To say of the impossible, "pft, God can do that," is quite a statement to make. Yet, I do not doubt it, for to say God can do the impossible is to say that God knows all possibilities, and that He has the power to actualize any of them as He sees fit. Therefore, all things are possible with God. However, this is not the same thing as saying that God can do nonsense, which I think some Christians believe is included in the claim that He can do anything. But CS Lewis adaquetly points out that nonsense doesn't cease to be nonsense because you put God's name in front of it. Not even God can make 2 + 2 = 5...Does this mean that God is not all powerful? Not at all. It is ridiculous to say that since God can't do the ridiculous, that He is less of a divine being. You see, God is a logical being. The laws of logic even apply to God, but before you accuse me of heresy, let me show you why:
The Three Laws of Logic (Aristolean)
1. Law of Identity (A is A)
2. Law of Non-Contradiction (A is not not A)
3. Law of the Excluded Middle (A either is or isnt, there is no other option)
All three of those principles apply to God Himself, and to everything that exists. We must get past this idea that to say God is logical is to say that He is not divine. So seeing as how God is logical by nature (although, on a much higher level than us), we can see that He doesn't do nonsense. Some of you may say, "Well, what about miracles then?" My answer is simply, "What about them?" Miracles aren't nonsense. Rather, they are God acting on the world He has created. For us, we see something that seems to go against everything we know that can happen. For God, He is simply doing what He is able to do.
The reason for me posting this blog is simply to address the idea that God can do anything (even nonsense) because He is God. God can do anything, but He doesn't do nonsense. Arguably, He may be able to even do nonsense in terms of having the power to do it, but the fact that He is a consistant and logical being would prevent Him from doing it. Thus, 2 + 2 remains four if for no other reason than that God is a logical being.
Note: I can already see this objection coming. "What about God multiplying food?" This is not the same thing as God changing the mathematical fact that 2 + 2 = 4. That is an instance of God acting on the world in such a way as to make a small amount big. I don't claim to understand how it works, I marvel at it just as anybody who dares to believe that five thousand were fed with enough food to feed a family at lunch time. I just wanted to put this out there to avoid this seemingly obvious objection.
God bless and Jesus loves you!!
-Jon
Friday, October 15, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Insight into Faith and Pain
Perhaps one of the most practical, yet most overlooked, theological questions is simply, "Why does God not reveal Himself to us?" That is to say, why does God seem to work behind the scenes and away from our inquisitive eyes? I believe that at least part of the answer to this question is shared by part of the answer to the Problem of Evil.
The Proud Man and the Loving God
CS Lewis, in his book, 'The Problem of Pain', goes over the fall of man and says, I feel very accurately, that the first sin man committed was to take his eyes off of God and put them on himself. In other words, Adam put himself above God, thereby distorting the natural order of creation (at least to an extent). CS Lewis tells us in the same book that pain is God's "megaphone" to rouse a dead world. God allows, at least some, suffering for the purpose of showing us that something isn't quite right with the world. It is a way in which he is able to take our eyes off of ourselves long enough to cast them upon Him. So in other words, pain is a sort of humility that occurs. It makes us realize that we are not perfect, and that the world around us is also lacking. Lets not forget that the men and women in the Bible who were closest to God were the ones who seemed to suffer most. Yet, I would dare say that they gladly chose their suffering, because in their suffering they found God. Blessed are those who mourn...
How Faith Ties In
Since man has become a rather proud beast, he has come to find himself to be very clever. It forgets that the high sciences it has aspired to are like pre-school lessons for God. Science is simply the study of how God's creation works. A study which we have yet to finish!! Yet, even though man is far inferior to God, we are still proud. So how does God humble us? Through pain He shows us that the world isn't what it should be (or once was...), and through faith He shows us that we are not as smart as we would like to believe. In other words, Faith knocks us down and causes us to look up and see God. However, just as it is the case with pain, faith can also push people away. Some people suffer and they respond by building walls and shutting out not only the world, but God. With faith, some people hear about this almighty God who is invisible, and they laugh at the idea. Others, as Kierkegaard points out, are offended by the idea that we are told we must believe in a man who claimed to be God. So we see that both suffering and faith, which are excellent tools for producing the good, may also cause some people to further separate themselves from God. That is one of the miracles of free will, that you can choose to respond to the world as you wish to. God will honor your response, even if it means being separated from Him for all of eternity....the doors of Hell are, as CS Lewis says, locked from the inside.
In Closing
I hope that this has been of help to you. I do not claim to have given all the possible answers to these two theological problems. I have simply shared with you CS Lewis' ideas coupled with my own insight.
