http://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2016/01/gods-mixed-messages-youth-pastor-killed.html At Eastern Since 2012. The universal and self-evident problem of death 2: The universal . Youre closer than you think. Id suggest if participation, longing, , and immediacy are ways of knowing God, that they would more need to be means of recursively traversing an infinite regress of fractal complexity than means of simply and linearly knowing a static being. You just need to go a little further, Peter. He has written numerous books, including The Bible Tells Me So, The Sin of Certainty, and How the Bible Actually Works. The only reason I could see us being worried about being wrong about a certain path/religion/idea/concept would be because God (our Creator) might reject us if we chose the wrong path. There is no external mention of the writing until Origen in the 3rd century. I'm attaching my 6 page summary of Peter Enns' new book, Genesis for Normal People: Enns on Genesis.doc (55.5 KB) Dr. Enns attempts to simply explain for average Christians how many scholars read Genesis. All of life is a response. The realm of the elohim and the realm of the seen (1 sam 28.13). Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies, Back to Undergraduate Theology Department, Graduate & Online Undergraduate Admissions, Palmer Theological Seminary and Palmer College. But in the formerit seemssome individuals cannot ask the does God exist? question without deeply wondering about which God?? It is in this context, that Christianity, for me, is a profound disappointment. This is the third post in a series on how God speaks to us in Scripture, following a discussion on what the early church fathers believed about how that process happened and Kenton Sparks' adoptionist proposal of a sacred "broken" Bible.. Slow chuckle. Im still working on itof course. So its great that God is guiding you and keeping you safe but yet not doing the same for kids with cancer etc. The Quran Chapter 112, Things are compound elements atoms etc, made of parts. As is our collaborative aspects of the scientific method. Most Evangelicals find themselves on that path when their evidence takes a beating and they retreat to the world of mystery. He has written numerous books, including The Bible Tells Me So, The Sin of Certainty, and How the Bible Actually Works. All three books seek to better understand political representation, inequality, and social outcomes in the United States. When a European team of scientists and an American team and a Chinese team run an experiment, the results are consistent. And I echo your sentiments on the value of a more actively contemplative way of life. But our access to the world of the Spirit is made possible by the existence of our own spirit. However, as my 5th grade social studies book (circa ~1958) commented on Islam, Muslims converted North Africa at the edge of the sword. JFK probably did not comment much on his Catholicism because at that time there remained a significant amount of anti-Catholic bigotry in our country. Instead only their book features inspired writingsthe truth and stories necessary to believe, and of course conservatives, moderates and liberals differ concerning what that book really means or what the most essential and necessary lessons are. . Professor. His Attributes cannot be fixed, limited or defined. I find cultural differences to be fascinating and rich sources in discovering what is possible within the human experience. We dont know how to break down the ideologies of our false identities or how to welcome others with conflicting ideologies or identities. What religion, denomination, sect or cult doesnt seek to also inculcate an acceptance of mystery and paradox?. I am not embarrassed by it at all. I think that if all religious believers could accept such limitations, and find in the penumbra thereof, that there is no certainty, and therefore, no grounds for believing to the exclusion of other faiths, wed find less conflict in this world. For, everything is under the one and the same law-the law of transformation and decline. And the one thing that every single wisdom tradition or religious group teaches is the way. transrational http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/cruz-any-president-who-doesnt-begin-every-day-his-knees-isnt-fit-be-commander-chief-nation. Specifically on love as a way of knowing. How do you know more of what God prefers more than Franklin Graham or Mennonites? I use the words intelligent and basis. The question presumes that belief in God is something to be settled on the basis of intelligence, education, knowledge of facts, etc. The moronic Magic-Man-Fantasy was the human races greatest mistake. I mean, I continue to wonder about such questions after leaving Evangelicalism. Hi, Reddit! I am sincerely interested in your thoughts on two ideas. Its not that we dont know, its that our knowing is ultimately so relative. Both accounts included a boat in which just a few people, along with animals, are saved from a universal flood. Let God alone if need be. Per the books blurb, The Sin of Certainty models an acceptance of mystery and paradox that all believers can follow and why God prefers this path because it is only this way by which we can become mature disciples who truly trust God.. The idea there is magic in the universe is ridiculous, childish, and completely impossible. You presume too much Ed. Can I find a certain kind of longing and hope to possibly be filled even on the Trump Train? Also, your point about eyewitness testimony is inaccurate. straight into the night our hearts were flung I know others mileage may vary. Their work involves moving from the phenomenon through the perceptual equipment to the physical biology that makes subjective states objectively real. This emphasis on experience is important at a simple, direct level (participating in corporate worship, daily prayer, seeing/hearing