Excellent, Yoshi. Stick a knife in the problem and twist it.
But what also needs to be admitted today as primary tools to build faith are the same tools the early church relied on to stand up their message -- miracles, signs, and wonders. People healed. The dead raised. Transportation of persons. Prophecies that came true. These unfalsifiable events firmly, convincingly, showed that there is a spiritual presence that can and did invade the material world which, then as now, was the only reality the world at large believes in. Hell MUST yield to that higher reality.
"These things don't happen today." Yes, they do, but only those who are willing to risk having their prejudices overturned will expose themselves to the unconventional (and often off-putting) influence of action-defined believers who've been marginalized by a world that does not want to know.
If Christopher Hitchens had ever aimed his rhetorical cannon at me my response would have been, "What would it take to convince you, Mr. Hitchens, that you're wrong?" Imagine the thick silence that would follow! LOL
"Cannon"? Sir, I misspent a week reading as much of Hitchens's "God Is Not Great" as I could bear, and let me assure you that it contained the intellectual firepower of a flatulent stoat. His arguments betrayed a level of Biblical illiteracy that could only be attributed to willful ignorance. To be fair, he hated all religion and that point is also made in the book.
Being familiar with some of his essays, I was looking forward to a challenging argument or two. What I got were the same tired accusations that I myself was making as a petulant teen. Not wanting to relive that dead, lost time in my life, I returned his screed to the library, asking God to forgive our shared ignorance.
Just wow. At the end of the day God can be trusted or He can't. Though He slay me, yet will I love Him. He may not shield from all evil, but He will shield from The evil; the second death.
That sounds so retarded. Those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will know god, for god is everywhere. (might be my own interpretation of some quote, but see how true it is): God manifests itself in ALL living beings, through its Intelligent Design, Architecture: THE DNA. If one analyzes the DNA realizes it's akin to a computer code that lays down all the rules governing the function of living matter, therefore is an intelligent creation. So yes, God is everywhere, in every living being, in the form of "his signature": DNA. And yes God be trusted that its creations will function and fulfil the tasks assigned through their DNA. And "evolution theorists" have it very hard to prove that their "primordial soup" is capable to structure itself through trial-and-error into something such complex as a DNA strand. The probability for that to happen is like the probability of a flipped coin to fall on it's width side... again and again and again. Have you ever seen a coin fall on its edge? Me neither.
Sorry, but that penultimate, throwaway line didn't drop like a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae.
Yahweh, the G*d of the Old Book, was maybe a God of War. At times.
But when I (try to) pray, it's to the God of peace, love and salvation.
That line actually reads out of context, like a hiccup or burp leftover from your previous essay, which you declared a failure but I liked much better. But then, I am Orthodox, not Catholic and that whole Magestarium issue is basically irrelevant to me.
The God of the New Testament is still a God of war, but the war might not be against humans, but against the powers and principalities of the heavenly places (and the Gates of Hell).
Roland, maybe that's ongoing in Heavenly locations, some remote war of angels and demons. But if the salvation of mortals means anything for us, that might also be an overly dualistic, Manichaean or even Zoroastrian point of view. Is it really part of the Gospel message?
I would argue that this war is not happening (only) somewhere far, but also here, on Earth. Satan tempted Jesus here on Earth. Jesus cast out demons here on Earth.
A different take on the gates of hell: "People fail to realize that those gates are something that shut us within hell. The gates will not prevail for we will be victorious from within hell itself – even as Christ our God trampled down death by death, and not from without." https://glory2godforallthings.com/2014/07/18/the-long-defeat-and-the-cross/
Your article reminds me of what Cardinal Ratzinger once told Peter Seewald: « Faith is always a path. » And then:
« Faith can only mature by suffering anew, at every stage in life, the oppression and the power of unbelief, by admitting its reality and then finally going right through it, so that it again finds the path opening ahead for a while. »
Speaking of wombs. The Greek word for belly from whence the Spirit flows in John 7:37-39 is just as often translated womb in the NT. Yes, we know God from.the gut and feel and know him in His temple, the body. That is tangible, felt experience of the Holy Spirit presented in the NT, all as gift, not earned through a years long contemplative prayer work out. Read Acts, 1 and 2 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians for how it was done in the early Church. Yes, it was messy, but it was alive. These books preserve an action shot of the early church, doesn't feel or smell liike Lutheran, Orthodox or Catholic stuff IMO
Another IMO, neoplatonism poisoned things abstracting and distancing the Holy Spirit, bringing Christianity closer to an Buddhist 8 fold path work it out model instead of come to Jesus and get dosed with the Holy Ghost.
Excellent, Yoshi. Stick a knife in the problem and twist it.