God bless and Jesus loves you!!
-Jon
The Proud Man and the Loving God
CS Lewis, in his book, 'The Problem of Pain', goes over the fall of man and says, I feel very accurately, that the first sin man committed was to take his eyes off of God and put them on himself. In other words, Adam put himself above God, thereby distorting the natural order of creation (at least to an extent). CS Lewis tells us in the same book that pain is God's "megaphone" to rouse a dead world. God allows, at least some, suffering for the purpose of showing us that something isn't quite right with the world. It is a way in which he is able to take our eyes off of ourselves long enough to cast them upon Him. So in other words, pain is a sort of humility that occurs. It makes us realize that we are not perfect, and that the world around us is also lacking. Lets not forget that the men and women in the Bible who were closest to God were the ones who seemed to suffer most. Yet, I would dare say that they gladly chose their suffering, because in their suffering they found God. Blessed are those who mourn...
How Faith Ties In
Since man has become a rather proud beast, he has come to find himself to be very clever. It forgets that the high sciences it has aspired to are like pre-school lessons for God. Science is simply the study of how God's creation works. A study which we have yet to finish!! Yet, even though man is far inferior to God, we are still proud. So how does God humble us? Through pain He shows us that the world isn't what it should be (or once was...), and through faith He shows us that we are not as smart as we would like to believe. In other words, Faith knocks us down and causes us to look up and see God. However, just as it is the case with pain, faith can also push people away. Some people suffer and they respond by building walls and shutting out not only the world, but God. With faith, some people hear about this almighty God who is invisible, and they laugh at the idea. Others, as Kierkegaard points out, are offended by the idea that we are told we must believe in a man who claimed to be God. So we see that both suffering and faith, which are excellent tools for producing the good, may also cause some people to further separate themselves from God. That is one of the miracles of free will, that you can choose to respond to the world as you wish to. God will honor your response, even if it means being separated from Him for all of eternity....the doors of Hell are, as CS Lewis says, locked from the inside.
In Closing
I hope that this has been of help to you. I do not claim to have given all the possible answers to these two theological problems. I have simply shared with you CS Lewis' ideas coupled with my own insight.
God bless and Jesus loves you!!
-Jon
Monday, October 4, 2010
Faith and Reason
I think that it is safe to say that many people have accepted the idea that faith and reason are these separate things that are in conflict with one another. The debate between scientific naturalists and some, not all, christians is evidence of this. However, I believe that this is a very mistaken position to take on. For in reality, faith is actually an act of reason.
Faith as an Act of Reason
What exactly happens when you believe something? Well, assuming your faith is intellectually honest, and therefore genuine, you at one point or another encountered evidence (such as a proof or an experience) that convinced you that something was true, or that it was likely to be possible. I do not believe that any human being can objectively prove God's existence, for this would, as C.S. Lewis points out, go against our free will. How can I freely choose to reject God if I am faced with the undeniable reality of His presence? For those of you who would disagree with me here, I simply ask you to consider why God requires faith. He could, theoretically, come down and prove Himself once and for all. Yet, He doesn't. Instead, He requires faith. Therefore, I do not believe God wants us to be able to say objectively that He is real or not. However, regardless of the lack of full proof demonstrative proofs for the existence of God, there are many arguments that together form a strong case for Christianity. I like to think of it as a trial. The only people who fully know the truth of what happened are the people who were there, yet they cannot just say, "I was there, this is how it happened." No, they must prove their case with evidence. From there the jury must look at the case presented by both sides and decide beyond a reasonable doubt which side seems more likely to be true. So they have faith based on the evidence presented. In other words, they use their reason to arrive at faith. It is the same way with Christianity. Faith is simply accepting with your reason something that you cannot fully prove, but that you can believe beyond a reasonable doubt. As humans we are naturally equipped for examining the world around us. We have our reason, our senses, and our experience. It is time we got to using them.
Hopefully this has been of some help to you.
God bless and Jesus loves you!!
