Bonding with Grandma already! :)
um, just ask Jason. :)
Jessica's mad puzzle making skills... wow!
the decadence
Monday, October 27, 2008
Autumn's Baby Shower
It was so fun to get together with all the ladies! Girls, we really need to just hang more, don't ya think? I hear the guys had a successful "man night" as well.
Bonding with Grandma already! :)
Bonding with Grandma already! :)
Sunday, October 19, 2008
God's explicit revelation, faith, and post-modernism
I recently had a short conversation with some non-believing friends of mine about the apparent existence of God... or lack thereof. One of them e-mailed us all a link to a video on YouTube called "God Only SEEMS Non-Existent!" which sparked the conversation. The video essentially takes a satirical attitude towards Christianity in relation to the fact that God doesn't explicitly (see: blatantly, obviously) reveal Himself to mankind, "forcing" us to believe in Him through faith. I chose not to post it on this blog to avoid any confusion, but feel free to Google it if you're curious.
One of my friends said that he saw no benefit to mankind from God's explicit revelation, but that instead it would just confuse us all the more. I took his statement to the next level and suggested that if God explicitly revealed himself to mankind, it would only cause men to rebel against him even MORE and actually negatively affect His mission. And this is why:
We live in a postmodern society in which it's okay for every individual to believe whatever they want, and nobody else can suggest to them otherwise. We are driving towards utter relativism in which there can be no absolute truth, because any statement of the sort tends to result in the response: "Well that works for you, but that's not for me." And God be with anyone who attempts to suggest that individual is "wrong." People that do that are simply "arrogant."
The fact is, people generally don't like being forced to do, or believe, things. Admittedly, I am guilty of this at times. So think about it: What would happen if God came down from the heavens, appeared in the sky before the entire earth and said, "Behold, I am God! Worship me!" I think it would cause people to rebel and disobey Him even more than they might have in their ignorance of His existence, merely because they lose their right to choose what to believe in.
Maybe that's why God gave us freewill and the opportunity to choose, because ultimately it is better for us. Maybe faith is His gift to us to help us experience Him wholly based upon our view of His character and what He has done. As my friend asked, what benefit is it to us to believe in Him because of explicit revelation? Am I more blessed through a relationship with a God I know because He desired a relationship with me, or a God I know because He forced a relationship with me?
What do you all think?
-Scott
PS: God promises one day He will explicitly reveal Himself to mankind, but for those that don't know Him, it doesn't look to be a pleasant day (see: the book of Revelation). I'm wary to wish for that day to come too soon.
One of my friends said that he saw no benefit to mankind from God's explicit revelation, but that instead it would just confuse us all the more. I took his statement to the next level and suggested that if God explicitly revealed himself to mankind, it would only cause men to rebel against him even MORE and actually negatively affect His mission. And this is why:
We live in a postmodern society in which it's okay for every individual to believe whatever they want, and nobody else can suggest to them otherwise. We are driving towards utter relativism in which there can be no absolute truth, because any statement of the sort tends to result in the response: "Well that works for you, but that's not for me." And God be with anyone who attempts to suggest that individual is "wrong." People that do that are simply "arrogant."
The fact is, people generally don't like being forced to do, or believe, things. Admittedly, I am guilty of this at times. So think about it: What would happen if God came down from the heavens, appeared in the sky before the entire earth and said, "Behold, I am God! Worship me!" I think it would cause people to rebel and disobey Him even more than they might have in their ignorance of His existence, merely because they lose their right to choose what to believe in.
Maybe that's why God gave us freewill and the opportunity to choose, because ultimately it is better for us. Maybe faith is His gift to us to help us experience Him wholly based upon our view of His character and what He has done. As my friend asked, what benefit is it to us to believe in Him because of explicit revelation? Am I more blessed through a relationship with a God I know because He desired a relationship with me, or a God I know because He forced a relationship with me?
What do you all think?
-Scott
PS: God promises one day He will explicitly reveal Himself to mankind, but for those that don't know Him, it doesn't look to be a pleasant day (see: the book of Revelation). I'm wary to wish for that day to come too soon.
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