I was set to begin my Old Testament class in September of 2009. I was somewhat looking forward to my fall semester in 2009. I say "somewhat" not because I really did not want to take the classes, but because it has been a tough year mentally and emotionally. When I decided to take seminary classes I did so to challenge myself and to learn more about my faith. I wanted to challenge myself and be prepared if I needed to defend my faith in someway or another. What I found out was that some people are severely entrenched in their views and/or accept things without critically thinking about what they have accepted to be true.
It is fall and the seminary classes have begun! The class is about the Old Testament, but the professor begins by pressing the issue about the Bible being inerrant. The class was confronted with either accepting the Bible is error free or not. However, the doctrine of inerrancy supposes that the original documents are error free. What we have now is clearly NOT error free since textual critics have pointed out inconsistencies and alterations to some documents. So, I find it rather moot to posture some sort of hyper-fundamental mentality towards other Christians regarding the inerrancy of Scripture. Please do not mistake me for some lunatic and such—I just cannot see the importance of forcing the doctrine of inerrancy towards people. It is a doctrine that cannot be verified with the data that we have, but is taken on faith which is solely up to the believer. I find nothing wrong with the doctrine of inerrancy, but I do think that becoming judgemental against those who do not adhere to inerrancy is counter productive to the message of the Gospel. Lastly, I am in the class to learn about the Old Testament and NOT about some tangent regarding what the professor thinks about inerrancy...
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Fight Within
Sovereign Lord,
The more time passes, the more I understand that I need You.
Every time I strive to live on my own, I fail and fall on my face.
You know my heart, and that kills me daily.
My heart is filled with despair, anguish, hopelessness, anger and things that others do not see but do not escape your eye.
Oh Father!
Oh God!
I know what I want to do and what I do not want to do. Yet, what I want not to do is what I do, but what I want to do is not what I do.
I cringe at the thought of what You think of me; but I know if I believe, I stand justified by faith alone in Christ.
In You I trust, but I show You not!
Some friend I am! Maybe, I am not a true friend to You, but You are to me.
You carried the cross and died for me. Please forgive me for taking You for granted—it’s just that I do not fully understand the grandeur of what You have done.
In the end what matters is only You and solely You. So, I plea for your pardon for failing so miserably with my life even after You came and showed us how to live.
Here I stand with only my belief in Christ, and I hope that is good enough for You.
The more time passes, the more I understand that I need You.
Every time I strive to live on my own, I fail and fall on my face.
You know my heart, and that kills me daily.
My heart is filled with despair, anguish, hopelessness, anger and things that others do not see but do not escape your eye.
Oh Father!
Oh God!
I know what I want to do and what I do not want to do. Yet, what I want not to do is what I do, but what I want to do is not what I do.
I cringe at the thought of what You think of me; but I know if I believe, I stand justified by faith alone in Christ.
In You I trust, but I show You not!
Some friend I am! Maybe, I am not a true friend to You, but You are to me.
You carried the cross and died for me. Please forgive me for taking You for granted—it’s just that I do not fully understand the grandeur of what You have done.
In the end what matters is only You and solely You. So, I plea for your pardon for failing so miserably with my life even after You came and showed us how to live.
Here I stand with only my belief in Christ, and I hope that is good enough for You.
Monday, May 25, 2009
God and Time
What is time? Does time exist or is time an invention of man? There is no doubt we use time as a measurement of things/events of a less than greater than relationship(s). Things that we can perceive as timeless might be numbers. Time as far as I understand does not cause 1 any changes, thus we might be able to suppose that 1 has the attribute of "timelessness." Numbers then can be categorized as immaterial. We can see numbers and assume (i.e.) 1+1=2, and as time passes 1 will always be 1.
When we examine things that are material it seems that time can and does affect them. As time passes things tend to go through some sort of change. This could be tied to the entropy, but I am not sure if entropy affects everything that is material/matter. However, I am inclined to think that physical things, which are part of our perceived reality, allow us to posture time causing changes to those things.
If God does exist, can God be immaterial? If God does exist, does that mean God remains timeless? But if God is immaterial how can God relate to mankind? Can it be that God was timeless but after creation God is now enduring time? The very possibility that God is in time does not mean that God changes or has changed, but rather God endures time with God's nature remaining intact. Of course there is that possibility that there is no such thing as God. If that is true can we suppose that the universe and everything within is explainable because it is that way, or do we have to come to the understanding that we just made up concepts and presumed things are that way? I think that if there is no God then we most likely would have to take the latter position.
When we examine things that are material it seems that time can and does affect them. As time passes things tend to go through some sort of change. This could be tied to the entropy, but I am not sure if entropy affects everything that is material/matter. However, I am inclined to think that physical things, which are part of our perceived reality, allow us to posture time causing changes to those things.
If God does exist, can God be immaterial? If God does exist, does that mean God remains timeless? But if God is immaterial how can God relate to mankind? Can it be that God was timeless but after creation God is now enduring time? The very possibility that God is in time does not mean that God changes or has changed, but rather God endures time with God's nature remaining intact. Of course there is that possibility that there is no such thing as God. If that is true can we suppose that the universe and everything within is explainable because it is that way, or do we have to come to the understanding that we just made up concepts and presumed things are that way? I think that if there is no God then we most likely would have to take the latter position.
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