But what also needs to be admitted today as primary tools to build faith are the same tools the early church relied on to stand up their message -- miracles, signs, and wonders. People healed. The dead raised. Transportation of persons. Prophecies that came true. These unfalsifiable events firmly, convincingly, showed that there is a spiritual presence that can and did invade the material world which, then as now, was the only reality the world at large believes in. Hell MUST yield to that higher reality.
"These things don't happen today." Yes, they do, but only those who are willing to risk having their prejudices overturned will expose themselves to the unconventional (and often off-putting) influence of action-defined believers who've been marginalized by a world that does not want to know.
If Christopher Hitchens had ever aimed his rhetorical cannon at me my response would have been, "What would it take to convince you, Mr. Hitchens, that you're wrong?" Imagine the thick silence that would follow! LOL
"Cannon"? Sir, I misspent a week reading as much of Hitchens's "God Is Not Great" as I could bear, and let me assure you that it contained the intellectual firepower of a flatulent stoat. His arguments betrayed a level of Biblical illiteracy that could only be attributed to willful ignorance. To be fair, he hated all religion and that point is also made in the book.
Being familiar with some of his essays, I was looking forward to a challenging argument or two. What I got were the same tired accusations that I myself was making as a petulant teen. Not wanting to relive that dead, lost time in my life, I returned his screed to the library, asking God to forgive our shared ignorance.
The Hitchens brother, Peter, won’t waste your time. His “The Rage Against God” is a wonderful read and a quiet, calculated rebuke of Christopher.
Just wow. At the end of the day God can be trusted or He can't. Though He slay me, yet will I love Him. He may not shield from all evil, but He will shield from The evil; the second death.
That sounds so retarded. Those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will know god, for god is everywhere. (might be my own interpretation of some quote, but see how true it is): God manifests itself in ALL living beings, through its Intelligent Design, Architecture: THE DNA. If one analyzes the DNA realizes it's akin to a computer code that lays down all the rules governing the function of living matter, therefore is an intelligent creation. So yes, God is everywhere, in every living being, in the form of "his signature": DNA. And yes God be trusted that its creations will function and fulfil the tasks assigned through their DNA. And "evolution theorists" have it very hard to prove that their "primordial soup" is capable to structure itself through trial-and-error into something such complex as a DNA strand. The probability for that to happen is like the probability of a flipped coin to fall on it's width side... again and again and again. Have you ever seen a coin fall on its edge? Me neither.
"God, after all, is a God of War"
Sorry, but that penultimate, throwaway line didn't drop like a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae.
Yahweh, the G*d of the Old Book, was maybe a God of War. At times.
But when I (try to) pray, it's to the God of peace, love and salvation.
That line actually reads out of context, like a hiccup or burp leftover from your previous essay, which you declared a failure but I liked much better. But then, I am Orthodox, not Catholic and that whole Magestarium issue is basically irrelevant to me.
The God of the New Testament is still a God of war, but the war might not be against humans, but against the powers and principalities of the heavenly places (and the Gates of Hell).
Roland, maybe that's ongoing in Heavenly locations, some remote war of angels and demons. But if the salvation of mortals means anything for us, that might also be an overly dualistic, Manichaean or even Zoroastrian point of view. Is it really part of the Gospel message?
I would argue that this war is not happening (only) somewhere far, but also here, on Earth. Satan tempted Jesus here on Earth. Jesus cast out demons here on Earth.
“Oh, the sins of passion and of the heart—how much nearer to salvation than the sins of reason!” — Kierkegaard
A different take on the gates of hell: "People fail to realize that those gates are something that shut us within hell. The gates will not prevail for we will be victorious from within hell itself – even as Christ our God trampled down death by death, and not from without." https://glory2godforallthings.com/2014/07/18/the-long-defeat-and-the-cross/
Your article reminds me of what Cardinal Ratzinger once told Peter Seewald: « Faith is always a path. » And then:
« Faith can only mature by suffering anew, at every stage in life, the oppression and the power of unbelief, by admitting its reality and then finally going right through it, so that it again finds the path opening ahead for a while. »
Speaking of wombs. The Greek word for belly from whence the Spirit flows in John 7:37-39 is just as often translated womb in the NT. Yes, we know God from.the gut and feel and know him in His temple, the body. That is tangible, felt experience of the Holy Spirit presented in the NT, all as gift, not earned through a years long contemplative prayer work out. Read Acts, 1 and 2 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians for how it was done in the early Church. Yes, it was messy, but it was alive. These books preserve an action shot of the early church, doesn't feel or smell liike Lutheran, Orthodox or Catholic stuff IMO
Another IMO, neoplatonism poisoned things abstracting and distancing the Holy Spirit, bringing Christianity closer to an Buddhist 8 fold path work it out model instead of come to Jesus and get dosed with the Holy Ghost.
Sooooooo good. Been wrestling for some time. Keep it coming Yoshi.