tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43094917455248365772024-02-08T06:16:38.499-08:00Socrates CafeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-64145606505328067152016-06-14T14:18:00.002-07:002016-06-14T14:18:51.438-07:00Meditation on the Mass Murder in Orlando<b>Meditation and prayer on the shooting in Orlando </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>"(15) Thus says the LORD,"A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation, and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children Because they are no more." [Jeremiah 31:15 NASB]</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>What has happened?</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>“Orlando, Florida (CNN)An American-born man who'd pledged allegiance to ISIS gunned down 50 people early Sunday at a gay nightclub in Orlando, the deadliest mass shooting in the United States and the nation's worst terror attack since 9/11, authorities said.</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>* The gunman, Omar Mateen, 29, of Fort Pierce, Florida, was interviewed by the FBI in 2013 and 2014 but was not found to be a threat, the FBI said.</b><br />
<b>* Mateen called 911 during the attack to pledge allegiance to ISIS and mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers, according to a U.S. official.</b><br />
<b>* Orlando police shot and killed Mateen.</b><br />
<b>* Mateen's ex-wife said she thinks he was mentally ill.”</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b><br /></b><b>Prayer</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Lord, we are overwhelmed and shocked at the loss of so many lives. So many wounded. How could this happen? How can it be? </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Pour out your care, comfort and support to the families and friends of those killed. Help the doctors have wisdom in caring for those in critical condition. Provide help to those who are dealing with the post traumatic trauma of surviving such an event. Lord, hear our cry. Come into the midst of this mourning, pain, and suffering and provide your help. LORD, we need YOUR help!</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Lord God, creator, judge, redeemer, and restorer, come to us now and show us your grace, greatness, and goodness in the midst of this tragic loss of life. Amen</b><br />
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<b>Meditation:</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>How are we to understand this event? </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>This mass murder is tragic, sad, horrible, and painful. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>In everything else we say we must not lose sight of the victims, the pain of their families, and the wounded. The victims must be remembered and mourned. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>How are we to understand this event?</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>At the moment it seems it was the act of one man and not part of some grand conspiracy. This may change. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>But the connection with views of ISIS is largely in the minds of those who associate with them. Some mentally and emotionally unstable people can feel empowered by seeing their actions as connected to some global movement. Mental illness does not normally make people violent but for a few these issues can become part of how their distorted perspective is expressed. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>If ISIS did rule in Orlando there is little doubt that such actions would be seen as justice, since their policy has been the brutal murder of in same-sex romantic relationships as immoral. They have been known to kill people for being gay as part of their vision of forming a “godly society.” They see those who are in same-sex relationships as “animals”. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Now it must be understood that the United States and the Western World that has been moving since the 1960s into a culture that wants to put an emphasis on sexual freedom of expression and takes a lawless attitude towards nearly all sexual activity is in a “head-on collision” with the Islamic legalistic perspective which is complicated, but sees open acts of homosexuality as crimes that in many Islamic countries is illegal and can lead to the death penalty. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>“Same-sex intercourse carries the death penalty in five officially Muslim nations: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mauritania, Sudan, and Yemen. [3] It formerly carried the death penalty in Afghanistan under the Taliban, and in Iraq under a 2001 decree by Saddam Hussein. The legal situation in the United Arab Emirates is unclear. In many Muslim nations, such as Bahrain, Qatar, Algeria or the Maldives, homosexuality is punished with jail time, fines or corporal punishment. In some Muslim-majority nations, such as Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, or Mali, same-sex intercourse is not forbidden by law. However, in Egypt gays have been the victims of laws against "morality".” (For more information on the Islamic approach to homosexuality see http://www.religionfacts.com/homosexuality/islam )</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>So in one culture the open expression of homosexual activities is being promoted and even the use of public bathrooms are influenced by the concern to show openness to every shade of sexual feelings while in the Islamic cultures such actions can be seen to be crimes worthy of capital punishment. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Interaction then between these cultures would clearly lead to a “train wreck” since they could not be more radically different. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Since Western cultures are also very pluralistic and include people holding to the most liberal views concerning sexuality and people who see such actions as worthy of execution, then this creates an environment where clashes of opinion are unavoidable. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>To be healthy these disagreements must be non-violent, respectful, civil, and tolerant. Also important values of Western culture at its best, but these attitudes can be easily lost. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Currently, the idea of being respectful and civil in disagreements seems to many to an attribute that is being lost, more and more. Violent actions and words are all too often coming into our public lives and politics. We are not agreeing to disagree in an agreeable manner very well many times.</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>A Christian attitude towards those with same-sex attractions or who fall under the definition of “LGBT” should be from my perspective very different than the views promoted by ISIS. In summary my view would be:</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>1. Those who would define themselves as “LGBT” are made in God’s image and are to be treated with respect, compassion, and love. They are not to be abused verbally or physically. People of the “LGBT” community can be responsible citizens and have many praiseworthy characteristics, the same as all other people made in God’s image. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>2. Because of the rebellion of humanity, sexual desires in all human beings are misdirected, distorted, and wounded. So misuse of our sexuality is part of the human struggle now “East of Eden” </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>3. Historic Christianity would see the desires of those in the “LGBT” community as being one way of many that sexual passions can be misdirected, distorted, and wounded. I would not see same-sex romantic relationships as part of God’s will for any human being. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>4. I believe that coming into a true redemptive relationship with the Messiah Jesus as one’s personal prophet can bring substantial healing to every person’s sexual desires including those in the “LGBT” community. Such healing can be difficult and a process but is part of being a disciple of the Messiah Jesus. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>As the Apostle Paul expressed to those in a culture that largely accepted “LGBT” behavior. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>"(9) Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, (10) nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. (11) Such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." [1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NASB]</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>5. It is clear then that one of the areas of repentance or a change of mind for people coming to consider Christianity would be their understanding of God’s will concerning their use and expression of their sexuality. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>6. There should be civil and respectful discussions between those holding the historic view of Christianity and those in the “LGBT” community to increase understanding and sensitivity towards each other’s views. We will have to learn to agree to disagree in an agreeable manner. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>7. I believe that Christians should strongly grieve over, and oppose any who would physically attack the “LGBT” community. We should seek to protect the physical safety of all those in the “LGBT” community. No crimes of physical violence against them should be tolerated. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>So I believe that a Christian perspective is very different than the worldview set forth in Islam and especially ISIS. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>How should we understand this event?</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>With lamentations and sadness. Crying out to the LORD for help. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Seeking what answers we can to avoid such events. Recognizing the protection against lone gunmen is very hard to accomplish. This brings up the struggle against freedom and security. How do we keep people safe from the few who would do such harm without taking freedom away from many that do no harm? </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>No easy answers “East of Eden”</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>So we must pray for wisdom and humbly work together seeking the common good for all those in The Republic. </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Lord, have mercy on us all. Lord, especially have mercy on those who have lost loved ones and who are wounded. Lord, come now and help them! Amen</b><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-58471382458329025602016-04-08T13:41:00.001-07:002016-04-08T13:53:44.736-07:00How can we be held accountable for lack of faith?<div id="yiv3038811710yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460148245558_5708">
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<b>How can we be held accountable for a lack of belief and immoral lifestyles if God chose not to reveal himself to that person? How can that be fair?</b></div>
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<b>This all depends on what reality is regarding God's actions. From a biblical viewpoint, God is manifesting the divine reality both in the physical universe and in psychological revelation in such things as the human conscience (Read Romans 1:18 through to the end of Romans 2). </b></div>
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<b>This type of evidence for God is reflected in philosophers who support a “natural theology”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank" title=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></a>, the universal evidence of a human conscience in a sense of right and wrong<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn2" id="yiv3038811710yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460148245558_5700" name="_ftnref2" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank" title=""><span id="yiv3038811710yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460148245558_5699"><span id="yiv3038811710yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460148245558_5698"><span id="yiv3038811710yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460148245558_5697"><span id="yiv3038811710yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460148245558_5696" style="font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>, and now some people speculating there is such a thing as a “God Gene” may point to humanity being “hardwired” in some complicated way to be aware of the divine.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank" title=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></a></b></div>
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<b>So if God has given a revelation of the divine reality and the reason for a lack of faith is due to an indifference, neglect, or apathy towards such revelation then there would be grounds for a moral failing in people omitting their duty to seek the truth. If we have no obligation to seek truth or accept the truth, then all human knowledge would be lost. Also, people who have more revelation will be held more responsible than people with less. </b></div>
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<b>The Christian concept of God is one in which the Creator is 100% fair in the moral judgment of human beings and takes no pleasure in their failing their moral obligations. But human beings are 100% responsible for their moral behavior (Ezekiel 18). </b></div>
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<b>So while it is true that if God had failed to reveal either the divine existence or moral standards to a person it would be unfair for that person to be judged by things he/she were ignorant. </b></div>
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<b>However, if as the Bible states, God has given adequate information about the divine presence and moral obligations to every person, it is, therefore, fair and just to hold them accountable for their behavior. The reason God can hold people accountable is that they are not without information about God or their moral responsibility. </b></div>
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<b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank" title=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></a> <a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/theo-nat/" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460148245558_6127" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">http://www.iep.utm.edu/theo-nat/</a></b></div>
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<b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank" title=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></a> <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-arguments-god/" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460148245558_6123" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-arguments-god/</a></b></div>
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<b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank" title=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></a> <a href="http://www.thinkchristianly.org/the-god-gene-neuroscience-and-the-soul/" id="yiv3038811710yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460148245558_5759" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">http://www.thinkchristianly.org/the-god-gene-neuroscience-and-the-soul/</a></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-4841642988234065662016-02-10T03:28:00.001-08:002016-02-10T03:28:01.497-08:00How is it fair for my Jewish parents to be in hell when they had no chance to trust Jesus as their Savior?<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Question<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">How is it fair for my deceased Jewish parents to be suffering in hell when there was no way they could have accepted Jesus in the culture they lived in?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can it be fair for Jesus alone to be the way to escape hell fire?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Let us look at this problem and try to think about it carefully and logically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">The Problem:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How is it fair for Christianity to teach that people will be condemned to hell because they did not trust in Jesus to save them when this was impossible for them to do?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">The Emotions around the Problem:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">To do that we have to express the emotions such a question brings up in us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Almost none of us would ever want any of our loved ones to go to hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless of what they did in their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our love for justice is less most of the time than our love for those people we call family and friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">We might not mind if some of our enemies went to hell after death, especially if we felt they had escaped consequences in this life, but few of us if any would be at peace knowing one we loved would suffer eternal punishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">This would especially be true if we felt they had not had an opportunity to really consider the claims of Jesus to be the Messiah and Savior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the question raises up strong feelings and inner conflictions regardless of our answer.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Even those who might say that such a judgment by God would be fair would most likely admit that they would rather that justice is forgotten and pardon be given in such a case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we must answer this question carefully with full awareness of the emotional weight that such a question has within it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Now that we have considered the emotional weight of the question it would be good for us to analyze the possible answers that we can give to it<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Analyzing the options about hell<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">The following answers would seem to be possible options to people either being in hell or not being in hell. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">1. Not in hell because no one is in hell<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">A.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Hell does not exist<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">B.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Everyone is saved from hell because God does not punish sin after death.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">C.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Everyone is saved because the suffering of Christ has saved everyone regardless if they believe or not. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">2. Not in hell although some are in hell<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">A.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Not in hell because some were moral enough to earn heaven<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">B.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Not in hell because some people had the Messiah Jesus pay for their moral failures and by faith received HIM as Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">3. In hell although some are not in hell<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">A.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">In hell because they were not moral enough to earn heaven<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">B.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">In hell because they were moral but did not trust in Jesus<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">C.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">In hell because they were not moral enough to earn heaven and did not trust in Jesus<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">4. In hell because all are in hell after death<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">A.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">All have sinned and therefore all justly go to hell<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">B.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">God sends both good and bad people to hell<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Since the question is about the justice or fairness of Christian teaching we need to summarize this here.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4036816954812677544#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></b></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">1. God is the moral judge of all human activity. <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Psalms 94:2<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">“2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth, Render recompense to the proud.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Ecclesiastes 12:13-14<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">2. God will fairly judge each person’s moral actions, attitudes, and words.<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Romans 2:5-11<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">6 who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">11 For there is no partiality with God<u>.<o:p></o:p></u></span></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">3. Those that had much accurate information and opportunity to act upon it will be judged more severely than those who had less accurate information and less opportunity. The judgment will fit the particulars of the person’s situation, culture, personality, and capabilities. <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Romans 2:12<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">12 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">4. All rational human beings will be found fairly and justly to have acted in immoral ways and failed to live up to their conscience.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4036816954812677544#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><u><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></u></b></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Romans 3:9-20<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">10 as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">13 "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS";<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">14 "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS";<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">15 "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">16 DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">17 AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN."<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">18 "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">5. An appropriate and proper punishment will be given to each individual person. The punishment will fit the crimes and no one will be punished more than they deserve. People will get what they deserve in this judgment unless they are forgiven by God. <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Genesis 18:25 - 25 "Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?"<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">6. No seekers or good person will go to hell. Only those who deserve hell will suffer hell.