Red Sky at Morning
Superstar
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2017
- Messages
- 13,963
I was once surprised by the reaction of a parent about an incident reported about her child. When the accusation was presented to her, she folded her arms and flatly said 'My Simon would never have done that'... Unfortunately for the mother, her Simon definitely had 'done that', but the gap between her hopes for him and the reality of his nature were thrown into sharp relief!
In the same way, our understanding of God, if he exists, may be coloured by our desires. It may be axiomatic to say, but if he (or she or It) is simply 'everything' then those who want to believe he has a particular character are no wiser than Simon's mother. If he doesn't exist at all, then all flavours of theism are simply wishful thinking. If, on the other hand, he really does exist, he would have particular characteristics, and it would be possible to know him well or get the wrong end of the stick about him...
The three concepts cannot all be true, and each has a unique set of implications.
So over to the forum... What do you believe and why do you believe it? The most important question most people never face head on.
In the same way, our understanding of God, if he exists, may be coloured by our desires. It may be axiomatic to say, but if he (or she or It) is simply 'everything' then those who want to believe he has a particular character are no wiser than Simon's mother. If he doesn't exist at all, then all flavours of theism are simply wishful thinking. If, on the other hand, he really does exist, he would have particular characteristics, and it would be possible to know him well or get the wrong end of the stick about him...
The three concepts cannot all be true, and each has a unique set of implications.
So over to the forum... What do you believe and why do you believe it? The most important question most people never face head on.