tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8044648.post3234594924854556021..comments2023-07-05T05:16:54.735-05:00Comments on Chuck Masterson’s Actual Blog: The history of thinking about itChuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03918675492238901083noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8044648.post-743876591815207582008-01-04T14:59:00.000-06:002008-01-04T14:59:00.000-06:00Hey, we are both kind of in the same spot, except ...Hey, we are both kind of in the same spot, except I jumped over one side of the fence to the other.<BR/><BR/>A couple of things I have learned in my search for truth: Defending atheism is just as hard if not harder than defending or supporting chrisianity. We all know of questions that we cannot answer, even if we do not accept christianity. The beginning and ending of time for instance.<BR/><BR/>About nature- CS Lewis writes about it in "the four loves".<BR/><BR/>If you take nature as a teacher she will teach you exactly the lessons you had already decided to learn; this is only another way of saying that nature does not teach. The tendency to take her as a teacher is obviously very easily grafted on to the experience we call "love of nature." But it is only a graft. While we are actually subjected to them, the "moods" and "spirits" of nature point to no morals. Overwhelming gaiety, insupporable grandeur, sombre desolation are flung at you. Make what you can of them, if you must make at all. The only imperative that nature utters is, "Look, Listen, Attend."<BR/><BR/> ----CS Lewis, The four loves<BR/><BR/>I would recommend "Surprised by joy" by CS Lewis, it follows almost exactly my path to chrisianity.<BR/><BR/>DaveAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8044648.post-63780720379954544202007-12-31T04:11:00.000-06:002007-12-31T04:11:00.000-06:00We talked earlier this evening. I don't have the e...We talked earlier this evening. I don't have the energy or emotional stamina right now to give a well-reasoned answer to all your questions, but in a nutshell:<BR/><BR/>"Covet"- I don't believe this is meant in the context of rejecting capitalism and the creation of value from wanting something that another person has. I believe this term has to do with the desire for something to the point that it consumes you, and you become a slave to that which you want. The desire for something consumes you, and you become a direct object rather than a subject in the ownership- the lust for the object owns you, instead of you owning it. <BR/><BR/>Please do not be discouraged by ancient Levitical laws. Acts 10:15 "What I have called clean, do not make unclean." Jesus also says to the priests who chided those who did not wash their hands before eating (as outlined in the old law)- "It is not what goes into a man which defiles him, but that which goes out of a man."<BR/><BR/>Those laws were set up for that tribe at that time, and the language has changed so it has some weird connotations- selling your daughter into slavery? It is more like letting your daughter have a job in a family's employ, as was custom. There were a lot of ancient Jewish customs we don't do today and reading these scriptures through the lens of our own time and culture, they seem arcane, peculiar, and extremely harsh. The old law called for the stoning of the adulteress, but Jesus said, "he who is without sin may cast the first stone." <BR/>He also says, "I came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it." <BR/>Nathanael, Jesus clearly demonstrates both forgiveness and rewewal, not condemnation. It is precisely this which the scribes and Pharisees used to try to trip Jesus up- "See? He's healing a guy on the Sabbath! SEe that? See that?" <BR/>This is clearly not the intent of the original law. Some say the original law was designed to show everyone how they really could NOT follow it all. If every Jew back in those days who violated any part of the law was actually stoned there wouldn't be any of them left. Yet God was continually merciful and graceful and always gave sinners (look at David!!!! King of Israel and a "man after God's own heart" - we can discuss every single commandment he broke and God loved that man though he had to discipline him and call his bluff.) The major players of the Bible- Jacob (conniver, trickster), the sins of the 12 brothers (Levi, Rueben, etc.) that the 12 tribes were founded on- like raiding a whole city to avenge their sister Dina and killing many innocent people in the process- God hated that and had to discipline them though he always maintained his love for them. <BR/><BR/>Jesus Christ is the NEW covenant. The death and resurrection became the new covenant. I will try to talk more on that later. <BR/><BR/>We also need to remember that while we were ALL yet sinners (that is to say, imperfect and unworthy) Christ died and rose. He became a living sacrifice. The picture of this sacrifice had been set up by old law in the practice of sacrificing lambs, and he became THE sacrificial lamb. <BR/><BR/>I will try to cover more later.Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075387704684264363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8044648.post-40353965327040669972007-12-31T03:21:00.000-06:002007-12-31T03:21:00.000-06:00Don't let the elusiveness of answers frustrate you...Don't let the elusiveness of answers frustrate you too much. I have been struggling with many of the same questions for more than three decades and I am not all that much closer to finding satisfying answers than I was at the beginning. That does not mean that my life has not been rich and fulfilling and satisfying. It means that the journey matters more than reaching the destination. <BR/><BR/>Any path you choose entails risk. Isn't it better to take a chance on seeking genuine answers that satisfy your intellectual integrity rather than seeking to suppress the questions and doubts in the hopes of finding mindless comfort? I would find it very hard to believe in a God that preferred the latter.<BR/><BR/>Best of luck to you.Vinnyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08955726889682177434noreply@blogger.com