<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Hebrews 11:6<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Matthew 7:7<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">7. Hell is filled with people who continue to reject God’s will. It is because those in hell never stop sinning that it lasts forever. There are no truly repentant sinners in hell.<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Revelation 16:9-11<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">9 Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">8. The only way to avoid hell is to have our immoral actions paid for by the Messiah Jesus as a substitute and HE suffers our punishment in our place on the cross. <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Isaiah 53:6-8<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">9. Because of this the only way to be restored to God is through the Messiah Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">John 14:6<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">6 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">10. We must receive Messiah Jesus to become children of God and escape the just punishment of our sins.<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">John 1:12-13<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">So the orthodox Christian position is concerning hell is:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">People are not in hell because some people had the Messiah Jesus pay for their moral failures and by faith received HIM as Savior. People are in hell because they were not moral enough to earn heaven.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4036816954812677544#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></b></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">13. Why can’t everyone be saved by the Messiah Jesus’ sacrifice? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">God must demonstrate HIS mercy, but also HIS justice. God saves the maximum number of people that can be saved without compromising HIS justice or encouraging another rebellion.?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">14. God takes no pleasure in punishment of the wicked.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">Ezekiel 18:23<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">23 "Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked," declares the Lord GOD, "rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">How is this view fair?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">1. Most people are only looking to God to give them a fair judgment. This God will do.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow";">2. </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fairness is </span></b><b><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "arial narrow";">impartial and just treatment or behavior without favoritism or discrimination. God does not favor any group over any other group.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "arial narrow";">3. It is impossible for God to do anything unfair so It is not possible for my loved ones to be treated in an unjust way with God.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "arial narrow";">4. The Christian view is beyond fair in that since all deserve to go to hell the fact some are spared is merciful. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "arial narrow";">Contemplation: I must trust my loved ones into the all wise, good, just, and caring hands of God the Father. This does seem to be what the Scripture teaches.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "arial narrow";">Explore: How can we enjoy heaven knowing if loved ones are in hell?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "arial narrow";">21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "arial narrow";">2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "arial narrow";">3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "arial narrow";">4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "arial narrow";"><a href="http://www.ligonier.org/learn/conferences/tough-questions-christians-face-2010-national/can-we-enjoy-heaven-knowing-of-loved-ones-in-hell/">http://www.ligonier.org/learn/conferences/tough-questions-christians-face-2010-national/can-we-enjoy-heaven-knowing-of-loved-ones-in-hell/</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4036816954812677544#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> For a good summary of the issue of hell and how we can answer the question it raises concerning the goodness of God see <u>The Many Faces of Evil (Revised and Expanded Edition): Theological Systems and the Problems of Evil<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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May 6, 2004<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by John S. Feinberg<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4036816954812677544#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> There are differences of opinion about children before they are able to make understand or make moral choices and those that have the minds of children though adults in age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My perspective is that God does not hold children or those who are child like in their abilities responsible for their actions and places the blood of Christ over them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think this also applies to the 60% of conceived children who are miscarried.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of these suffer hell from my perspective since how can God judge people morally who never engaged in rational moral decisions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4036816954812677544#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> All other religions are seen as false and speaking false things about God’s essential nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of this they are committing blasphemy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of this then people cannot avoid hell through the practice of these faiths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-79116686165727006802016-01-15T06:37:00.003-08:002016-01-15T06:37:41.833-08:00Why doesn't God do things like regenerate limbs or miracles so big that everyone would have to believe in God?<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Why doesn't God do miracles like restore limbs or legs? Why not do something that clearly must be God and God alone? </div>
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We must understand that much of this question is an argument from silence. We don't know that God never regenerated a limb or for that matter fixed a fender. We have very few miracles recorded in the Bible when one takes for granted that it was written over about 1500 years give or take a few centuries based on various theories. </div>
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Who can really say what God has done or not done regarding miracles since our history of them is so incomplete. Miracles are rare by definition. One could argue that the healing of leprosy may have restored some limbs since leprosy often leads to a loss of toes, or fingers (2 Kings 5:14; Luke 5:12; ) and so these may have been restored. One can look to the book <h2 style="color: #0066c0; display: inline; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px !important; font-weight: 400 !important; line-height: 1.255 !important; margin: 0px; outline: -webkit-focus-ring-color auto 5px; padding: 0px;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Miracles-What-They-Happen-Change/dp/0147516498/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448763121&sr=8-1&keywords=miracles" style="color: #0066c0; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px; outline: -webkit-focus-ring-color auto 5px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Miracles: What They Are, Why They Happen, and How They Can Change Your Life">Miracles: What They Are, Why They Happen, and How They Can Change Your Life</a> </h2>
<span style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85) !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px !important; line-height: 1.25 !important;">by </span><span style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85) !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px !important; line-height: 1.25 !important;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Eric-Metaxas/e/B000APFO3I/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1448763121&sr=8-1" style="color: #0066c0; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Eric Metaxas</a> for a modern defense of miracles and stories that witness of them happening in New York City. </span></div>
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<span style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85) !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px !important; line-height: 1.25 !important;">Now the real question is why does God not produce more miracles in order to convince people of the truth of the divine existence? It would appear that the most miracles occurred during the ministry of Jesus the Messiah. But this great demonstration of power did not produce a great turning towards him in the long run. The Messiah Jesus seems to lack faith in the idea that people who are looking for more miracles are looking for a relationship with God. </span></div>
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"But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and <i>yet</i> no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;" <b>Matthew 12:39</b></div>
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<b>The apostle John tells us that:</b></div>
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"He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him." <b>John 1:11</b></div>
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<b>So the person that produced the most miracles in biblical history was rejected and crucified and only had about 120 people who were responding in true faith. Some of the 500 doubted even seeing Jesus the Messiah raised from the dead. </b></div>
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<b>I think that the problem is we are assuming that we want to be honest with the evidence they have about God. It appears that humanity lacks objectivity when it comes to the issue of God. We are not seekers after the reality of the divine existence. We don't mind making "god" in our image, but we are not so open to accepting the Creator for who the divine person really is in reality. </b></div>
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"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened." <b>Romans 1:21</b></div>
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<b>I have responded to the options of this lack of evidence for God recently due to a similar question raised at Socrates. </b></div>
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px !important; line-height: 1.25 !important;">See - </span><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.6667px;"><a href="http://socratescafefortlauderdale.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://<wbr></wbr>socratescafefortlauderdale.<wbr></wbr>blogspot.com/</a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.6667px;">Let us assume for the moment that there is a Good God who would want human beings to respond to the divine person in a positive way. If we assume this then we would also have to assume that the only reason there were not more miracles and greater concrete evidence of God's existence is that God knows that humanity would only become more morally guilty with such a revelation since they would not respond to it by loving God with all their hearts, minds, souls, and strength. The more revelation the more responsibility. A merciful God would limit revelation to those who are not going to respond to it well. <br /><br />God providing concrete evidence of the divine existence seems tied to a heart desire to seek a relationship with God.</span></span><br />
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"And without faith it is impossible to please <i>Him,</i> for he who comes to God must believe that He is and <i>that</i> He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." <b>Hebrews 11:6</b><br />
<b>Faith here is justified true belief based upon the evidence that is given in creation and the human psyche (Romans 1:18-20)</b><br />
<b>It can also be argued that there is enough evidence for knowledge of God but a lack of objectivity towards this evidence.</b><br />
<b>Now another problem could be that such an approach would also cause a loss of something that God is hoping to develop with humanity. </b><br />
<b>This possibility has been explored by some of the existential philosophers. Here is an example. </b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: lobster, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Søren Kierkegaard</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 10.5pt;">"Suppose there was a king who loved a humble maiden. The king was like no other king. Every statesman trembled before his power. No one dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all opponents.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 10.5pt;">And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden who lived in a poor village in his kingdom. How could he declare his love for her? In an odd sort of way, his kingliness tied his hands. If he brought her to the palace and crowned her head with jewels and clothed her body in royal robes, she would surely not resist-no one dared resist him. But would she love him?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 10.5pt;">She would say she loved him, of course, but would she truly? Or would she live with him in fear, nursing a private grief for the life she had left behind? Would she be happy at his side? How could he know for sure? If he rode to her forest cottage in his royal carriage, with an armed escort waving bright banners, that too would overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject. He wanted a lover, an equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden and to let shared love cross the gulf between them. For it is only in love that the unequal can be made equal.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 10.5pt;">The king convinced he could not elevate the maiden without crushing her freedom, resolved to descend to her. Clothed as a beggar, he approached her cottage with a worn cloak fluttering loose about him. This was not just a disguise – the king took on a totally new identity – He had renounced his throne to declare his love and to win hers."</span></div>
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So what we have here is that on the one hand the question assumes the objectivity, intellectual honesty, and goodness of human beings who are only suffering for lack of knowledge about God due to God lacking character or competence. Yet, in cases where great evidence was given such as in the ministry of Messiah Jesus (it should be noted that even those opposed to Jesus record he was a worker of miracles - <a href="http://coldcasechristianity.com/2014/is-there-any-evidence-for-jesus-outside-the-bible/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://coldcasechristianity.<wbr></wbr>com/2014/is-there-any-<wbr></wbr>evidence-for-jesus-outside-<wbr></wbr>the-bible/</a> ) this did not cause the human race to join the Messiah Jesus adn accept him as their king but instead to crucify him (Psalm 2). <br />
So we have to doubt either the competence and character of humanity in dealing with truth or the competence and character of God in providing evidence. Somehow we find it easier to doubt the competence and character of God than our own. <br />
So are there rational responses to this argument. Yes, for there is some evidence for God's existence which many find sufficient and God may know that providing more evidence would not lead to greater faith but greater guilt and/or miss the mark of the type of relationship God wants with humanity. The faith that God wants is not some mere formal intellectual faith but a loving trust. <br /><br />Those are my musings. God told us that "East of Eden" the world would be hard and filled with thorns, sickness, struggles, pain, tribulations, and death. Our humanity would rather live apart from God's kingdom in perfection and has chosen "East of Eden" where we can be free of God's rule and healing presence. This perspective has little faith in our competence or character. But perhaps that is where the problem rests. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-53212377424714228432015-12-01T08:04:00.001-08:002016-01-14T03:56:23.646-08:00Would Hitler go to heaven if he believed in Jesus right before his death?<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<b>Would Adolf Hitler be saved if he accepted Jesus as his Savior right before his death?</b></div>
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<b>Sam: I was talking to a Christian and they said that if Adolf Hitler accepted Jesus as his Savior right before his death, then he would go to heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found that offensive and shocking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How could they say that?</b></div>
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<b>Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well let us carefully think about what Christianity does teach and then we can apply it to this particular case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Do Christians believe that God will hold people responsible for their actions at their deaths and face a just judgment?</b></div>
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<b>Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From what I understand all that matters is if you trust Jesus as your Savior and there is nothing just about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That may be true of some contemporary versions of Christianity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But is that what was originally taught?</b></div>
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<b>Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really don’t know.</b></div>
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<b>Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well going back to the early source materials of the first century, which represents the foundational basis of Christian thought, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we would find from the Hebrew Bible and the writings of the Apostles some thoughts on this issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Let me see if I can find some examples:</b></div>
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<b>"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil." Ecclesiastes 12:13-14</b></div>
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<b>""Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt." Daniel 12:2</b></div>
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<b>""But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'</b></div>
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<b>"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."" Matthew 25:31-46</b></div>
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<b>"But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of a man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God." Romans 2:5-11</b></div>
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<b>"And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,” Hebrews 9:27</b></div>
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<b>So the basic theology of the Hebrew Bible, Messiah Jesus, and the early teachers of Christian faith seem to all be in agreement that the Creator God will judge every human being and will justly render to each person according to their deeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This seems to be the underlying philosophy that the people who originated Christian teaching hold to as a foundational truth upon which all their other thoughts are based.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So you are saying that the originators of Christianity taught that God would judge people for their moral actions when they die and every person would get a fair and just judgment according to what they did I this life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, some speculate that Plato may have been influenced by Jewish thought when he also speculated on a final judgment following a death in the <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Republic</u></span>. In the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Myth of Er</i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a></b></div>
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<b>The philosopher Kant also felt that the only way to maintain a system of justice and order in society that was rational was if one held to the reality of a final judgment by God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So this idea of a final day of judgment on all human beings is one that has existed from ancient times until today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Historic Christian thought seems to be in agreement with these ideas.</b></div>
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<b>Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that is the case then why isn’t what we hear?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly from this point of view then Hitler could not be saved but would face just punishment for all the evil he did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justice would be fulfilled in this final judgment.</b></div>
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<b>Socrates: I think that is a correct conclusion based on this foundational truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christian philosophy said that there would be degrees of reward in heaven and degrees of suffering in hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one would suffer more than would be just for him or her to suffer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>The main point is that God will ultimately be fair with every human being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So then original Christian sources teach that good people will be rewarded and go to heaven and bad people will be punished and go to hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes and no.</b></div>
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<b>Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you mean by that?</b></div>
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<b>Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While in theory all good people will be rewarded, there is extreme pessimism by the early Christians thinkers that people actually successfully achieve living righteous lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the originators of Christian thought, the idea is that none of us would do well at judgment day based only on our own efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me see if I can find that quote from on of the early Christian scholars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, here it is.</b></div>
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<b>"What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS"; "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS"; "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN." "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES." Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight</u></span>; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." Romans 3:9-20</b></div>
