind of humanity -- and while struggling against it can merely give it energy, it does need to be purged from our consciousness.
These all demand choices. The only thing "inherent" in them is that God is good, which I personally believe He needs us to aspire to.
We are always choosing, every moment of our lives. Why does God, who is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent, need us to aspire to anything? A God that needs to be worshipped would be a pretty insecure God. What God needs us to do is express the Love that we are in God as fully and completely as we can. This is a choice, an ongoing one, made every moment.
And of course "you" CAN "impute certain beliefs to people based on their beliefs on this..." or any other "particular matter".
Certainly not in the way that Prager is attempting to do. He attributes certain political and social beliefs to EVERYONE who holds that mankind is inherently good, yet at least one of them contradicts that very belief.
I can tell you that these political and social beliefs are not either universal among those who accept man's goodness as a premise, nor do they follow logically. One is not a necessay adjunct of the other.
If we are the image and likeness of God, since we know that God is beyond physical form, then this must mean spiritually. If so, then the Love that God is must be reflected through us. That would be inherent in our very being. That is why every human being is important and every human life is sacred.
The image and likeness of God would also seem to refer to our ability to abtsract information from our environment, and derive meaning from it, which only the human is capable of.
God is also more than Love. God is justice. Truth. And morality, to which end He gives us free will thus to choose. Debits or credits to our souls. Reward and punishment. That earned as opposed to spent. The sacredness and importance of human life comes ultimately to the good or evil it does. In terms of evil, the life of Saddam, for example, can hardly be deemed sacred, and his importance understood only by how necessary it is to get rid of him for good to prevail.
We are always choosing , every moment of our lives. Why does God, who is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent, need us to aspire to anything? A God that needs to be worshipped would be a pretty insecure God. What God needs us to do is express the Love that we are in God as fully and completely as we can. This is a choice, an ongoing one, made every moment.
My emphases, forgive me.
Admitedly "why" God created us is but ontological speculation, for if I knew Him, I would be Him. But indeed, why? given His Oneness you note.
If God is also good (which I believe He is) then certainly he "wants" us to aspire to that Good, we then, even more greatly in his image and likeness.
Are good and evil accounted like energy in existence, in and out, balanced as in thermodynamics? Even a quantum good that God might derive from the greater good than evil that humanity does, might leave Him with a net gain in goodness, which as coming from Man it would be hard to imagine God as not exceedingly pleased. Wouldn't God seem worshipped in that process?
Does He need it? In that sense, could God possibly "feed" from our doing good?
I can tell you that these political and social beliefs are not either universal among those who accept man's goodness as a premise, nor do they follow logically. One is not a necessay adjunct of the other.
I believe that because there is only One God there is only One Morality for all mankind. That God's principle demand on us is deceny toward others, and that "deed" is more important than "creed".
Everything GOOD then, to you.
"...will, I think, agree that I am among the most effective debaters against the so-called Theory of Evolution as well as...."
"A little modesty might suit you better, Mozart." -Amadeus
onedoug: "A little modesty might suit you better, Mozart." -Amadeus
LOL! I should add, I suppose, that the acolytes of the so-called Theory of Evolution are rather easily defeated since they do not have the facts or the evidence. These people, onedoug, are fundamentally anti-Christian and I am not. Does this put things in better perspective?
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