Comments | incomplet_: Test of Faith

incomplet_

Test of Faith

Mar 15, 2006 12:46

Lately I've been scared into running to God for protection. There have been a heap of frightening coincidences that have me left wondering about, and afraid of, the existence of demons. And as far as I'm concerned, if I believe in demons, I must also believe in God ( Read more... )

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ataxi March 15 2006, 05:46:29 UTC

"if the universe is 'monochotomous' - and there is no struggle between good and evil - then I have nothing to worry about because anything and everything is all part and parcel of the one cohesive, neutral - and therefore safe - whole"

This chain of logic I don't follow. That is, I don't understand why dichotomy-of-good-and-evil' --> safe in your view. Also, I don't follow why living-according-to-God ^ dichotomy-of-good-and-evil --> safe, since I can't see why it's not possible that evil is able to conquer good.

Are you just reading way too much into that Beatles song? ;-)

incomplet_ March 15 2006, 06:09:54 UTC

"if the universe is 'monochotomous' - and there is no struggle between good and evil - then I have nothing to worry about because anything and everything is all part and parcel of the one cohesive, neutral - and therefore safe - whole"

This chain of logic I don't follow. That is, I don't understand why dichotomy-of-good-and-evil' --> safe in your view.OK. If the universe is 'monochotomous,' there's no dichotomy of good and evil; there's only neutrality and neutrality is safe ( ... )

ataxi March 15 2006, 06:20:47 UTC

I'm not a believer in supernatural events or agents myself.

Your philosophy is reminiscent of the idea that whether or not there is a (Christian) God, one might as well be faithful, because one loses nothing by doing so and gains protection, blessings and an eternity in Paradise if God does happen to exist. Which is a justification for Christian life that Christians disapprove of quite strongly ...

I hail more from the "If God exists, then He knows I'm a hypocrite" school of Adrian Mole.

The bit I still don't get (sorry) is that if the universe is "monochotomous", so there is no struggle between good and evil overarching our lives, then doesn't that imply no God, no demons? And in what sense is such a condition "safe"?

incomplet_ March 15 2006, 07:27:27 UTC

if the universe is "monochotomous", so there is no struggle between good and evil overarching our lives, then doesn't that imply no God, no demons?Yes, exactly. And the 'safe' thing I suppose in essence is about being unsusceptible to the powers of dark forces, like being invulnerable to possession and stuff like that ( ... )

ataxi March 15 2006, 08:01:17 UTC

Sure, sorry, didn't mean to be patronising, it's just what it reminded me of.

I don't have any bones to pick. It's interesting to me that you care whether the hypothetical Christian God would approve of your conduct at all, however: like me you have your own reexamined roughly-in-line-with-consensus-morality worldview, unlike me you aren't happy simply with asserting it?

By the way I'm fairly sure that, theologically speaking, merely living a Christian life is insufficient to acquire the X-God's forgiveness/blessing/etc. Explicit faith in the X-God is also required for those who have been exposed to any teachings about His existence. The only people who get off lightly are those who have never been taught about Him. So you might not be safe!

Getting a bit random here :-)

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ataxi March 15 2006, 08:52:59 UTC

Yep. A Christian friend lent me an awful book (The Case For Faith) last year that was supposed to "help" one understand how an all-loving God can be reconciled with eternal damnation. Unfortunately it was a load of crap that just skirted the issue.

tangential peppermintspice March 15 2006, 21:42:29 UTC

There are some strains of Jewish mysticism that deal with this concept rather well, one being that the God that created the world and the trees and thus set up the conditions in which man erred/sinned is not the LORD. (Seen in that light, the switch from the OT jealous God to the NT merciful God makes more sense.) The concept of tikkun is one I relish ( ... )

Re: tangential pothv March 19 2006, 22:35:38 UTC

JC is not the only mortal who has come back from the dead. Nor the only one to do so on the third day. No one seems to have come back to their own bodies after three days, however. Often returns after that time are seen as possession and require a host body of some kind, or a magically created body. Most of the latter seem more like stories to me, by the same token the JC story may seem like a story too ( ... )

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