God in others, etc. As we come to the end of this year, we begin a new theme for the Daily Meditations. And I would suggest this hypothetical is realized in all actuality within spiritual perception. Knowing God is a life-long participation. I mean, youre already done this with respect to Christian Mystics. I would never ever suggest this is a unique property of Xty. including the high rate of depression and dropping out among pastors (sure theres always plenty to take their place but look at the turnover! I have written on Peter Enns before on our blog (see the link in the analysis to Evans' book) but seeing his name again led me to look up Enns and I found he wrote a recent piece on his blog titled "How Can I Trust the Bible . What of our spiritual experiences then? So if you want to write a book that really speaks about accepting uncertainty you have not done so. There is an even less certain, less dogmatic, less religious, kind of trust. Good point. You can although quite innadequately (as with so many other things in life), still put them on the table. When you know something by means of such encounter, you may not be able to express it verbally, at least not in a compelling, coherent, or exhaustive manner. But you do know that you know because your knowing has a depth and immediacy to it that is never present in simply knowingabout thingseven merely knowing about God. I think the sooner the Church heals the Great Schism and returns to the even the faith of Jesus certainly before Constantine and possibly before Paul, the better she will be on a cosmic mission. Christian mysticism should . What are you reading good Sir, that I may know too? Well that seems to me to be more of a way of guessing then? Though I certainly dont want to edge into Edwards post to restate it here. I didnt say anything about your knowledge of other religions. There is a type of love that can only be experience I think by a parent for their child. Which then opens up the question of what reality it what knowing we are engaged in. If there is still to be a link to truth there at all. However, I tend to apply such experiences to relationships that I have with the people that surround me not to the deities of ancient cultures. At best, such persons hopes could make an iron-age reality better. It is knowing of a different order. Peter Enns is the last person that I will analyze simply because he probably best typifies what can happen once one begins the downward spiral on adopting an evolutionary view to Scripture. These are ideals that I subjectively value. If he receives no answer, fine. My personal thought is that 11 Peter is one of the later books of the NT; likely written circa 125-150 AD. It is based on direct and personal encounter. Perhaps agreat offense to many of us in the modern world is thatGod is not known in the way we are used to knowing many other thingswhich is a hard pill to swallow if youre committed to evidence-based knowing as the only path forward. I think there is a model there where the subjective, but real experience of God is the starting point for understanding the perceptual equipment, which will help us to acknowledge the existence of a real Being that makes the subjective states or experiences real. The question Is God real? is equal to the question Is magic real?. darkness, a vulnerable faith, and the normal Christian life, Spirituality and the Awakening Self: The Sacred Journey of Transformation, http://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2015/08/christians-or-non-christians-who-suffer.html, http://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2016/01/gods-mixed-messages-youth-pastor-killed.html, http://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2015/03/on-recovering-from-alcoholism-drug.html, http://infidels.org/library/modern/ed_babinski/experience.html, http://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2015/01/leaving-ministry-left-ministry-polls.html, http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/cruz-any-president-who-doesnt-begin-every-day-his-knees-isnt-fit-be-commander-chief-nation, http://www.al-islam.org/tradition-myrobalan-fruit-hadith-al-halila-imam-jafar-al-sadiq/hadith. Presume? Youre still rooting your argument in the same notion of the proper locus of religious conviction. Christianity is already becoming irrelevant to the younger millennials. 75-76]. Evidence presented to our reasoning faculties is one way of knowing, not the only way, which is obvious. None the less, I believe in Democracy and think Iron Man is awesome. Bavinck has a tendency to get to the point doesnt he ? Beitr-ge zum internationalen Symposium vom 27. bis 29. I am not sure that is the name. Pete Enns (PhD, Harvard University) is the Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania, and co-host of The Bible for Normal People podcast. I dont think God would. To dig down a little deeper theologically, I can deeply understand the paradox of the Incarnation of not only a God-as-man, but in the form of a baby in a manager in Galilee in first-century Palestine. Universalism is the belief that everyone eventually will be saved. Here might be some: Healing, forgiveness, graciousness, redemption, justice, protection, universality. where Paul regards Adam's disobedience as the cause of universal sin and death from which humanity is redeemed through the obedience of Christ. Ted Cruz proudly stated that any president who doesnt pray on his knees to Jesus Christ every day isnt fit to be commander-in-chief. Perhaps less than that, I would be more arrogant, less loving, poorer, and have no progeny. 1 Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Historically, I understand the Mystics predate the Enlightenment or Modernity, but I think it was Friedrich Schleiermacher who cut a swath through the rough underbrush of Empiricism to find a spiritual path that was immediate and subjective. 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