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<b>So while good people will be rewarded, the viewpoint of the founders of Christian faith is that “none are good.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So based on a totally fair judgment of moral performance, all have fallen short and need underserved forgiveness for their moral failures in order to not come under a just and fair condemnation of our moral performance in this life.</b></div>
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<b>Sam: Then this would mean that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>all of us<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>would face just and fair judgment for our moral failures at death?</b></div>
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<b>Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the Christian world-view this would be the truth.</b></div>
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<b>Sam: Then how do Christians feel we can gain forgiveness?</b></div>
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<b>Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is where they expand upon the sacrificial system of Israel and connect it to the vision of a suffering Messiah who makes the ultimate sacrifice for the moral failures of God’s people as spoken about by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 53).</b></div>
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<b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">"Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way, But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him." </span></i>Isaiah 53:4-6</b></div>
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<b>The converted Jewish theologian Saul reflects on this idea when he writes.</b></div>
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<b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus the Messiah for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Messiah Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law." </i>Romans 3:21-31</b></div>
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<b>Now the faith that is spoken about by Saul is a morally transforming conviction that has deep regret over past wrongs, desire to make restitution for past moral failures, and a hunger to now live a right life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is no mere intellectual thought about Jesus but a deep and life-changing encounter with the Messiah Jesus.</b></div>
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<b>Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So forgiveness is gained because the Messiah Jesus has suffered the penalty in the place of those who seek God’s mercy on the judgment day and trust in the Messiah to be the mediator between them and God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So God is just in forgiving moral failures because the Messiah suffered in their place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that is a fair summary of Christian thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So does that mean that Adolf Hitler would be saved if he accepted Jesus as his Savior before he died?</b></div>
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<b>Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem here is that Adolf Hitler had committed his life to destroying historic Christian faith and recreating the Messiah Jesus into the picture of a Nazi who was not Jewish. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He actively attempted to destroy not only the Jews but also every person who opposed him due to their commitment to the historic Christian faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Hitler’s worldview was largely secular and materialistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have been impossible for him to have a true conversion without a complete change of mind about every aspect of his worldview.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christian conversion to be genuine must include a radical change of mind and philosophy in which Hitler would have renounced his Anti-Semitism and taken full moral responsibility and guilt for the torture and murder of millions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is hard to conceive how such a total and radical transformation could take place just before death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the reality is that Adolf Hitler faced the just judgment of God for committing himself to an unloving and anti-Christian worldview, which led to the deaths of tens of millions of people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That would seem to be the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Now if we totally fantasize another history, if Hitler had really repented and been transformed he would not have killed himself but would have ended the conflict, freed the prisoners in the concentration camps, and plead guilty before a world court to face human justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>He would have attempted to use all the resources at his command to make restitution to the victims of he Holocaust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>In theory then the mercy and grace of God could have been applied to Hitler due to the sacrifice of the Messiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would mean that Hitler would have to accept a Jewish Messiah as his Savior and accept the Hebrew Bible as God’s Word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These ideas are against the core of Hitler’s convictions about life.</b></div>
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<b>So while we can speculate about forgiveness in extreme cases we must understand that historic Christian faith does not endorse “cheap grace.” In which such great destructive immoral actions are not serious and cry out for justice.</b></div>
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<b>Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor martyred for his efforts to have Jews escape Germany and for his attempt to support the assignation of Hitler stated the important of making clear that historic Christian faith does not hold to “cheap grace.”</b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b>Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjack’s’ wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. </b></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b>Grace is represented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or </b></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b>fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing….</b></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b>Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian ‘conception’ of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins…. </b></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b>In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace, therefore, amounts to a denial of the living Word of God, in fact, a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God.</b></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b>Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. ‘All for sin could not atone.’ Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin…</b></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b>Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession… Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.</b></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b>Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man’ will gladly go and self all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye, which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.</b></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b>Costly grace is the gospel, which must be sought again and again, and again, the gift, which must be asked for, the door at which, a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.</b></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b>Costly grace is the sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. It is, therefore, the living word, the Word of God, which he speaks as it pleases him. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. It comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a></b></i></div>
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<b>Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Hitler could not be saved by “cheap grace”?</b></div>
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<b>Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one is saved by “cheap grace” according to historic Christian teaching but only by the real costly grace experienced in the real way with the real Messiah Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the reality is that after Hitler’s suicide he confronted with all of his evil deeds and faced divine condemnation and just punishment for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> <a href="http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/platoworks/a/062910-The-Myth-Of-Er-From-The-Republic-Of-Plato.htm">http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/platoworks/a/062910-The-Myth-Of-Er-From-The-Republic-Of-Plato.htm</a></b></div>
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<b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.philosophyofreligion.info/theistic-proofs/the-moral-argument/the-kantian-moral-argument/">http://www.philosophyofreligion.info/theistic-proofs/the-moral-argument/the-kantian-moral-argument/</a></b></div>
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<b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> https://caffeinatedthoughts.com/2010/06/dietrich-bonhoeffer-cheap-grace-vs-costly-grace/</b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-28847837172801128092015-11-27T04:58:00.000-08:002015-11-27T05:15:30.565-08:00If there is a God, why doesn't God provide clear and undeniable evidence of existance?<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam & Socrates
discuss<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">If there is a God why
doesn’t God provide clear <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">and undeniable
evidence of existence?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good morning
Socrates, how are you this morning?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still
drinking my first cup of coffee so things are getting better with each sip?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How about you?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Been pondering a
question.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well that
is always a good way to start the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So what question do you have your been musing about?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there were a
God why would God not just provide clear and undeniable evidence to everyone of
God’s existence?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is a
question that many have wrestled with as they have thought about God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are the possible answers?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well let me
see:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No such clear and
undeniable evidence exists because God does not exist. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No evidence exists
because God does not desire humanity to know of God’s existence.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God does care
about humanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this is assumed then
it could be that in some way if God did provide such clear and undeniable
evidence of divine existence this would harm humanity. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God providing such
clear and undeniable evidence of divine existence would hinder some greater
good from being attained. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is clear and
undeniable evidence but humanity refuses to acknowledge it because of a lack of
desire to know God or the ability to understand this evidence. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That seems
a good place to start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let us look at
each option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Assuming that no clear and
undeniable evidence exists of God being real, then does this prove that God
does not exist?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, since the
other options would indicate that such evidence does not exist but could be for
many reasons ranging from indifference towards us to our indifference towards
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if any of these other options
are true then God could still theoretically exist. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, while
some degree of evidence seems to be lacking does this mean that there is no
evidence of God’s existence at all<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No many have
pointed to the contingency of the universe and the need of a necessary being,
the evidence of design in the cosmos, existential experience of God’s
existence, fulfilled prophecy, the resurrection of Jesus Christ and many other
things as providing evidence for God’s existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">So if one found this evidence to provide a rational
inductive argument to justify a conviction in God’s existence compelling, then
God could exist, and also some reason that God chose to not provide such clear
and compelling evidence to humanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So as long
as a there is a possible rational reason for God not providing undeniable proof
of the divine existence then the lack of this action by God to give such a
demonstration would not require us to accept agnosticism or atheism as the only
possible answers to the question of God. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That would seem
to be the case. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the
next option we have is that a Creator God exists but there is lack of evidence
of the divine existence simply because God does not have any interest in us or
desire to make God’s existence known to humanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This perspective
seems to reconcile the evidence for God’s existence and lack of undeniable
evidence of that existence better that the last.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here we can acknowledge the rational reasons
to believe a Creator God exists and yet also understand why God seems hidden
from us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, we
have here testimonies of answered prayers and claims of divine involvement, and
even revelation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of this testimony
could be false but it is in such a large number of cases that it would be hard
to think that none of this revelation and reports of God’s activity was
true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even today it is reported that
51% of the people in the world believe in God and would feel that there is
sufficient evidence for rational acceptance of God’s existence and even care
for human beings. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is even rational defense for miracles
and testimonies from modern Western nations that they do occur.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the claim that God has done nothing to
make himself known would not seem to fit all the data and testimony we have
historically or currently. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it would be
hard to demonstrate that God simply created the universe and then refused to
interact with us because of the extent and number of reports that indicate that
people have encountered God in various ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So while God may not have provided
concrete and universal evidence of God’s existence to each person,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it can be argued that God has provided some
evidence of the divine existence and this would show a measure of concern for
us to know about God.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let us
look at the answer that would say that such a concrete giving of evidence to
humanity would do us harm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not see how
that can be?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you
believe that if a person is given undeniable evidence and then rejects this
evidence and works contrary to it that this is worst than a person who is given
less evidence?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you
mean?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us say
that a jury was given concrete and undeniable evidence that a person committed
a murder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had videotapes,
fingerprints, motive, and every amount of physical evidence you can imagine. In
addition they had a signed confession from the accused person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, the jury felt that the victim deserved
to be murdered and liked the personality of the murderer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The jury declares the person innocent knowing
that he/she is guilty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that jury
more accountable than a jury where the evidence is strong but not so absolute?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The more
knowledge a person has the greater the responsibility to act in accordance with
the evidence. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Exactly, so
let us assume that God would want the best outcome in providing evidence of the
divine existence to us, and that God already knows the outcome of every
possible universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we assume a God
who cares for humanity the only reason that such a divine being would not
provide such concrete evidence is that the outcome would be to make humanity
more responsible and yet not lead to a good response to this information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, the majority of people would
not respond in a positive way and therefore be in greater moral guilt. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But why would
that be the case. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we
always do what we know to be the right thing to do?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, many times
we fail to act consistently with our highest ideals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole
problem with ethics and morals is not so much that people don’t know what is
right or wrong but even when they know what is right they don’t do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People do not always listen to their
conscience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why do we think they
would respond positively to greater evidence concerning God?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see what you
mean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our moral problems are not so much
caused by confusion about what we believe to be right or wrong but by our
failure to do what we would say is the right thing to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if this included the proper moral
response to God, which would be absolute surrender and obedience, then those
with greater revelation would be more morally responsible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That would
seem to be the case. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other idea which
is connected to this one suggests that some greater good might be lost if such
concrete revelation was given.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think
that we could imagine such a situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is even possible that the process of needing to seek God and process
information might actually lead more people to a deeper faith than if
everything was handed to them on a silver spoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
value what we have to seek more than what we are simply given.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">There could also be other factors that might actually mean
that more people respond positively with partial evidence instead of absolute
evidence since it does not seemed forced on them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kierkegaard, argue that the only way that
God could get the relationship God desires with humanity is by giving us less
open evidence of his existence. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> So
in such a situation a God who cared about us would not provide absolute
concrete evidence to every person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So one could
have in such a situation a God who cares for humanity and yet not provide
concrete evidence of the divine existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is at
least theoretically possible. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That leads us
to one other possibility and that is that God has provided clear evidence to
humanity and we simply have refused to acknowledge it or accept it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know how we could consider this a
possibility. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has been
argued from natural theology for a long time that the universe itself presents
clear evidence of a Creator. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At an existential and experience level many
people feel that the order they see around them is best explained by a Creator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The argument has also been made that our
moral conscience is evidence of as an ultimate moral judge. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">In this case the argument is not that God has failed to
provide sufficient and even compelling evidence but that humanity has
suppressed this evidence because of a desire to avoid God’s existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So one could argue the problem is not with
God but the problem is with humanity’s honesty with the evidence that does
exist.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sam:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So a God could
exist that cares for humanity but who would not give us any more evidence than
we have about the divine existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
fact that more evidence has not been given is not an indication of God not
existing or that if a God exists, that God does not care enough about us to
give us adequate evidence of the reality of the divine existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think
this is a reasonable conclusion<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<hr size="1" style="text-align: left;" width="33%" />
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<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The
Cosmological Argument from Plato to Leibniz</u></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>:</u></i> (Library of Philosophy and Religion) by William Lane Craig
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">T<u>he Kalam
Cosmological Argument </u>by William L. Craig <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>The Creation Hypothesis: Scientific
Evidence for an Intelligent Designer</u></i> by J. P. Moreland<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>How to Think About God: A Guide for the
20th-century Pagan : One Who Does Not Worship the God of Christians, Jews</u></i>...by
Mortimer J. Adler<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>How to Prove There Is a God: Mortimer J.
