Here's the next part in this mini series. The first part can be found here.
How do we define what is good?
It is at the point, where we say that God is not good, that we commit the very sin that our first parents committed that resulted in their expulsion from the garden (Genesis 3:23) and lead to the descent of the world into the state that it is in now. Our first parents, in their decision to be the moral prescribers, usurped God's authority and decided that they would be the ones who would determine good from evil. God had declared his creation, his creatures and their relationships to be good (Genesis 1:31), but, through the distortion of God's word, and the persuasion of the serpent, our first parents decided that such a declaration was not true (Genesis 3:6).
Since our first parents made God out to be liar we have continued our rebellion and are at a point that comments, such as this one, regarding our responsibility
and creatureliness are the norm.
"When the world and humanity are facing unprecedented problems of global warming, overpopulation, inadequate food provision, AIDS, and the burgeoning capabilities of science to improve our lot or do it terminal harm, we need clear, rational, moral and scientifically informed thought of the kind Krauss promotes. We do not need doctrinal imperatives imposed from "above" (whether human or divine)." (New Scientist magazine - 05 July 2008, Letters, It's a wonderful cosmos)
In many ways our problem is one of forgetfulness. We forget that we are the ones that made the decisions in the first place that got us into the fix that we are in now, but, as with our opening statement, when we come to a point of recognition, like the world is not as it should be, we immediately shift the blame to God. Yet God's very self-definition is one of holiness, of "set-apart-goodness" and so this blame shifting is just a continuation of our failure as creatures.
It is at this point; as we consider God's self-defining nature, that we must be careful not to slip into the error, indeed the sin, of our first parents in declaring God's declaration to be inadequate or untrue. Does God not define himself? Who are we as created creatures to say that God is not God because he does not fit our definition of who God is? The fact that we feel uncomfortable about God's nature is surely a greater reflection on ourselves than God.
God bless.
Dear Freedom
How do we define what is good?
It is at the point, where we say that God is not good, that we commit the very sin that our first parents committed that resulted in their expulsion from the garden (Genesis 3:23) and lead to the descent of the world into the state that it is in now. Our first parents, in their decision to be the moral prescribers, usurped God's authority and decided that they would be the ones who would determine good from evil. God had declared his creation, his creatures and their relationships to be good (Genesis 1:31), but, through the distortion of God's word, and the persuasion of the serpent, our first parents decided that such a declaration was not true (Genesis 3:6).
Since our first parents made God out to be liar we have continued our rebellion and are at a point that comments, such as this one, regarding our responsibility
and creatureliness are the norm.
"When the world and humanity are facing unprecedented problems of global warming, overpopulation, inadequate food provision, AIDS, and the burgeoning capabilities of science to improve our lot or do it terminal harm, we need clear, rational, moral and scientifically informed thought of the kind Krauss promotes. We do not need doctrinal imperatives imposed from "above" (whether human or divine)." (New Scientist magazine - 05 July 2008, Letters, It's a wonderful cosmos)
In many ways our problem is one of forgetfulness. We forget that we are the ones that made the decisions in the first place that got us into the fix that we are in now, but, as with our opening statement, when we come to a point of recognition, like the world is not as it should be, we immediately shift the blame to God. Yet God's very self-definition is one of holiness, of "set-apart-goodness" and so this blame shifting is just a continuation of our failure as creatures.
It is at this point; as we consider God's self-defining nature, that we must be careful not to slip into the error, indeed the sin, of our first parents in declaring God's declaration to be inadequate or untrue. Does God not define himself? Who are we as created creatures to say that God is not God because he does not fit our definition of who God is? The fact that we feel uncomfortable about God's nature is surely a greater reflection on ourselves than God.
God bless.
Dear Freedom
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