Welcome to my randomized study & miscellaneous thoughts about the Awesome God of the universe, who He is and what He wants us to be.

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Verse of the Day

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Today's Quote

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The Question

The last of the sun’s rays had faded minutes before and the only light came from the glowing embers of the campfire’s remains. The stars shone brightly in the summer night sky while a chorus of cicadas serenaded us with their incessant buzz. After a day filled with collecting “fossils,” chasing fireflies and protecting us from a variety of wild jungle creatures, it was nice to have my son starting to settle down and it gave me some time to relax. I sat peacefully in my folding camping chair and watched my son attempt to set fire to his shoelaces while at the same time not getting his feet too hot from the coals. At that moment, all was right with the world!

But then came “The Question.” You know what I’m talking about. The Question is that question that you did not want to hear, were not ready to hear, are never prepared enough to hear but know without a shadow of a doubt that you will hear. Your “The Question” may be different than mine was, but I believe that the terror is the same regardless!

Six year-old son: Daddy?
Me: Yes sonny-boy.
Son: Can I ask you a squestion?
Me: Sure buddy. Ask away.
Son: Does God love everybody?
Me: Well, the Bible tells us that He does. And I believe that He loves everybody.
Son: Okay

Now at first blush, that “The Question” may not seem too startling to you and I must admit that it does appear innocuous enough. That question doesn’t have the feel or the initial impact of the “Where Do Babies Come From” or “Why Does Mommy Kiss You Different Than Me” Questions. Oh, but beware my friend. I know my sonny-boy and I knew that there was trouble brewing inside that innocent little mind of his! And just so, after the obligatory pause to allow the fear to settle down to my bones, the inquisition continued…

Son: Daddy?
Me: Yes sonny-boy.
Son: If God loves eeeeverybody, then why does He let some people die and not go to heaven? If He loved everybody, wouldn’t He want them in heaven with Him?
Me: Well, He does want everyone to be in heaven with Him for eternity. But He loves us so much that He let’s us make our own decision. If we want to be with Him, we just ask Jesus into our hearts like you did remember?
Son: Yes.
Me: But sometimes people make the wrong decision and God let’s them do that too. And some people decide not to ask Jesus into the hearts and they spend eternity away from God.
Son: Oh.


Son: Daddy?
Me: Yes son.
Son: Do you love me?
Me: Of course I do sonny-boy.
Son: Would you let me make a decision that would hurt me for eternity?
Me: Ummmmm….pretty star up there huh son?
Son: Well?
Me: It depends on how hurt you’d be son. I’d let you scrape your knee. I’d let you break a toy. But I don’t think I’d let you cut off an arm or something like that.
Son: Then if God loves everybody, why does He let people make decisions like that?

And WHAM! That’s when the precocious young boy hits me with The Question. A conundrum. A real brain-twister that one is! So, do I tell him that God loves him more than I do? So much so that God gives us free will even allowing us to hurt ourselves? If I cannot comprehend that, how in the world will a six year-old mind? God loves us so much that He freely and willingly gave His own Son to die in our place. He loved us so much that He came to earth, became a man and paid the penalty for my sin. He loves us so much that He offers Himself to live inside of me to guide and teach and direct me into His ways. That’s too much love. But then to think that He also loves me so much that He allows me to tell Him to “get lost!” if I should choose to do so.

Dad: I don’t know son. I guess He just loves us more than we can understand right now.
Son: Oh. Okay.

And so that was that. The stars shone just as brightly in the summer night sky and the cicadas seemed to start into a second verse. At that moment, all was right with the world!

scribbled with crayon by dr. larry at 2:16 PM (0) comments      

 
8 Views of God

I thought it would be both interesting and enlightening to get a small grasp of world religious belief foundations here. See how many belief systems you can identify as being promoted by various organizations in your culture today!

by Michael J. Vlach, Ph.D.

A survey of the major world religions and philosophies shows that there are different views concerning who God or the Absolute is. Below is a listing of these eight major perspectives.

1. Monotheism is the view that there is only one God (“mono” means “one” and “theos” means “God”). For monotheists, other supernatural beings may exist such as Satan, angels, demons but there is only one God. Monotheism is found within the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Sikhism and Zoroastrianism, too, have affirmed belief in only one God.

2. Trinitarian Monotheism is the view that there is only one God, but within this one God are three distinct yet equal persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (“trinitas” means “three”). Only biblical Christianity affirms Trinitarian Monotheism.

3. Polytheism is the view that there are many gods (“poly” means “many). Polytheism is an ancient view found in some of the earliest religions and tribes. The biblical patriarch, Abraham, lived in a culture in which polytheism thrived. The ancient Egyptian religion held to multiple gods as did many of the tribes of Africa. Ancient Greek mythology is known for its pantheon of gods. Although the many thousands of Hindu gods are often viewed as manifestations of the one Brahman, Hinduism is rightly considered a polytheistic religion.

4. Henotheism is the view that there is one god who is supreme but there are also other deities as well. This perspective has been found in several Native American religions.

5. Pantheism is the view that God is nature and nature is God (“pan” means “all”). With this perspective, there is no personal God who exists apart from the universe. Instead, with pantheism, God is inseparably united with nature. Thus, any statement about nature is a statement about God and vice versa. Some of the ancient pagan religions and groups such as Wicca have tended toward pantheism. The seventeenth-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza promoted a form of pantheism in which all reality was viewed as being that of a single substance (monism).

6. Deism is the view that an extremely intelligent and powerful being created the universe, but this being no longer has any contact with the universe. Nor does this being respond to the prayers and concerns of people. With deism, this cosmic creator is akin to a watchmaker who makes a watch, winds it up, and then walks away from it forever. Deism was popular among American and European elites during the time of the American Revolutionary War in the eighteenth century. Thomas Jefferson was a deist.

7. Atheism is the view that there is no God (“a” means “no”). Thus, atheists do not believe in God or any supernatural metaphysical beings. Atheism has always had it adherents although major defenses of atheism can be found in the writings of the philosophers Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Bertrand Russell. Some have considered Buddhism to be close to atheism since the original Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, did not promote belief in a God or gods.

8. Agnosticism is the view that knowledge of God is impossible (“a” means “no” and “gnosis” means “knowledge”). Immanuel Kant set the philosophical basis for agnosticism with his view that knowledge of the noumenal (metaphysical) realm was beyond the limits of reason. Whereas atheists boldly claim no God exists, agnostics claim that we cannot know anything about God if He indeed does exist. Another form of agnosticism is the claim that we simply do not have enough information to know for sure whether a God exists. The two forms of agnosticism can be seen in the statements below:
• “If there is a God, he cannot be known.”
• “I don’t know if God exists or not.”

scribbled with crayon by dr. larry at 2:35 PM (0) comments