Adler's Writings and Thoughts About God</u></i> by Mortimer Adler , Ken
Dzugan <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/global-poll-most-believe-in-god-afterlife-49994/">http://www.christianpost.com/news/global-poll-most-believe-in-god-afterlife-49994/</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Miracles:
What They Are, Why They Happen, and How They Can Change Your Life</u></i>
by Eric Metaxas<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.michiganquakers.org/a_king_in_disguise.htm">http://www.michiganquakers.org/a_king_in_disguise.htm</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/theo-nat/">http://www.iep.utm.edu/theo-nat/</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-arguments-god/">http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-arguments-god/</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-41524713628208212422015-11-18T03:57:00.000-08:002015-11-18T03:58:40.545-08:00What is the Socratic Method?<b><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">WHAT IS THE SOCRATIC METHOD?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">excerpted from Socrates Café by Christopher Phillips</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">The Socratic method is a way to seek truths by your own lights.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">It is a system, a spirit, a method, a type of philosophical inquiry an intellectual technique, all rolled into one.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Socrates himself never spelled out a "method." However, the Socratic method is named after him because Socrates, more than any other before or since, models for us philosophy practiced - philosophy as deed, as way of living, as something that any of us can do. It is an open system of philosophical inquiry that allows one to interrogate from many vantage points.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Gregory Vlastos, a Socrates scholar and professor of philosophy at Princeton, described Socrates’ method of inquiry as "among the greatest achievements of humanity." Why? Because, he says, it makes philosophical inquiry "a common human enterprise, open to every man." Instead of requiring allegiance to a specific philosophical viewpoint or analytic technique or specialized vocabulary, the Socratic method "calls for common sense and common speech." And this, he says, "is as it should be, for how man should live is every man’s business."</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">I think, however, that the Socratic method goes beyond Vlastos’ description. It does not merely call for common sense but examines what common sense is. The Socratic method asks: Does the common sense of our day offer us the greatest potential for self-understanding and human excellence? Or is the prevailing common sense in fact a roadblock to realizing this potential?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Vlastos goes on to say that Socratic inquiry is by no means simple, and "calls not only for the highest degree of mental alertness of which anyone is capable" but also for "moral qualities of a high order: sincerity, humility, courage." Such qualities "protect against the possibility" that Socratic dialogue, no matter how rigorous, "would merely grind out . . . wild conclusions with irresponsible premises." I agree, though I would replace the quality of sincerity with honesty, since one can hold a conviction sincerely without examining it, while honesty would require that one subject one’s convictions to frequent scrutiny.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">A Socratic dialogue reveals how different our outlooks can be on concepts we use every day. It reveals how different our philosophies are, and often how tenable - or untenable, as the case may be - a range of philosophies can be. Moreover, even the most universally recognized and used concept, when subjected to Socratic scrutiny, might reveal not only that there is not universal agreement, after all, on the meaning of any given concept, but that every single person has a somewhat different take on each and every concept under the sun.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">What’s more, there seems to be no such thing as a concept so abstract, or a question so off base, that it cant be fruitfully explored at Socrates Café. In the course of Socratizing, it often turns out to be the case that some of the most so-called abstract concepts are intimately related to the most profoundly relevant human experiences. In fact, it’s been my experience that virtually any question can be plumbed Socratically. Sometimes you don’t know what question will have the most lasting and significant impact until you take a risk and delve into it for a while.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">What distinguishes the Socratic method from mere nonsystematic inquiry is the sustained attempt to explore the ramifications of certain opinions and then offer compelling objections and alternatives. This scrupulous and exhaustive form of inquiry in many ways resembles the scientific method. But unlike Socratic inquiry, scientific inquiry would often lead us to believe that whatever is not measurable cannot be investigated. This "belief" fails to address such paramount human concerns as sorrow and joy and suffering and love.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Instead of focusing on the outer cosmos, Socrates focused primarily on human beings and their cosmos within, utilizing his method to open up new realms of self-knowledge while at the same time exposing a great deal of error, superstition, and dogmatic nonsense. The Spanish-born American philosopher and poet George Santayana said that Socrates knew that "the foreground of human life is necessarily moral and practical" and that "it is so even so for artists" - and even for scientists, try as some might to divorce their work from these dimensions of human existence.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Scholars call Socrates’ method the elenchus, which is Hellenistic Greek for inquiry or cross-examination. But it is not just any type of inquiry or examination. It is a type that reveals people to themselves, that makes them see what their opinions really amount to. C. D. C. Reeve, professor of philosophy at Reed College, gives the standard explanation of an elenchus in saying that its aim “is not simply to reach adequate definitions" of such things as virtues; rather, it also has a "moral reformatory purpose, for Socrates believes that regular elenctic philosophizing makes people happier and more virtuous than anything else. . . . Indeed philosophizing is so important for human welfare, on his view, that he is willing to accept execution rather than give it up."</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Socrates’ method of examination can indeed be a vital part of existence, but I would not go so far as to say that it should be. And I do not think that Socrates felt that habitual use of this method "makes people happier." The fulfillment that comes from Socratizing comes only at a price - it could well make us unhappier, more uncertain, more troubled, as well as more fulfilled. It can leave us with a sense that we don’t know the answers after all, that we are much further from knowing the answers than we’d ever realized before engaging in Socratic discourse. And this is fulfilling - and exhilarating and humbling and perplexing. We may leave a Socrates Café - in all likelihood we will leave a Socrates Café - with a heady sense that there are many more ways and truths and lights by which to examine any given concept than we had ever before imagined.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">In The Gay Science, Friedrich Nietzsche said, "I admire the courage and wisdom of Socrates in all he did, said - and did not say." Nietzsche was a distinguished nineteenth-century classical philologist before he abandoned the academic fold and became known for championing a type of heroic individual who would create a life - affirming "will to power" ethic. In the spirit of his writings on such individuals, whom he described as "supermen,’, Nietzsche lauded Socrates as a "genius of the heart. . . whose voice knows how to descend into the depths of every soul . . . who teaches one to listen, who smoothes rough souls and lets them taste a new yearning . . . who divines the hidden and forgotten treasure, the drop of goodness . . . from whose touch everyone goes away richer, not having found grace nor amazed, not as blessed and oppressed by the good of another, but richer in himself, opened . . . less sure perhaps... but full of hopes that as yet have no name." I only differ with Nietzsche when he characterizes Socrates as someone who descended into the depths of others’ souls. To the contrary Socrates enabled those with whom he engaged in dialogues to descend into the depths of their own souls and create their own life - affirming ethic.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Santayana said that he would never hold views in philosophy which he did not believe in daily life, and that he would deem it dishonest and even spineless to advance or entertain views in discourse which were not those under which he habitually lived. But there is no neat divide between one’s views of philosophy and of life. They are overlapping and kindred views. It is virtually impossible in many instances to know what we believe in daily life until we engage others in dialogue. Likewise, to discover our philosophical views, we must engage with ourselves, with the lives we already lead. Our views form, change, evolve, as we participate in this dialogue. It is the only way truly to discover what philosophical colors we sail under. Everyone at some point preaches to himself and others what he does not yet practice; everyone acts in or on the world in ways that are in some way contradictory or inconsistent with the views he or she confesses or professes to hold. For instance, the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, the influential founder of existentialism, put Socratic principles to use in writing his dissertation on the concept of irony in Socrates, often using pseudonyms so he could argue his own positions with himself. In addition, the sixteenth-century essayist Michel de Montaigne, who was called "the French Socrates" and was known as the father of skepticism in modern Europe, would write and add conflicting and even contradictory passages in the same work. And like Socrates, he believed the search for truth was worth dying for.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">The Socratic method forces people "to confront their own dogmatism," according to Leonard Nelson, a German philosopher who wrote on such subjects as ethics and theory of knowledge until he was forced by the rise of Nazism to quit. By doing so, participants in Socratic dialogue are, in effect,"forcing themselves to be free," Nelson maintains. But they’re not just confronted with their own dogmatism. In the course of a Socrates Café, they may be confronted with an array of hypotheses, convictions, conjectures and theories offered by the other participants, and themselves - all of which subscribe to some sort of dogma. The Socratic method requires that - honestly and openly, rationally and imaginatively - they confront the dogma by asking such questions as: What does this mean? What speaks for and against it? Are there alternative ways of considering it that are even more plausible and tenable?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">At certain junctures of a Socratic dialogue, the "forcing" that this confrontation entails - the insistence that each participant carefully articulate her singular philosophical perspective - can be upsetting. But that is all to the good. If it never touches any nerves, if it doesn't upset, if it doesn't mentally and spiritually challenge and perplex, in a wonderful and exhilarating way, it is not Socratic dialogue. This "forcing" opens us up to the varieties of experiences of others - whether through direct dialogue, or through other means, like drama or books, or through a work of art or a dance. It compels us to explore alternative perspectives, asking what might be said for or against each.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Keep this ethos in mind if you ever, for instance, feel tempted to ask a question like this one once posed at a Socrates Café: How can we overcome alienation? Challenge the premise of the question at the outset. You may need to ask: Is alienation something we always want to overcome? For instance, Shakespeare and Goethe may have written their timeless works because they embraced their sense of alienation rather than attempting to escape it. If this was so, then you might want to ask: Are there many different types, and degrees, of alienation? Depending on the context, are there some types that you want to overcome and other types that you do not at all want to overcome but rather want to incorporate into yourself? And to answer effectively such questions, you first need to ask and answer such questions as: What is alienation? What does it mean to overcome alienation? Why would we ever want to overcome alienation? What are some of the many different types of alienation? What are the criteria or traits that link each of these types? Is it possible to be completely alienated? And many more questions besides.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588); font-family: Whitney, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.670588); font-family: "whitney" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Those who become smitten with the Socratic method of philosophical inquiry thrive on the question. They never run out of questions, or out of new ways to question. Some of Socrates Café’s most avid philosophizers are, for me, the question personified.</span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-2483095758832151602015-10-16T09:25:00.001-07:002015-11-16T03:51:31.540-08:00What is religion?<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
<b>What is religion?</b></div>
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<em><b>If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:26-27 ESV)</b></em></div>
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<b>Here we find a leader of the early Christian faith telling us that the difference between true religion and hypocritical religion is that authentic religion has self control of speech, is not verbally abusive, shows personal compassion to those who are suffering, and exerts energy in avoiding false ideas and immoral behavior. While this description is not complete it is useful. </b></div>
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<b>It shows that religion; (the word used here is thrēskos which means the outward expression of the fear or respect of God ); if it is sincere and real will change our behavior and our thinking. Someone claiming to have a fear and respect of God that lacks self control, is verbally abusive, does not involve themselves in compassionate acts, fails to seek truth, and, lives immorally; lacks real religion. Such religious sentiments are from the viewpoint of James an inner deception and are worthless. This indicates that religion can be true or false, based on sincerity or self deception, and can be useful or useless. Not all religious feelings are good. We must judge between healthy and unhealthy religion. </b></div>
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<b>Now when we think of religion we normally think of it one of the great world religions. The following is a list of religions and the number of people who associate themselves with each. </b></div>
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<li><b>Christianity: 2.1 billion</b></li>
<li><b>Islam: 1.5 billion</b></li>
<li><b>Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion</b></li>
<li><b>Hinduism: 900 million</b></li>
<li><b>Chinese traditional religion: 394 million</b></li>
<li><b>Buddhism: 376 million</b></li>
<li><b>primal-indigenous: 300 million</b></li>
<li><b>African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million</b></li>
<li><b>Sikhism: 23 million</b></li>
<li><b>Juche: 19 million</b></li>
<li><b>Spiritism: 15 million</b></li>
<li><b>Judaism: 14 million</b></li>
<li><b>Baha'i: 7 million</b></li>
<li><b>Jainism: 4.2 million</b></li>
<li><b>Shinto: 4 million</b></li>
<li><b>Cao Dai: 4 million</b></li>
<li><b>Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million</b></li>
<li><b>Tenrikyo: 2 million</b></li>
<li><b>Neo-Paganism: 1 million</b></li>
<li><b>Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand</b></li>
<li><b>Rastafarianism: 600 thousand</b></li>
<li><b>Scientology: 500 thousand</b></li>
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<li><b>[1]</b></li>
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<b>Religion here refers to a worldview or philosophy of life and which includes our beliefs concerning God, gods, spirits, life after death, and metaphysics. This definition would include secular people as also having religious beliefs but that these would be a confession of faith that says that either God/gods do not exist or that knowledge of God/gods is unknowable. It would also teach that knowledge of God/gods is not important to living life well or is even destructive to good living. </b><br />
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<b>Religions are “world views” and those who strive to consistently live their lives by a particular and well defined world view are “religious” while those who have only fuzzy world views or who make to attempt to live by a particular world view are not religious. There would of course be degrees to which a person was “religious” by this definition.</b></div>
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<b>Each of these world views attempts to define or describe the nature of God, humanity, spirits, and all of reality. In this sense then we could think of religion as the “big story of life” or the “mega-story” by which we seek to make sense of reality. Out of this “big story” we will make our decisions and live our lives if we sincerely hold to “the faith”. </b></div>
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<b>However, we can just have a cultural loyalty to a religion in which case it does not radically impact our daily lives. While we formally will say we hold to this religion our true religion is something else that we have developed that governs our normal decision making process. Cultural religion can be very superficial and hypocritical. </b></div>
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<b>At the same time once a religion has become part of culture and become institutionalized this becomes another aspect which can add power and persuasion to a religion. Once a religion is no longer just a private affair found in a human heart but an expression of the policy of a corporate cultural institution then the nature of that religion is impacted. It now influences and is influenced by the culture in which it exists. </b></div>
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<b>Basic definition of the word</b></div>
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<b>The root of the English word "religion" is usually traced to the Latin <em>religare</em> (<em>re</em>: back, and<em>ligare</em>: to bind), so that the term is associated with "being bound." The idea may reflect a concept prominent in biblical literature. Israel was said to be in a "covenant" (<em>berith</em>) relationship with its God (Yahweh).</b></div>
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<b>In a sense, the nation of Israel was "covenanted" or "bonded" to the deity. But what does being bound or bonded mean? Ultimately, it meant that Israel was the wife of God and they were bonded together in marriage. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>So religion is a term which relates to humanity being in union and communion with what they conceive to be their “God”. Religion is a relationship that is dynamic, deep, transforming, and all embracing. </b></div>
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<b>So a person’s religion is how they believe they will be in good terms with “God” or "ultimate reality". </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Now it is known that each person can have a different “God”. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>What is a person’s “God”? Theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich’s definition of a person’s “God” being their “ultimate concern” is useful here. So religion is the means by which people believe they can reach, attain, and be in union with, that which is their “ultimate concern” in life. So a secular person who has an “ultimate concern” can be religious. </b></div>
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<b>A person who did not have any “ultimate concern” in life would be a person without religion. Those who formally said they had an “ultimate concern” but did not organize their lives around this concern would be hypocritical and lack devotion to what they professed to be their “ultimate concern” in life. Some people would be “true believers” who heart and soul seek to find union and communion with the “ultimate concern” of their lives. </b></div>
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<b>Some people have a “cultural religion” because their nation, group, or tribe formally affirms that something is supposed to be the “ultimate concern” of their lives. Anyone who would not profess such an “ultimate concern” would feel “shame” and “condemnation” from the group and therefore only if they were willing to endure rejection and abandonment from their culture would they not profess this as their “ultimate concern”. So these people will go through public rituals of faith that allows them to have the acceptance and approval of the group by outwardly affirming what the group believes should be the “ultimate concern” of life. </b><br />
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<b>A religious person is one "bound" by choice or by commitment to the tenets of a particular faith system or world view. This is any core commitment to a particular way of life. One's religion then is expressed in "a rule of life consistent with what I believe to be the ultimate concern of life" or "how one lives in the light of a particular deep core commitment" or, in popular language, one's choice of "life style" based on their religious ground motive. </b><br />
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<b>Now people can make many different things their ultimate concern of life. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>For example one can make the nation state the ultimate concern of life and hold to “nationalism” as their religion. </b><br />
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<em><b>"When a person says; "I was born to die for my country" he is exhibiting the double relationship that we now call faith. The national life is for him the reality whence his own life derives its worth. He relies on the nation as source of his own value. He trusts it; first, perhaps, in the sense of looking constantly to it as the enduring reality out of which he has issued, into whose ongoing cultural life his own actions and being will merge. His life has meaning because it is part of that context, like a word in a sentence. It has value because it fits into a valuable whole.</b></em><br />