-Jon
Faith as an Act of Reason
What exactly happens when you believe something? Well, assuming your faith is intellectually honest, and therefore genuine, you at one point or another encountered evidence (such as a proof or an experience) that convinced you that something was true, or that it was likely to be possible. I do not believe that any human being can objectively prove God's existence, for this would, as C.S. Lewis points out, go against our free will. How can I freely choose to reject God if I am faced with the undeniable reality of His presence? For those of you who would disagree with me here, I simply ask you to consider why God requires faith. He could, theoretically, come down and prove Himself once and for all. Yet, He doesn't. Instead, He requires faith. Therefore, I do not believe God wants us to be able to say objectively that He is real or not. However, regardless of the lack of full proof demonstrative proofs for the existence of God, there are many arguments that together form a strong case for Christianity. I like to think of it as a trial. The only people who fully know the truth of what happened are the people who were there, yet they cannot just say, "I was there, this is how it happened." No, they must prove their case with evidence. From there the jury must look at the case presented by both sides and decide beyond a reasonable doubt which side seems more likely to be true. So they have faith based on the evidence presented. In other words, they use their reason to arrive at faith. It is the same way with Christianity. Faith is simply accepting with your reason something that you cannot fully prove, but that you can believe beyond a reasonable doubt. As humans we are naturally equipped for examining the world around us. We have our reason, our senses, and our experience. It is time we got to using them.
Hopefully this has been of some help to you.
God bless and Jesus loves you!!
-Jon
Friday, October 1, 2010
The Cannon: How Did We Get It?
Hello everybody, today I want to talk to you about the Bible Cannon. For those of you who do not know, the Cannon is basically the list of books that are accepted as Inspired scripture. In other words, they are the books that are accepted as having been inspired by God. There is a cannon for both the Old and New Testament, yet they both follow the same criteria for being accepted. In this blog I want to share with you the criteria that must be met for a book to have been accepted into either cannon.
The Criteria
1. Author had to be a recognized Prophet or Apostole, or a known associate of theirs.
Basically, the author of the book had to be a recognized man of God (so to speak). One very good reason for this is the fact that God often demonstrated His power through these individuals and made it clear to their hearers that He was with them. So it makes sense that we should accept their writings.
2. Cannot Contradict Another Part of the Revelation
We must remember that the Bible is essentially one book written over the course of about 1,500 years and through about 40 different authors. So in order for a bok to be accepted it cannot contradict any previous revelation. This means that no where in the Bible will you find a contradiction. Often times people will claim that one verse contradicts another. However, claims like these are often based on a misunderstanding.
3. Had to be accepted by the Church
Lastly, the early chuch had to accept the books as scripture. For those of you who may feel a bit uncomfortable about this one, let me remind you that the church has had many scholars and has invested alot of time and energy into making sure that the cannon is sound. With the first two principles in play and a general consensus of the Church, I'd say the cannon is pretty solid.
Answering a quick objection:
Some may have noticed that the first principle is that all the books had to have a recognized author, yet some of the books are annonymous. In these cases the text is so in line with other scripture that it is still accepted. For instance, the book of Hebrews is one book of which we do not know with absolute certainty who the author is. Yet, its teaching is so in line with the rest of scripture that it is still accepted.
In Conclusion
So rest assured, the Bible is a well put together book. Hopefully this has helped to instill confidence in you, and hopefully it has stirred up your curiosity about the Bible as well. It's history is very rich and definitely worth studying. Hope it helps!!
God bless and Jesus loves you!!
-Jon
The Criteria
1. Author had to be a recognized Prophet or Apostole, or a known associate of theirs.
Basically, the author of the book had to be a recognized man of God (so to speak). One very good reason for this is the fact that God often demonstrated His power through these individuals and made it clear to their hearers that He was with them. So it makes sense that we should accept their writings.
2. Cannot Contradict Another Part of the Revelation
We must remember that the Bible is essentially one book written over the course of about 1,500 years and through about 40 different authors. So in order for a bok to be accepted it cannot contradict any previous revelation. This means that no where in the Bible will you find a contradiction. Often times people will claim that one verse contradicts another. However, claims like these are often based on a misunderstanding.
3. Had to be accepted by the Church
Lastly, the early chuch had to accept the books as scripture. For those of you who may feel a bit uncomfortable about this one, let me remind you that the church has had many scholars and has invested alot of time and energy into making sure that the cannon is sound. With the first two principles in play and a general consensus of the Church, I'd say the cannon is pretty solid.
Answering a quick objection:
Some may have noticed that the first principle is that all the books had to have a recognized author, yet some of the books are annonymous. In these cases the text is so in line with other scripture that it is still accepted. For instance, the book of Hebrews is one book of which we do not know with absolute certainty who the author is. Yet, its teaching is so in line with the rest of scripture that it is still accepted.
In Conclusion
So rest assured, the Bible is a well put together book. Hopefully this has helped to instill confidence in you, and hopefully it has stirred up your curiosity about the Bible as well. It's history is very rich and definitely worth studying. Hope it helps!!
God bless and Jesus loves you!!
-Jon
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