Bi-vocational ascetic monk

[One Eyed Jack]

I hear goats are pretty smart. Pigs are too. Once they figure out how to open the refrigerator, forget about it.

 

[PureX]

I think you make the same error as the characters. You make your own God and determine what he will and won't do. You present a false dilemma. These are not the only two choices. The third choice is to become intimate with God. Yep, become a crazy person and learn to actually hear him.

There is nothing in the Bible but the words. And every one of them has to be interpreted, to be read. The act of reading is the act of interpreting words on a page. So everyone is imagining "God" in their minds, as they are reading and interpreting the words on the page. You are, I am, everyone is. Your assumption that your imagined "God" is the real God, and mine or anyone else's that doesn't jive with yours is false and imaginary, is just ego-centric nonsense. Because we are ALL imagining "God".

So when you then go on about becoming "intimate with God", all you're really talking about is ignoring the fact that your imagined conception of God is not actually God, and pretending that you couldn't possibly be wrong. Your God IS God. Right? You are in effect promoting dishonesty within yourself, that is based on your own ego's desire to never, ever, be wrong. (That's what our egos do, after all.)

The reality of God is not going to be found in your imagined conception of God as produced by your interpretation of the words in a book. It's going to be found in the results of your living by what you believe. And this is true of all of us, regardless of what we believe about God. If I believe in a loving God, and live by that belief, I will see the evidence of my God in the result of my life choices. If I believe in a vengeful God, and live my life accordingly, I will get different results, but those results will still be the reality of my God, in this life. If I believe in a God of absolute righteousness (as you seem to), and live my life accordingly, then too, the results I get will be the evidence of my God's righteousness. Whatever we choose to believe God is, when we act on our beliefs, the results will be seen as the reality of God in our lives.

We all must choose for ourselves what we will believe of God. And then we must act on our beliefs, to find out what the reality of our concept of God is. And if the reality of our concept of God is not what we'd hoped, we should allow ourselves to choose another god-concept that will maybe produce better results, because after all, our concepts about God are not actually God. And we don't actually know who's concept of God is the more accurate. But we can find out which concept of God produces the most positive results in our lives and the lives of those around us, when we act on them in good faith.

And I think that's the best way to find the more "accurate" concept of God. That's what God meant when he said, though the words of Jesus: "I am the way, the truth, and the life".

 

[thatlldopig]

Actually an experience with God goes beyond imagining him. When Peter declared that Jesus was the Son of God, he was told that the Father showed him that. That kind of experience can be had today where God reveals things to men in verifiable ways. He can show you things in the scriptures which have never been seen before that reveal Christ as the Son of God, and once they are seen, others can verify it is there.

Christianity is not a discovered religion as you propose, but a revealed one. You can know about God whatever he chooses to reveal. the more intimate you become with him, and the more you glorify him, the more he reveals.

I have been to the antarctic. Can't prove it to you, Won't try. It's not an ego trip that I imagined the Antarctic. I could give you pictures I took down there, but you don't know that I took them. The only way you can know that I have been there is to go yourself, and then compare notes with me. That's what Christian fellowship is all about. I have no reason for you to believe what I do about the Antarctic. Why should I possibly care what you think about God? If someone wants to know about my trip to the Antarctic I have lots of slides, but I don't force them down anyone's throat. If you are interested in my experience with God, great, happy to share, I have lots of slides If not, I'm not going to force it down anyone's throat.

Sorry I have been away from here so long. Real life calls sometimes. I hope you have been well.