<em><b><br /></b></em></div>
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<em><b>His trust may also be directed toward the nation as a power which will supply his needs, care for his children, and protect his life. But faith in the nation is primarily reliance upon it as an enduring value-center.</b></em><br />
<em><b><br /></b></em></div>
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<em><b>Insofar as the nation is the last value-center to which the nationalist refers, he does not raise the question about its goodness to him or about its rightness or wrongness. Insofar as it is value-center rightness and wrongness depend on it.</b></em><br />
<em><b><br /></b></em></div>
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<em><b>This does not mean in any Hobbesian sense that for such faith the national government determines what is right and what is wrong but rather that the rightness of all actions depends on their consonance with the inner constitution of the nation and on their tendency to enhance or diminish national life, power, and glory. "</b></em><br />
<em><b><br /></b></em>
<em><b>(Niebuhr, H. Richard, Radical Monotheism and Western Culture. New York: Harper and Row, 1943, 152, 1955, 1960 (A Harper Torch-book. p. 17)</b></em><br />
<em><b><br /></b></em></div>
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<b>Now within the faith of “nationalism” we can have a “national God” who is there to ask to help the nation prosper, guide its armies to victories, and protect it from harm. But the real ultimate concern of a nationalist is the nation and God is just a means to the end of a glorified and great nation. God serves the nation the nation does not serve God in such a system of thought. This would be an example of a largely secular faith. </b></div>
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<b>Homo religiosus (humans as religious beings)</b></div>
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<b>When we think about the great impulse that most human beings have to make sense of their world by telling a “grand tale” which makes sense and gives meaning to life it has been suggested that one of the best ways to understand humanity is as a creature that is religious in nature. Some have suggested that we even have a “God Gene” that encourages creation of metaphysical systems which provide meaning. If this is the case then we must be careful in how we speak and deal with the issue of religion since it is such a fundamental part of our humanness. </b></div>
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<b>Now there are a few who say that there is no true grand tale to be told and life is without meaning. But such a perspective has never been popular or easily held. It goes against the grain of most people at a deep and perhaps even a biological level. Also we must remember to be skeptical even about skepticism.</b></div>
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<b>We cannot simply be for all religion. Religions differ in content. They tell different tales. They cannot all be true. We may see some as totally untrue, others as partially true, a few as mainly true, and perhaps one as totally true. We can also decide if a religion is healthy or unhealthy for human beings to believe. It does not make sense to be for all religions nor to be against an idea simply because it has been labeled “religious”. </b></div>
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<b>The true quest of human thought and philosophy should be to try to discern the true religion and live by it. To find the true “Grand Story” of the cosmos and live a life consistent with that ultimate reality and value is to want to obtain a pure and true religion. Our desire should be to figure out what reality is and adapt to it. That should be what we hunger and thirst after with all our souls.</b></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
<b>As the Messiah Jesus said:</b></div>
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<b>Seek first the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness ….</b></div>
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[1] <a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-1360580722790661932015-09-23T21:01:00.000-07:002015-09-24T03:04:33.689-07:00Has The Text Of The Bible Been Accurately Transmitted?<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Have the Hebrew and Greek documents we now have, which
form the basis of our English translations, been faithfully transmitted from the
time when they were first written or have they been significantly changed and
edited since that time?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>The Christian faith is dependent on the Bible being a
faithful witness to the inspired writings of the prophets and apostles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if we concede that these prophets and
apostles were inspired to write original documents can a reasonable person
believe that these documents have been faithfully transmitted thousands of
years?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> U</span>ntil 1439 with the
invention of the printing press the transmission of the text relied upon hand
written copies and at times oral tradition, then how sure can we be that the
revelation, once given to God’s people through prophets and apostles has been
preserved?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>This is a critical question, since without a text
largely transmitted effectively then we could not depend on our current text to
be an accurate representation of this revelation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
would undermine our ability to speak with confidence about what God has
revealed about HIS purpose and plan through the Bible.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>What are the texts we have today?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Hebrew Bible <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>The Masoretic Text – Hebrew Text of the entire Hebrew
Canon from the 10<sup>th</sup> Century AD<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>The Dead Sea Scrolls – The book of Isaiah and
fragments from most of the books of the Hebrew Canon from 100 BC.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Roboto, serif;"><b>The Septuagint – Greek translation from the Hebrew from 200 BC<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Roboto, serif;"><b>Greek Bible<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Roboto, serif;"><b>There are over 5000 Greek manuscripts.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Roboto, serif;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Roboto, serif;"><b>1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oldest Fragments –
date back to 100 AD with one fragment of Mark now thought to come from the
first century.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Roboto, serif;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Roboto, serif;"><b>2. Older Papyrii – These range from 100 AD to 200 AD and about
45% of the entire New Testament can be reconstructed from these manuscripts. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Roboto, serif;"><b>3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Codex Vaticanus and
Codex Siniaticus – Complete Greek New Testaments dated around 350 and 400 BC<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Roboto, serif;"><b>4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Translations – in
Syria , Coptic, Armenian, Gothic, and Ethiopic, as well as the Latin Vulgate,
with some translations as early as the late 2<sup>nd</sup> to fourth century
A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Roboto, serif;"><b>5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Church fathers quote
the Greek bible often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They write from
100 A.D. to 450 A.D.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entire New
Testament could be reconstructed out the writings of the Church fathers. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Roboto, serif;"><b>The science of Textual Criticism – Restoring the Original Work<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Roboto, serif;">It is the job of the scholar of textual criticism to take these
manuscripts and use them to reconstruct as much as possible the original
text.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is explained by Dr. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Metzger:</span><span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Roboto, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>“The method of textual
criticism which has been generally practised by editors of classical Greek and
Latin texts involves two main processes, recension and emendation. Recension is
the selection, after examination of all available material, of the most
trustworthy evidence on which to base a text. Emendation is the attempt to
eliminate the errors which are found even in the best manuscripts.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>The application of critical
methods in the editing of classical texts was developed principally by three
German scholars, Friedrich Wolf (1759-1824), one of the founders of classical
philology, Immanuel Bekker (1785-1871), and Karl Lachmann (1793-1851). Bekker
devoted his long life to the preparation of critical editions of Greek texts.
Bekker collated some 400 manuscripts, grouped existing manuscripts of an author
into families where one was derived from another, and published sixty volumes
of improved editions of Greek authors. Lachmann went further than Bekker,
showing how, by comparison of manuscripts, it is possible to draw inferences as
to their lost ancestors or archetypes, their condition, and even their
pagination.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>The basic principle which
underlies the process of constructing a stemma, or family tree, of manuscripts
is that,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>apart from accident,
identity of reading implies identity of origin</em>. Often, however,
difficulties hinder the construction of a stemma of manuscripts. A disturbing
element enters when mixture has occurred, that is, when a copyist has had two
or more manuscripts before him and has followed sometimes one, sometimes the
other; or, as sometimes happened, when a scribe copied a manuscript from one
exemplar and corrected it against another. To the extent that manuscripts have
a "mixed" ancestry, the genealogical relations among them become
progressively more complex and obscure to the investigator.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Metzger,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><cite>The Text of the New Testament</cite>,
pp. 156-159.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Due to this science of
reconstructing ancient manuscripts the church today can be more sure that the
Hebrew and Greek texts have been examined and studied in such a way that they
represent the original writing as much as is humanly possible to reconstruct.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is good reason to believe that based on
this study of these documents that we have before us a very accurate version of
what was originally written.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>This same method has been
used on other ancient documents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, the Bible and especially the New Testament gives us copies of
the original that are earlier and in greater number than any other ancient
writings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we cannot trust the New
Testament to represent the originals accurately then we would have to lose all
the manuscripts that tell us about the ancient world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only intellectual prejudice would make us
use a higher standard for Biblical documents than we use for other ancient
writings. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>The following chart can give
us an idea of how strong the evidence is for the New Testament. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<div style="background: white;">
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F9F7F5; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">THE HISTORICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AGAINST </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">OTHER TEXTS OF
ANTIQUITY</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<tbody>
<tr style="height: 33.8pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 33.8pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">ANCIENT DOCUMENT</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 33.8pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">ORIGINAL</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 33.8pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">EARLIEST COPY</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 33.8pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">TIME SPAN</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 33.8pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"># OF COPIES</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">New Testament</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>40-100 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>125 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>25<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">5,686</span><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">*</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Homer</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>900 B.C.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>400 B.C.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>500<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>643<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Pliny</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>61-113 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>850 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>750<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>7<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Suetonius</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>75-160 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>950 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>800<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>8<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Tacitus</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>100 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1000 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>900<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Caesar</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>100-44 B.C.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>900 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1000<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>10<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Tacitus</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>100 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1100 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1000<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>5<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Lucretius</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>53 B.C.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1153 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1100<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>2<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Aristophanes</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>450-385 B.C.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>900 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1200<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>10<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Plato</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>427-347 B.C.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1100 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1200<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>7<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Demosthenes</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>383-322 B.C.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>900 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1300<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>200<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Thucydides</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>460-400 B.C.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>900 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1300<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>8<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Herodotus</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>480-425 B.C.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1100 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1300<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>8<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 14;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Aristotle</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>384-322 B.C.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1000 A.D<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1400<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>49<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 15;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Sophocles</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>496-406 B.C.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1100 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1400<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>193<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 16;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Euripides</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>480-406 B.C.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1100 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1500<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>9<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 17;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Catullus</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>54 B.C.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1550 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>1600<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 15.65pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>3<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 30.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 18; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 30.25pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Livy</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 30.25pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>59 B.C. – 17 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 30.25pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>400 A.D.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 30.25pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>400<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EFEAE4; height: 30.25pt; padding: 3.75pt 6.0pt 3.75pt 6.0pt; width: 20.0%;" valign="top" width="20%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.5pt; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-left: 96.05pt; mso-element-top: 153.05pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><b>20<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background: white;">
<b><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn4" title="">[4]</a></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn4" title=""><!--[endif]--></a></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><br /></b></span></span></span>
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>The reason this is significant is pointed out by Dr. </b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b>Charles L. Quarles.</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b>"The fact that the New Testament writers were decent, moral men who penned their testimonies of Jesus only a few decades after the events to which they refer and the fact that abundant manuscript evidence has enabled modern scholars to restore the original text of these documents with a very high degree of accuracy, should demand that historians at least treat these documents with the level of credibility granted these other sources."</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b> (2013-07-01). <u>In Defense of the Bible: A Comprehensive Apologetic for the Authority of Scripture</u> (Kindle Locations 1875-1878). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.) </b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Other
reasons to believe the text has been preserved with integrity.</b></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b>1. The
Hebrew scribes went to great length to preserve the accuracy of the text. <o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">“They could
only use clean animal skins, both to write on, and even to bind manuscripts.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Each column
of writing could have no less than forty-eight, and no more than sixty lines.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The ink must
be black, and of a special recipe.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">They must
verbalize each word aloud while they were writing.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">They must
wipe the pen and wash their entire bodies before writing the word
"Yahweh," every time they wrote it.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">There must
be a review within thirty days, and if as many as three pages required
corrections, the entire manuscript had to be redone.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The letters,
words, and paragraphs had to be counted, and the document became invalid if two
letters touched each other. The middle paragraph, word and letter must
correspond to those of the original document.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The
documents could be stored only in sacred places (synagogues, etc).<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">As no
document containing God's Word could be destroyed, they were stored, or buried,
in a genizah - a Hebrew term meaning "hiding place." These were
usually kept in a synagogue or sometimes in a Jewish cemetery.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b>This
can give us confidence that real effort was being made to preserve the text. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b>2. Comparing the 10<sup>th</sup> century Hebrew
Text of Isaiah and the 100 BC text of Isaiah demonstrates that this method was
very effective in making accurate copies of the text. Very few and minor variations were
found. Here is clear evidence that the
text could be preserved for over 1000 years accurately. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b>3.
