tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812241728597205774.post3830333192569874129..comments2023-12-25T12:43:09.743-05:00Comments on Respectful Atheist: What God WantsRespectful Atheisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03303760970096374936noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812241728597205774.post-32670216267630709052012-05-22T09:47:12.860-04:002012-05-22T09:47:12.860-04:00God, Life, Energy
Everything is Energy. What doe...God, Life, Energy<br /><br />Everything is Energy. What does Enery want? NOTHING.<br /><br />Everything is Life. What does Life want? NOTHING.<br /><br />Everything is God. What does God want? NOTHING.<br /><br />You can interchang any of these words: Energy, Life, God.<br /><br />All the Prophets have said that there is only one God and that God is Everything.<br /><br />If God is Everything it follows that God is Energy, God is Life, God is.<br /><br />What does God Want?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />You got it yet NOTHING.Energy Girlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812241728597205774.post-80588001585541664032012-05-08T00:37:32.550-04:002012-05-08T00:37:32.550-04:00I greatly appreciate your insights on this. My per...I greatly appreciate your insights on this. My perspective on discerning God's mind/will/desire for us usually leads me through thoughts like: If the holy spirit helps us interpret the Bible to understand it properly, why doesn't everyone interpret very key concepts and passages the same way? If the passages can be changed to fit any situation in a subjective, bendable, inconsistent manner, how can one even know if their interpretation is valid? How can one's imagination and personal projection of god's intent be separated from the true holy spirit? <br />Oh, because it can't.Godless Girlhttp://www.godlessgirl.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812241728597205774.post-51796965305268444872012-05-05T19:52:22.782-04:002012-05-05T19:52:22.782-04:00Hi Randy (do you prefer Randy, or James?),
Thanks...Hi Randy (do you prefer Randy, or James?),<br /><br />Thanks for commenting. No, I didn't read the whole thing, although let me quickly add the caveat that I definitely would have done so had I been attempting to do a proper review. Your book was more of a side note, to the main point that I was making, and in that sense I could have easily used another book (even on a totally different subject) without it altering my content very much. I do own a copy though, so feel free to reference page numbers since I can readily look things up on this end.<br /><br />That said, it seems to me that you made a reasonable case for your position. It didn't strike me as ad hoc per se. I agree with basically everything you say in your comment. I do think a strong Biblical argument could be mounted against your position, but to do so would be pointless as I see it today. This is, in fact, precisely what I was driving at in the post. Internal disagreements, about what God wants (or various theological nuances etc.), are "missing the forest for the trees". For the purposes of this analogy think of the trees as every individual verse, in the Bible, and the forest as the Bible ITSELF.<br /><br />In other words, what really bothers me is all of those "ifs", that you reference. When Christians speak for God a lot of (highly problematic) things are simply assumed at the outset. So even when disagreements arise, between Christians, they are nearly always simply about what the Bible says or doesn't say...what's never even considered is that the Bible might not be "God's word" to begin with...the forest! See my problem there? (To be clear, I'm not trying to in any way imply that your book has been attacked by other Christians; or even that it deserves to be necessarily.)<br /><br />So here's my question for you...what evidence do you have that the Bible was inspired by God in any way, shape or form? Why do you simply assume that, when you quote from it, you are in fact speaking for God himself (as implied by your book's title)? I realize this wasn't the point of your book (so I never expected you to provide this sort of evidence within it) but it IS the point of my post.<br /><br />I used to believe precisely as you do. I see this blog as something of an ongoing letter, to my former self, since I desperately wish I had known then what I am learning now. I wish I had looked around a bit more, well outside of the Christian bubble, to see how my core beliefs stood up to strong and well informed challenge. Simply put, I wish I had examined the evidence, for those "ifs", more thoroughly.<br /><br />You are, of course, under no obligation to answer my question. But I just wonder if, in writing books with titles like "God Wants You to Be Happy", you have truly considered the sheer magnitude of the presumption that lies beneath. Without that presumption, as I said in the post, the whole thing just falls apart. As it happens, that's exactly what happened to my faith.<br /><br />Anyway, thanks again Randy. I appreciate the respectful tone of your comments, plus your willingness to engage. I'd love to get your thoughts on my thoughts.Respectful Atheisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03303760970096374936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812241728597205774.post-75468111823359253822012-05-03T03:47:26.279-04:002012-05-03T03:47:26.279-04:00My Google alerts picked up your column. As the aut...My Google alerts picked up your column. As the author of the mentioned book, I'm curious to know if you read it. (Just curious, not trying to imply anything one way or the other.) To answer your underlying question, to know what God wants, one has to work through the book that purports to account for Him. Of course, if you don't believe the book, you can't surmise anything from it. But my approach was not to make a point, then dig in the Bible to try and back it up. I went through it in its entirety, looked up every reference to the idea of happiness in the original Greek and Hebrew, and put my best logical conclusions into the book. If we were to set all biblical references aside, I would simply ask: If God does exist, created mankind, cares for His creation, and is a good God, then wouldn't it be the logical conclusion that He desires a certain happiness for His creation? There are many "ifs" there, of course, but those are foundational to mainstream Christianity and consistent with scripture. Just a few thoughts...glad the book caught your eye!RandyRobison.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10159598011411321559noreply@blogger.com