root@trwatf.UUCP (06/11/85)
In article <338@scgvaxd.UUCP> dan@scgvaxd.UUCP (PUT YOUR NAME HERE) writes: > In article <953@trwatf.UUCP> root@trwatf.UUCP (Lord Frith) writes: >> Confusion? Just the opposite I should think! If God spoke to each man >> and then confirmed his word with some specific sign or wonder then each >> man would be his own revelation and his own prophet. The truth would >> be known! In fact, that's how God seems to work today. It just takes >> some perception to "see" God and his personal revelation. Sorry if >> that sounds like an electronic preacher talking. > > And if I ask God to confirm that what I am doing is right (lets say I > want to divorce my wife) by a specific sign (make the lights go off) > and there is suddenly a power outage...... Yes, Confusion! This scenario is more self-fulfilling prophecy than a serious attempt to find what God wants. And here you have denied my orginal assumption for this argument that says, "God gives specific signs and wonders." Well a power outage is hardly a specific sign or wonder and only a fool (or someone with a REALLY ugly wife) would interpret this as such. When I say signs and wonders I'm not talking cheap magic tricks... I'm talking the voice of God in every heart and mind. Direct revalation. Undeniable guidence. >> [Lord Frith] >> Personal revelation is the only sure-fire way for each man to confirm, for >> himself, that there is indeed a God. And what if one cannot believe his >> own perceptions? Just talk to your fellow man and compare notes with him. >> If you find similarities in experiences, then you will have adequate >> justification and evidence. > > [Dan Boskowitch] > This opens the door to every nut with a so-called revelation from God. > Using this logic, how could we dispute a Jim Jones or the nut who > killed his child because God told him the child would rise from the > dead. Using this logic, how could we dispute a Moses or the nut who tried to kill his son because God told him the child would rise from the dead. His name was Abraham wasn't it? > Every modern prophet has a new revelation that completly contradicts > the others. Are you saying that God actually gave personal revelation > to Mary Baker Eddy, Joseph Smith, Watchtower, Armstrong, etc. > > Which one is right? Are they all right? Mathew Mark Luke or John. Which one is right? Are they all right? > I think there is a better way. God gave us all the Revelation we need > in the Bible. The Holy Spirit confirms this to us and leads us along > using Gods written word as a guideline. We don't need revelation from > God to tell us which house to buy or which job to take. God may have other plans for you. If this requires that you be cognizant of certain things around you then so be it. No one said you're going to have visions telling you which job to take. But then neither can the Bible, can it? An additional problem with the Bible is that you must first accept it as being THE TRVTH and then conform your experience to what this book has to say. That's not the way to find the truth. I guess you don't see eye to eye with the person in net.religion.christian who felt God was manipulating reality to have his home mortgage approved. > We are capable of making rational decisions for ourselves with the > mind that God gave us. True. But those decisions are not necessarily the truth. Are you going deny God the right to talk to his own creatures? The question is, "What if God actually revealed himself to his creatures on a day-to-day basis. The result would not be confusion. It would be the word made reality every day. There would be no room for doubt. How could there be when experience with God would be as commonplace and tangible as this wood-grain table-top. > The scriptures can serve as a guideline for all of our daily decisions. > For example, I wouldn't take a job as a male stripper because I believe > God's word clearly teaches that that would be sinful. He doesn't have > to tell me that in a dream! This one contrived example doesn't prove your point. You are still denying God the role that he may well have, and that is the direct interaction with the universe that he created. And to turn the argument around, what if you DID have a dream so intense and so powerful that it could only be interpreted as being a direct revalation from God. And in this dream, he told you to become a male stripper. Would you deny God? Would you say, "I know better." Should Abraham have said, "I know better?" >> Looking at the proliferation of religious sects and interpretations >> within Christianity today I see a lot more confusion than there needs >> to be. That's what happens when you have a revelation given to a >> specific few... differing interpretations of "THE TRVTH." Why it's >> the Tower of Babel all over again! > > Wrong! Thats what happens when you add to that Revelation! > Denominational difference are minute compared to those who have > subscribed to another source of authority. Are you saying that all of the denominations are "adding" to scripture? They will tell you that they are interpreting scripture differently... not adding to it. All of these denominations subscribe to a single source of authority (Mormons not included) but they all see the truth as being something different. One problem with the Bible is that it is not an ongoing, interactive and adapting thing like life itself is. As such, the experiences of people now long-dead are not necessarily communicated to us in their fullness of meaning. >> Indeed the best justification is the method scientists use today to confirm >> their findings. Instead of the tests being repeatable and verifiable, we >> have experience with God being a daily occurance that is verifiable amongst >> ourselves. But woe unto he that interprets his own needs and concerns as >> those of God. > > The best way to confirm Christianity is to read God's word, believe it, > then experience it in your own life. The bible talks about man's spiritual > longing, his guilt over sin, and Gods forgiveness in Christ. What better > way to confirm Gods word than to experience all of these in your own > life. Experiencing the truth is far better than simply reading it. Remember, those that seek the truth hear the Lord's voice... -- UUCP: ...{decvax,ihnp4,allegra}!seismo!trwatf!root - Lord Frith ARPA: trwatf!root@SEISMO "Give a man a horse... and he thinks he's enormous"