The Greek Version of the Hebrew Bible was used by the early Christian Church as
an accurate translation. Here is a
confirmation that the books the Hebrews accepted were set aside as sacred and
that these writings that state the same thing as our Old Testaments today were
known and used by Christians and Jews. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b>4. For
those who hold the testimony of the Messiah Jesus of authoritative the accepted the Hebrew Canon
of HIS day and quoted from it to support HIS own teachings. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b>Matthew 5:17-19 NASB - "17
"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not
come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven
and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law
until all is accomplished. 19 "Whoever then annuls one of the least of
these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in
the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called
great in the kingdom of heaven."<o:p></o:p></b></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><br /></b></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b>Luk 24:44 NASB - "44 Now He
said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still
with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and
the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.""<o:p></o:p></b></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><br /></b></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b>There
is no doubt that the Messiah Jesus accepted and taught from the writings of
Moses, the Prophets, and The Psalms as God’s inspired Word. This was a way of descripting the Hebrew
Canon accepted in Palestine. If one sees
reason to accept Jesus as an authority from God then one also has good reason
to accept the Hebrew Bible as God’s Word. With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scolls there is little doubt that the Hebrew Bible we have today is substainially the same as the Hebrew and Greek translation that Messiah Jesus endorsed. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b>5. There are so many documents of the New
Testament and the older can be compared with the younger that no serious change
in the text could have occurred without scholars detecting it. The differences in the text are minor. No significant teaching of the Christian
faith is in any way changed or threatened due to the variations found in the
thousands of New Testament source documents.
<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b>Conclusion:<o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-left: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b>There
was no real opportunity for some major corruption of the original texts to take
place. There was no gaps of thousands of
years in which we had no texts and then had texts. If we have reason to trust in the person and
work of Messiah Jesus then we also have good reason to accept the texts of
Moses and the prophets we now have as realatively accurate copies. One
can with reasonable integrity believe that God has preserved HIS Word through the
people of Christ and for the people of Christ.
<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.bibletranslation.ws/manu.html">http://www.bibletranslation.ws/manu.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.deeperstudy.com/link/manuscript_list.html">http://www.deeperstudy.com/link/manuscript_list.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.dts.edu/read/wallace-new-testament-manscript-first-century">http://www.dts.edu/read/wallace-new-testament-manscript-first-century</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></a></span></span><a href="http://egacy.earlham.edu/~seidti/iam/text_crit.html">egacy.earlham.edu/~seidti/iam/text_crit.html</a></div>
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<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title="">[4]</a></span></span></span> <a href="https://lightingdarkness.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/the-new-testament-reliability-compared-to-other-famous-ancient-works/">https://lightingdarkness.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/the-new-testament-reliability-compared-to-other-famous-ancient-works/</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.scottmanning.com/archives/scribeswritingoldtestament.php">http://www.scottmanning.com/archives/scribeswritingoldtestament.php</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=105&article=91">http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=105&article=91</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-15343810849053153832015-09-21T13:49:00.002-07:002015-09-21T13:49:38.894-07:00What did God do before creation for all eternity. <div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">What was God doing before creation for all
eternity?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">This question is asked sometimes with an
idea that it would absurd to believe that God was doing nothing and therefore
the whole idea of an eternal God creating is unreasonable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has been argued y P.C. W. Davies according
to Dr. William Craig:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“Davies argues that God can be neither temporal nor timeless. He
says that God cannot be timeless because God, as described in the Bible, is a
person; but persons are inherently temporal in nature. They act and react,
they're conscious beings who deliberate and anticipate and remember. They think
about things. They intend to do things and then carry out those projects. All
of these are temporal activities, and therefore if God is personal, as the
Bible claims, God cannot be atemporal, or timeless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, says Davies, neither can
God be temporal. For if God exists in time, then He is subject to the laws of
relativity theory, which govern, space and time, and therefore He cannot be
omnipotent because he's under the laws of nature. So the theist is confronted
with a dilemma’”</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">(Read more:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.reasonablefaith.org/god-time-and-eternity#ixzz3mMqw92i0" style="font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="color: #003399;">http://www.reasonablefaith.org/god-time-and-eternity#ixzz3mMqw92i0</span></a></span>)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">We will deal with these two aspects of the God’s
relationship with time as we deal with this topic, but for now we can see that
these are some of the struggles that can appear to be facing those who believe
in a personal God who is both eternal, omnipotent, and personal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">How can we answer this question?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">First, most humbly perhaps, we would have to
say that we don’t know since God has not told us clearly what God was
doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">My ignorance does not mean that the answer
is either “nothing” or absurd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just
means that I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just because we
could not imagine an answer to this question does not means there is no answer.
So agnosticism concerning this question may be the most humble response. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Second we do know that in the Christian
perspective of “One God who exists eternally in three persons” that the three
persons of the Trinity were in loving and respectful relationship,
conversation, and dialogue would fit the outlook of the Messiah Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Gospel of the Apostle John
17:5 NASB - "5 "Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with
the glory which I had with You before the world was."<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">The idea of glory is the communication of
truth and beauty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So this is an
indication that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were active in relating and
communicating before creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
would also mean the planning of creation, redemption, and judgment as well,
would have been part of the conversation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This seems to be in the thought of the
Apostle Paul<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Letter to the Ephesians 1:3-4 NASB <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">- "3 Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love"<o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">So this would seem to be part of what was occurring
for God before the creation of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">This problem is made more difficult because
of God’s relationship with time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some
would say that God is “timeless” or outside of time entirely or is the Maker of
heaven and earth relationship to time on of “divine temporality”, in which the
LORD of creation has always existed in eternal time? <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[1]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">This topic is worth its own discussion and
Christian thinkers differ on this issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The scripture would seem to support a type of “both/and” approach in which
God before creation was “timeless” and after creation entered into the realm of
“time” as part of divine involvement in creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The prophet Isaiah reflects on this when he
says:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Isaiah 57:15 ESV - "15
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose
name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who
is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to
revive the heart of the contrite."<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Isaiah 57:15 NASB - "15
For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
"I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of
spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of
the contrite."<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">It should be noted that bible translations
are divided on this philosophical issue of God’s relationship with time and
this is reflected in the two translations used above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">What is clear that Isaiah is saying that God
exists in a high and separated place not being part of creation and yet has
decided to be deeply involved with those who are seeking truth and struggling
with their moral failures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is both
“far away” from us in being the only being that has existed forever and is not
created, yet near us because of God’s concern and care for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Now if we take the timeless view of God with
time being part of creation, then the question of what God was doing before the
creation of the world is a problem of applying a category of “before” which
does not actually relate to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being
“timeless” all that happens in time happens as a singularity or as an eternal
“now”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore in this view there is
no “before or after” only “NOW”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
then the question simply does not exist for a being that is “timeless”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">If God simply “lives forever” within time
then the question can be explained in part with the discussion of the Triune
God being in dynamic and ongoing relationship and dialogue with each
other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Christian view of God as
Triune would be superior at this point in answering the questions over a simple
view of God, which did not include a Triune conception of God’s nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Now if God simply “lives forever” we would
also have to fall back on the humble agnosticism which simply says that we can
only really know things about God if they are revealed to us and without such
revelation any theories we may hold would reflect mere wild speculations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">However, not knowing is not the same as
demanding that some type of impossible paradox exists which would demand we
reject faith in a personal and all powerful God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To make an argument from silence, would be
to not honor the lack of divine revelation we have on this topic or be
valid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Therefore, we see that we can say that the
Triune God was in relationship within the Godhead and that there is not
impossible paradox set up by those who would raise this question.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
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<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.reasonablefaith.org/god-time-and-eternity">http://www.reasonablefaith.org/god-time-and-eternity</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
Here is a discussion on this topic that looks at how
we could resolve these issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-72705481963105253942015-09-05T15:44:00.001-07:002015-09-05T15:44:56.314-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Pondering upon County Clerk
Kim Davis and her refusal to sign the marriage license of same sex couples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">By Dr. Norman Wise <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- 9-6-15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The basic story is that
County Clerk Kim Davis felt that in good conscience she could not sign a
marriage license for same sex couples desiring to get married now that the
Supreme Court has made this legal in all 50 states. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this decision she has been jailed for
contempt of court. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">(For more information see:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/09/02/meet-kim-davis-the-ky-clerk-who-defying-the-supreme-court-refuses-to-issue-gay-marriage-licenses/">http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/09/02/meet-kim-davis-the-ky-clerk-who-defying-the-supreme-court-refuses-to-issue-gay-marriage-licenses/</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">So how should we think about
this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will share with you my
ponderings but I am not suggesting that everyone needs to agree with my
pondering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My hope is that we can strive
to understand the issues carefully. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">To help us have empathy for
Ms. Davis and her conscience let us imagine this situation a little
different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Let us imagine that the
Supreme Court of the United States legalized that fathers could marry their
daughters and that this was a civil right for all Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">A father and his
eighteen-year-old daughter come to the courthouse to get their marriage license
as now allowed by the Supreme Court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now clearly when this couple comes to the courthouse the clerk of the
court might well have ethical and moral struggles now with what is legal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Historically and culturally such a marriage
was not long ago felt to be not just illegal but immoral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what is the clerk to do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">One can understand that there
may be a struggle with conscience in such an issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we all know what is legal is not always
the same as what is moral or ethical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Why do I make this the
example?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Because unless we can see why
a person could struggle with issuing a marriage license as a violation of their
conscience we could not have any empathy for Ms. Davis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps now we can do that since from her
moral and ethical system a same sex marriage is as much against the will of God
and is immoral as the marriage between a father and a daughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both relationships, regardless of how
sincere, are against what is right in the sight of God according to the
convictions of her conscience based upon historical Christian understanding of
sexual morality. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">We also should note here that
the change in the law has come by a ruling of the Supreme Court and bypassing
the process of the passing of state and local laws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the law of the federal government <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>which was the “Defense of Marriage Act” was
changed by the Supreme Court ruling on this issue in 2013 but clearly
represents that there was national support for not making same sex marriage
legal even at a national level till very recently.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The nation is split about
55/39 on the issue of same sex marriage with the majority favoring allowing it
for only the past four years. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So acceptance of this as a legal and moral
norm in American culture is very recent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Also there would be regional and cultural differences so that in some
areas the majority of the people still would oppose same sex marriage being
either legal or considered moral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">So is it surprising that a
clerk of the court could be still struggling with the moral and legal
question?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would be surprising if
there were not many in such a struggle since at least 39% could well think that
same sex marriages should not be legal or considered moral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
fact this has led to the desire by many to want a conscience objection
allowance for this issue for county clerks since their positions place them at
the front lines of the actual practice of this new law. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Normally we would want people
not to be forced by law to do that which they believe to be morally or
ethically wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This idea of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“freedom of conscience” is important
especially for people holding minority views on ethical issues such as
pacifists who don’t believe they can go to war and so are not forced to join
the military. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Only when people’s conscience
is seen to be telling them what is evil is good would we want to force a person
to act against their conscience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So to
send people to jail for not violating their conscience seems counter to some of
the basic ideas found in a pluralistic society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">As Dr. James Skillen of the
Center for Public Justice explains, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">“Governments ought to honor the conscientious
objections of its citizens against a government-imposed obligation, provided such
objections do not conflict with the government's responsibility to uphold
public justice."”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">So sending someone to jail
for holding a position of conscience on same sex marriages that has been the
standard operating procedure for 2000 years of Christian history and until a
few years ago in the United States seems extreme and harsh to many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Now Ms. Davis’ conviction of
conscience came into conflict with the vow she took when taking her office if
this means that she must now support same sex marriage if she supports the
constitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It stated:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the
case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the
Constitution of this Commonwealth, and be faithful and true to the Commonwealth
of Kentucky so long as I continue a citizen thereof, and that I will faithfully
execute, to the best of my ability, the office of ——————— according to law; and
I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that since the adoption of the present
Constitution, I, being a citizen of this State, have not fought a duel with
deadly weapons within this State nor out of it, nor have I sent or accepted a
challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, nor have I acted as second in
carrying a challenge, nor aided or assisted any person thus offending, so help
me God."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[6]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Clearly the oath needs some
updating since the idea of dueling has not been an issue for a few years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">At the time Ms. Davis took
this oath there was no thought that the Constitution of the United States would
make same sex marriage a civil right and the Kentucky constitution incorporated
the defense of marriage act. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So when she took her oath there was no
conflict of conscience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Supreme
Court’s latest interpretation of the Constitution has now created for her a
conflict of conscience in which she cannot support the present understanding of
the Constitution which has made same sex marriage a civil right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">So her options would be to
resign her office stating to those who elected her that she could not in good
conscience support the Constitution of the United States if this means she has
to support same sex marriages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This may
have been the best road for her to take along with a public statement of the
conflict of conscience that it had caused her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Then the state would be wise
to demand that all future clerks specifically pledge their faith and support in
same sex marriages so that they could in good conscience sign marriage licenses
to same sex couples to avoid this issue in the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">However this would seem to
violate Article VI of the constitution, which states that...,”no religious Test
shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under
the United States.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is hard to
believe that ones view on same sex marriages are not impacted for many people
based on their religious point of view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">So without a “conscientious
objection” clause allowing clerks of the court to not perform this duty then it
would seem hard to avoid violating this constitutional right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also doubtful that at a practical level
this would keep any same-sex couple from gaining a marriage license.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Others would argue that the
clerk is not supporting the marriage but that he or she is merely saying the paperwork
is in order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means that a clerk is
not condoning or supporting but merely saying the paperwork legally processed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this case no conflict of conscience would
occur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this depends on how one
interprets the role of the clerk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">However, if supporting the
U.S. constitution now means that we have to believe that same sex marriage is a
constitutional right then even four of nine Supreme Court Justices would not be
able to support the constitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So clearly disagreement on this issue is
allowed as a minority view for those who still believe in the
Constitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It appears we need to find an answer that
allows tolerance in our pluralistic society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Only if religious conviction
concerning same sex marriage is in the same category of the religious beliefs
of the KKK would most people understand that such extreme views could not be
allowed a “conscientious objection” clause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Seeing this was the majority view just a few years ago nationwide and
even in the state constitution of Kentucky then it hard to equate this
perspective as that extreme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Now most people would just
violate their conscience to keep their jobs, avoid fines, or go to jail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such moral and ethical dilemmas only occur
when people of conscience refuse to compromise their conscience even under the
compulsion and punishment of the state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Now just because someone
takes a stand on the basis of conscience does not make him or her right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in a tolerant and pluralistic society we
should find compassionate ways to allow dissent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The conscious objection clause has been one
way historically the majority has allowed the minority a way to function in the
society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Regardless of where one
stands on the legality of same-sex marriages or it ethical status the role of
the state in jailing someone because of their convictions should raise
concerns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the state can jail Ms.
