donald (04/13/83)
Re: Larry Bickford's article about "Comprehending an infinite God".
*** flame on ***
How can someone who is presumably a professional in a technical/scientific
field make statements like this????
Do we really expect to comprehend infinity with finite minds? Can we even
BEGIN to? Can our finite 3-dimensional minds understand omniscience,
omnipotence, or omnipresence? Infinity is not scientifically measurable.
If I might permit myself a moment of monumental hubris, let me state
that unlike Mr. Bickford, I CAN understand some sorts of infinities.
Take, for example, the natural numbers, a pretty infinite sort of set.
I think I understand a little bit about them. The Peano axioms defining them.
How to add. Some basic number theory. Of course there's lots of unsolved
stuff floating around, e.g. Fermat's Last Theorem, but that doesn't mean
that we can't THINK and REASON about natural numbers.
So why aren't we allowed to use the gray matter that God gave us, to
wonder about the ramifications of omnipotence and omniscience?
Are we that incompetent that we can't grasp the meaning of the words we use?
I find Mr. B's "gee-whiz" attitude towards God highly repugnant because of
its anti-intellectual overtones. In another age Mr. B might have been
among the churchmen who condemned Galileo.
Mr. B's "beat me I like it" attitude towards life is even worse.
In reading the bible (which Mr. Bickford so copiously quotes -- c'mon
gimme a break, chapter&verse refs ought to do -- I own a bible myself!)
I come across descriptions of acts that I find questionable. I find
rules and judgements I don't agree with. Am I just supposed shut down
my brain and accept it all 'cause a self-styled theologian tells me
that God's ways are mysterious but perfect so it's gotta be right?
Perhaps I'll shock Mr. B when I say that I don't recognize his God's
moral authority over me. Sure, he's bigger than me and he can zap me
to dust, but so can Ronald Reagan and his MX missiles. Power doesn't
give you any moral force. Or perhaps Mr. B thinks might makes right?
... Be glad God even puts up with us at all.
So who is any of us to argue with God? Be thankful!
Unlike you, I am not going to read about horrible acts and let God
off the hook just because he carries a big stick. To further the
"blasphemy" that Mr. B will probably accuse me of, I think that God
is accountable to every one of us for his actions.
I'll argue with God. He may not like me and do nasty things to me
but if He exists I don't think he's the petty deity that seems
to be the limit of Mr. B's powers of conception.
Mr. B's attitude is primitive and downright dangerous. Let's hope
not too many Christians out there share it.
*** flame off ***
Flaming is great catharsis!
Don Chan