On Jun 3, 11:51 am, Deidzoeb <[email protected]> wrote: > > > So if you would ask God to accept "what you believe is virtuous", I > > > offer instead that what God considers virtuous is what will matter. > > > And if what I do with the tools and the life God has given me then I > > trust that God will be pleased with my struggle to attain virtue, > > goodness and kindness. > > Part of this depends on whether God has clearly communicated to > everyone what is virtuous. Christians apparently think he has. From > your position, it sounds like you try to figure out for yourself what > is virtuous. > > That's one of the problems that I have too. Even if we concede that > God exists and has a certain way that he wants us to act, has he > communicated it effectively to me through the Bible or his > representatives or whatever? Even if I wanted to do God's will, which > version of it or translation of it or interpretation of it would I > need to follow? >
Consider this, Have you achieved in life your highest aspiration as a person, toward yourself and toward others? Me neither. Why worry about what perfect looks like when you have plenty to work on? In no way would you worship a God that didn't feel like anywhere near your impression of ultimate, especially in the loving category. So...just strive to be the best you with your personified ideal of Deidzoeb...hovering in your heart. It's like Jiminy Cricket times infinity. > If the message has been clearly presented, what should we conclude > about people who disagree about what the message means? Are some of > them receiving the message clearly but lying about what it means? Are > they mistaken in their understanding of the message? > Have you determined exactly what the message says? If not then no worries. > There's the assertion that sin is some kind of obstacle to proper > understanding or perception of religious truths, but to me, that > sounds like an aspect of God deciding not to present a clear message, > not a problem that humans would be responsible for. After all, how is > a person supposed to learn the message that s/he must avoid sin, if > that message is itself muddied or blocked by the fact that they have > sinned? That's what Jesus is for. ;-) > > Anyway, part of Brock's premise seems to be that God has clearly > articulated what we must do. We are responsible for following it as if > it had been clearly understood. It seems easier for Christians to > imagine that all religious truths are secretly or maybe > "subconsciously" understood by everyone already, and we're just being > jerks by not accepting them or embracing them. Easier to believe that > than to believe that people have sincere and important differences of > opinion on what the Bible or anything else means. I think it's a little unfair to peg them as thinking you're just being stubborn. They might just think you're dumb! LOL ;-) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "A Civil Religious Debate" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/a-civil-religious-debate?hl=en.