Davis for her convictions today then they could jail someone else tomorrow on a
matter of conscience, which you would agree with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So this needs to be of concern for all of us.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Tolerance and freedom in a
pluralistic society demands we find ways to agree to disagree in an agreeable
way and not force people to act against their most strongly held beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dietrich Bonheoffer the Lutheran Pastor
martyred for his opposition to Hitler warned of the danger of tolerating the
violation of the right of others when he said<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">“First they came for the Communists, but I was not a
Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the
Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for
the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for
me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Justice Scalia comments
concerning the 2013 reversal of Defense of Marriage Act. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">"Some will rejoice in today's decision, and some
will despair at it; that is the nature of a controversy that matters so much to
so many. But the Court has cheated both sides, robbing the winners of an honest
victory, and the losers of the peace that comes from a fair defeat. We owed both
of them better."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">This points out that if we
had allowed local governments the ability to pass local laws instead of the
Supreme Court making one decision for nation overnight it may have helped us
find better solutions to the difficult transitions we face due to the erosion
of a Christian view on marriage that is happening in our nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Some Key Final Thoughts:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to not be surprised that a nation
that has largely lost a firm foundation in a Christian worldview is not
supporting the Christian view of marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Biblical Christianity in the United States needs to be seen as a
“Counter Culture” living in the context of a society largely dominated by
non-Christian perspectives on morals and ethics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will need to think about how to be “gentle
as doves and wise as serpents” in dealing with issues since we need to make
clear our love for all people regardless of their beliefs or lifestyles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can expect the civil laws to become less
and less supportive of the Christian worldview or its moral standards unless
there is spiritual and moral revival. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to be praying for spiritual revival,
renewal, and reformation that would help bring larger numbers of our fellow
citizens to true and mature faith. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Christian worldview clearly teaches that
same-sex marriage is not the will of God and that all same-sex romantic
relationships are immoral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the same
time we must state that all sexual relationship outside of a one man and one
woman heterosexual marriage fall short of God’s ideals and that only when
sexual activities are motivated by love in such relationships do they represent
a proper use of the gift of sexuality by humanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All human beings fall short of God’s perfect
will sexually and need forgiveness in this area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to make sure we not approach this
subject from the perspective of anger or self-righteousness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our message of being sinners saved by grace
alone must not get lost in our stand for moral principles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is vital that we not communicate in such a
way that would make people think we are intrinsically better or brighter than
others with whom we disagree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
attitude must be “except for the grace of God there go I.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to be looking for ways to promote a
attitude of true tolerance and plurality that will allow people to practice
Christian principles in the public square without persecution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://marriage.laws.com/gay/state-laws/kentucky">http://marriage.laws.com/gay/state-laws/kentucky</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/documents/717674-doma-gay-marriage-supreme-court-ruling">http://www.motherjones.com/documents/717674-doma-gay-marriage-supreme-court-ruling</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-30820334292889825022015-08-31T05:45:00.001-07:002015-08-31T05:49:22.376-07:00“If God exists, then why does God not prove God’s existence to everyone?”<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Musings about the question
of the month of August from Socrates Café<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">By Dr. Norman Wise<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">“If God exists, then why
does God not prove God’s existence to everyone?”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Introduction<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">This question assumes the
existence of God for the sake of the discussion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are many possible answers.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Some would say that if there is no universal and clear revelation this
is due to there not being a God or that if God exists there is no interest in
communicating to human beings that existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Others would say that since there is no such universal revelation then
this means that God cannot be a good God who desires all to know but would be
limiting revelation only to a chosen few.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This would make God very tribal and restricted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would also make God unfair and lacking
compassion. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Still others would say that there is sufficient and clear revelation
but that humanity has failed to pursue this revelation so the fault is not in
God but in human beings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They would
doubt the idea that God has not give sufficient evidence to each person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The issue would be what constitutes an
objective sufficient revelation to fulfill God’s “responsibility” to
communicate the Divine existence to humanity.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Finally, some would also add that it is possible some greater harm
would follow if God did provide some type of greater revelation of the Divine
presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Assuming God is good and
wise, in this case, God’s failure to provide this revelation must be because a
greater evil would be produced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
cannot deny that such a possibility might exist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Musings about this question<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Now according to surveys
anywhere from 88% to 51% of people on the planet today believe they have
sufficient revelation from God to justify belief in him.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Historically most people are not feeling that
God has failed to reveal the Divine existence sufficiently to them.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Researchers suggest that
belief in God and the afterlife may be a normal essential aspect of our
humanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oxford University concluded
after extensive research around the world that religious concepts seem rooted
in the very essence of human thought processes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Professor Roger Trigg, from
the University of Oxford,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>stated:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">“We have gathered a body of
evidence that suggests that religion is a common fact of human nature across different
societies,” <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">“This suggests that attempts
to suppress religion are likely to be short-lived as human thought seems to be
rooted to religious concepts, such as the existence of supernatural agents or
gods, and the possibility of an afterlife or pre-life.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">It has also been suggested
by leading geneticist Dr. Dean Hamer that there is a “God Gene” which leads
people into an awareness and experience of the spiritual realm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">If these studies are correct
then one could argue that God has revealed the Divine Existence, not in some
large scale and public visible revelation but in the very essence of our
humanity at a psychological, social and biological level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">In this case God’s
revelation of Divine existence would be rooted in the very substance of our
humanity and communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would have an
internal “program” that would make us aware of God’s presence that is
functioning in the vast majority of people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">So one answer is that God
has placed a revelation of Divine existence inside of human beings and this is
part of their core existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this
case God would not have failed to provide evidence of the Divine existence and
therefore no unfairness or lack of compassion could be attributed to God. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">One could also argue that
human beings have failed morally to respond to this revelation responsibly and
that is why there has been so much confusion and discord about the nature of
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this case the failure would be
due to humanity and not due failure on God’s part. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">This deep nearly universal
feeling that there is a spiritual aspect to life is why a host of scholars have
felt that the best description of humanity is “homo religiosus”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">This thought was also found
in an early Christian writer in the first century A.D.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"19..
that which is known about God is evident within human beings; for God made it
evident to every human being."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Romans 1:19)<o:p></o:p></span></b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">This philosophical and
theological theory of God’s revelation seems to now be given support by some scientific
studies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">So in this situation the
answer to our question, would be that God has revealed himself clearly in a
very subjective way within the nature of human beings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So God cannot be faulted at failing to
provide a revelation to humanity. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">It can also be argued that human
curiosity about why there is something rather than nothing has led to the conviction
of the existence of God from the universal experience of the physical
universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At a very simple level the
apparent order, beauty, and vastness of creation causes many people to
understand and feel the existence of God or Creator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">At a more sophisticated
level people have developed detailed logical cosmological arguments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These arguments have been held to have
weight and significance by world-renowned scholars and would give intellectual
validity to the more “gut response “ of the average human being to the cosmos. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">So at the level of just a
naïve sense of God when experiencing some grand part of nature or from a
logical meditation on nature, this could seem part of the clear revelation that
many feel has been given to all humanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Poets as well as
philosophers often give this particular vision of God in nature to us. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span>
</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Here is a poem that reflects
this experience of God in nature. It is
called “I Sing the Mighty Power of God”.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;"> “I sing the mighty power of God, that made the
mountains rise, that spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty
skies. I sing the wisdom that ordained
the sun to rule the day; the moon shines full at his command, and all the stars
obey. I sing the goodness of the Lord,
who filled the earth with food, Who formed the creatures through the Word, and
then pronounced them good. Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn
my eye, if I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky. There’s not a
plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known, and clouds arise, and
tempests blow, by order from Thy throne; while all that borrows life from Thee
is ever in Thy care; and everywhere that we can be, Thou, God art present
there.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Clearly this poet saw
universal and clear revelation of God’s existence in the physical
universe. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">A Jewish poet expressed this
idea at about 2000 years ago. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">"1 The
heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the
work of His hands. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals
knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not
heard." Psalm 19:1-3 NASB <o:p></o:p></span></b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">The early Christian church
in the first century believed in this testimony of creation to all human beings
as well. Here is an example of one of
their early creeds on this topic. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">"20 For
since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and
divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been
made, so that they are without excuse."
Romans 1:20 NASB <o:p></o:p></span></b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">So one can respond to this
question that there has been an external witness of God’s existence in a
response to the greatness of the physical universe. Since all human beings experience the
physical universe then all human beings have been given a clear revelation of
God’s existence through the cosmos. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">There is also an argument
that humanity has an inward moral code or conscience, and that this is evidence
of the Divine presence. The reason for
this idea is the guilt associated with failing this inward moral witness has
within it a metaphysical dimension for many of not only falling short of one’s
own moral standards, but God’s will. This moral intuition or conscience again seems
to be acknowledged as functioning in the vast majority of human beings. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">In fact when a person lacks
a moral conscience, we see this as a severe type of mental and emotional
disorder. So if we have this sense of a
moral law within us then some would argue that this moral standard is something
that God placed within us, as a further revelation of the God’s existence and
will for people. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span>
</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">An early Christian writer
expressed this viewpoint in this way.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">"14 For when Gentiles
who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not
having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the
Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their
thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them," Letter to the Roman 2:14-15 NASB <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">So another revelation of
God’s existence and humanities responsibility to God would be this moral intuition,
which is seen to be part of the deepest core of healthy human nature. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">So the argument here would
be that at a very psychological and biological level God has given clear
testimony to humanity of the Divine existence and this explains why the vast
majority of people historically have accepted the idea of God’s existence. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Other thoughts<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">We must also understand that
different people would set up different standards of what would qualify for a
clear demonstration of the Divine existence.
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">For some, just because of
the pain and suffering in the world today no revelation would be able to
demonstrate the existence of God. There
rejection of the idea of God is based on a philosophical and moral argument
that all the revelation in the world could not budge. Only if they received a sufficient answer to
this question would they be open to any revelation of the Divine
existence. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">So the struggle for some
would be more complicated than simply seeing a revelation. There would also be a question of how to
validate this revelation sufficiently. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">In addition it would assume
that the person would want to acknowledge the existence of God and not resist
such a revelation for moral, psychological, or philosophical reasons regardless
of the amount of revelation given. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">So what would be a fair
standard for God to establish that acknowledges the Divine responsibility to
reveal and the human responsibility to respond to this revelation?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Let us say for sake of
argument that God promises to reward those who seek for God with honest
passion. Seeking God would mean pursuing
all the revelation that an individual has about a spiritual or metaphysical
aspect of reality diligently and consistently. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">In addition God would only
hold people responsible for that which they had available to them. So one who had been given more dependable
revelation would be held more responsible than if a person was given little revelation
outside of the inward witness and the cosmos. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">So those who seek truth
about God will get truth about God. God
rewards those who seek for the true Divine presence with an assurance they will
find God. If a person does not seek they
don’t find. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Would that be fair?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">In this case then whatever
ignorance about God that exists would be due to people not seeking God. The lack of revelation then would not be due
to a failure on God’s part but on the part of human beings. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">If this was the case then
one could explain the current level of revelation from God. Humanity has the amount of revelation
consistent with their passion for truly seeking God. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Now some would say they have
sought for God and they did not find God.
However, since seeking is a process all they can say is at the present
time they have not found God. The first
part of seeking is looking and the second part may be finding. It is possible that the person seeking today
will find tomorrow. Now if one gives up
the search then one can question how sincere the search was in the first
place. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">The mathematician and
philosopher Pascal would reflect on this when he said:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>“What can be
seen on earth indicates neither the total absence, nor the manifest presence of
divinity, but the presence of a hidden God,” ….“Everything bears this stamp.”</i> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span>
</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">In light of this then
Pascal’s viewpoint is that it would reasonable to seek for the “hidden
God”. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>“There are
only two classes of persons who can be called reasonable,” ….“Those who serve
God with all their heart because they know him and those who seek him with all
their heart because they do not know him.</i>”.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">In this case humanity would
bear a responsibility to be seekers for truth about God and God would be
responsible to provide this truth to those who sought in a sincere manner. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">The finding of that truth
could take place in many different ways due to the unique nature of the person
seeking. But this then would tell us
that the reason why everyone is not getting the same revelation is that people
seek for God with different levels of intensity and also will find God in
various ways depending on the uniqueness of their personality and experiences. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Concluding thoughts<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">“If God exists, then why
does God not prove God’s existence to everyone?”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">There is some evidence that
indicates that God has provided a revelation of the Divine existence into the
very biological/psychological core instincts of humankind. If this is true then the answer to the
question would be that God has provided such a revelation and the assumption of
the question that such a revelation has not been given is denied to be true. It would appear that for the majority of
people historically and currently there is sufficient revelation to justify
their acceptance of God’s existence. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">It is also possible that God
has provided revelation or is willing to provide more clear evidence of the
Divine existence, based on the desire for human beings to seek the truth about
God. The ignorance then of humanity
concerning God would not be due to a lack of competence or character on God’s
part but on moral failure to seek on the part of human kind. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Both potential rational solutions
provide us an answer to the question that does not demand us accept either that
God does not exist or that God does not care.
Therefore, this question does not force us to accept an atheistic,
agnostic, or deistic answer to the question.
A reasonable person can respond to this question from a Christian point
of view. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">It does make sense then to
seek for God if we have not found God, because it is possible we may find God. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
The 88% ix looking at the number of people who are part of world religions
while the 51% is arrived by a worldwide poll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/global-poll-most-believe-in-god-afterlife-49994/">http://www.christianpost.com/news/global-poll-most-believe-in-god-afterlife-49994/</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8510711/Belief-in-God-is-part-of-human-nature-Oxford-study.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8510711/Belief-in-God-is-part-of-human-nature-Oxford-study.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_God_Gene.html?id=YnzEJSuDyhEC">https://books.google.com/books/about/The_God_Gene.html?id=YnzEJSuDyhEC</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';">The phrase, <i>homo religiosus</i>, refers to the idea
that human existence is inherently religious. There is a long lineage of
scholars that have proposed this idea, including Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
(1770–1831), Soren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), William James (1842–1910), Mircea
Eliade (1907–1986), Rudolf Otto (1884–1939), Friedrich Schleiermacher
(1768–1834), Gerardus van der Leeuw (1890–1950), Karl Jaspers (1883–1969), Paul
Tillich (1886–1995), Erich Fromm (1900–1980), Abraham Maslow (1908–1970), Erik
Erikson (1902–1994), Langdon Gilkey (1919–2004), and David Tracy (1939–). The
inherent religiosity, these and other theorists refer to, is not a person’s
creedal beliefs or institutional commitments per se but refer to our existential
drive toward transcendence, freedom, and meaning-making, no matter the
differences of religious or a/religious backgrounds or convictions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion, <a href="http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4614-6086-2_308">http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4614-6086-2_308</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.philosophyofreligion.info/theistic-proofs/the-cosmological-argument/">http://www.philosophyofreligion.info/theistic-proofs/the-cosmological-argument/</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cosmological-argument/">http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cosmological-argument/</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.seeingcreation.com/">http://www.seeingcreation.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Blaise
Pascal, Pensees, translated by William Finlayson Trotter, (London: Penguin
Books, 1995), 142.<br />
<br />
Loconte, Joseph (2012-06-04). The Searchers: A Quest for Faith in the Valley
of Doubt (p. 190). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Pascal,
Pensees, 132–133.<br />
<br />
Loconte, Joseph (2012-06-04). The Searchers: A Quest
for Faith in the Valley of Doubt (p. 195). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
This is actually the perspective of the writers of the New Testament. Look at Hebrews 11:6 and Romans chapter 2. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Testament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See Hebrews 11:6 and Romans 2.</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-44316566745581644592015-08-30T17:44:00.001-07:002015-08-30T17:44:22.466-07:00<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Lora, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 25px; padding: 0px;">
A proud young man came to Socrates asking for wisdom. He walked up to him and said, “O great Socrates, I come to you for wisdom.” Socrates, recognizing a pompous fool when he saw one, led him down to the sea and took him chest deep into the water. Then he asked him, “What did you say you wanted?” “Wisdom, O great Socrates,” said the young man.</div>
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<a href="http://66.147.244.97/~camtaylo/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/owl.jpg" style="color: #6eadce;"><img alt="owl" class="size-medium wp-image-504 aligncenter" height="198" src="http://66.147.244.97/~camtaylo/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/owl.jpg?w=300" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 100%;" width="300" /></a></div>
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Socrates put his strong hands on the man’s shoulders and pushed him under. Thirty seconds later Socrates let him up. “What do you want?” he asked again. “Wisdom,” the young man sputtered, “O great and wise Socrates.” Socrates pushed him under again. Thirty seconds, thirty-five, forty – then Socrates let him up. The man was gasping. “What do you want, young man?” </div>
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Between heavy breaths the fellow wheezed, “Wisdom! O wise and wonderful…” Socrates jammed him under again – forty seconds passed then fifty – then he let him up. “What do you want?” “Air!” the young man yelled. “I need air!” “When you want wisdom as much as you have just wanted air, then you will begin to find wisdom.” </div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Lora, Georgia, Times New Roman, Times;"><span style="line-height: 26px;">http://camtaylor.net/2013/06/27/wisdom-air-to-a-drowning-man/</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Lora, Georgia, Times New Roman, Times;"><span style="line-height: 26px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-28597202463190114172015-08-30T03:10:00.001-07:002015-08-30T03:21:03.466-07:00Beyond outline to thoughts on "How Can I Find Truth?"<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Socrates Café</span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Serious Questions to Ponder
Series</span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Question 1: How can I
find truth?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">One of the most basic questions we can ask ourselves is how can
I find truth. Every serious seeking for answers must face this issue
early on in our quest. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Ao what is truth? There is much debate about what truth
is as well as most every other topic under the sun. What I mean as truth
is that it corresponds to the actual state of reality and is not an
illusion. Reality is that which does exist as opposed to that which does
not exist. What “is” defines reality and what “is not” defines illusion.
Truth is reality or perhaps more accurately an accurate description of
reality. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">So as I will use the term in this discussion, truth is an
accurate understanding and communication of reality. </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">To seek
truth is to figure out what reality is and adapt my thinking to it. </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"> <a href="file://localhost/evernote-html-snippet/::#_ftn1"><span style="color: #0000e9; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">[1]</span></a></span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">But how can I find truth? As I see it there are two
extreme options both of which can cause us to approach our search without
real balance or hope of really defining reality. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">The first is lawless superstition. Superstition is
beliefs without any possible rational basis that are use to interpret all
of our experience and lives. An example of superstition would be
faith in horoscopes which believes we can determine the destiny of individuals
by knowing the position of the stars. A google search
on “horoscope sites” comes up with 107 million so this show the extent of
people still using this method to try to gain knowledge of the truth. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">The other extreme would be legalistic scientism.
Scientism sets up a dogmatic and limited approach that hold to the idea
that only what can be discovered by the scientific method is real.<a href="file://localhost/evernote-html-snippet/::#_ftn2"><span style="color: #0000e9; font-weight: normal;">[2]</span></a></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">On the one hand there is an effort here to avoid
all superstition and hold the standards of finding truth so high that
we avoid as much error as we can. But one of the problems is that
while the scientific method can be very useful in understanding some aspects of
reality it seems clear that it is very limited in studying
other things such as justice or love. Many have argued that
the scientific method cannot prove the scientific method since it is based
on philosophical presuppositions that precede it. For instance
the reality of the actual physical world and the dependability of there
being “laws” or “patterns” of behavior of the physical world that can
be observed and predicted to respond in a particular way</b>. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">A practical example of this struggle can be found in the
Psychiatry in which the DSM 5, produced by the American Psychiatric Association
which developed, clusters of symptoms and required a judgment call by the
psychiatrist to define the clients problem such as depression. The
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMHH) promotes a new approach that
is called the “Research Domain Criteria” in which a biological measure could be
used to define all psychological problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The problem is that the “reality” of the needs of people are not always
easily detected by the “hard science” of biology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Dr. Victor Reus, professor of Psychiatry at the University of California expresses doubt about the use of genetic testing and biology alone to diagnose mental disorders:</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">"Trying to control all those different elements, and trying to put together a portolio of biomarkers to help either diagnose people or predict their course of treatment is, I think, not likely to be clincally useful." </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
points out the danger of what is called “reductionism” which while describing
part of reality ignores another part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The whole is greater than the parts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><span style="font-size: large;">So what other options could we use in our
quest to find the true nature of reality?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">One approach would be to use many
different rational ways to seek the true state of reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There would be then an inductive weighing in
of the evidence we could gather from various sources to try to comprehend the
truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some examples of this would be:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">A. Logic vs. the illogical - A
cannot equal non-A – Law of contradiction. Something cannot be true and
false at the same time. No true paradox possible.</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">B. Existential experiences which
give us a “eureka moment” of insight into the state of reality. <a href="file://localhost/evernote-html-snippet/::#_ftn3"><span style="color: #0000e9;">[3]</span></a></span></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">C. Historical Occurrences</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">D. Scientific discoveries</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">E. Trusted Revelation from God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Based on other conclusions such as there is a
God who could be understood, then one could strive to seek what would be a careful
evaluation of divine revelation about HIMSELF and other aspects of
reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><span style="font-size: large;">F. Metanarrative, which is a “big
story”, that provides the most likely harmonization of the collected
data. The “Mega-Story “is an attempt to get a “forest” view of reality
based on the information we gather from other sources. <a href="file://localhost/evernote-html-snippet/::#_ftn4"><span style="color: #0000e9;">[4]</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">So each of these approaches, which keeps
us from wild superstition on the one hand and a reduction of reality by scientism
on the other could be used by a person to seek the true nature of reality. </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"><span style="font-size: large;">In
conclusion, the search for how to find truth must itself be undertaken in an
effort to find the “reality” of how human beings, limited as we are, can come
to understand what exists. Each of us
must struggle through the process of determining how we will seek for the true
nature of what actually exists and see through what are illusions. This
is a vital task for each person to take who desires to find truth. </span><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"><span style="font-size: large;">------------------------------------------------------------------</span></span></b><br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><a href="file://localhost/evernote-html-snippet/::#_ftnref1"><b><span style="color: #0000e9; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">[1]</span></b></a> </span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">For a
discussion on the various understandings of truth we can look at</span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">
<a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth/#CohThe"><b><span style="color: #0000e9; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth/#CohThe</span></b></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth-correspondence/"><b><span style="color: #0000e9; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth-correspondence/</span></b></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/truth/"><b><span style="color: #0000e9; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">http://www.iep.utm.edu/truth/</span></b></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><a href="file://localhost/evernote-html-snippet/::#_ftnref2"><b><span style="color: #0000e9; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">[2]</span></b></a> </span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">“The principles
and empirical processes of discovery and demonstration considered characteristic
of or necessary for scientific investigation, generally involving the
observation of phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis concerning the
phenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth or falseness of the
hypothesis, and a conclusion that validates or modifies the hypothesis.”</span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">This raises the issue of the Philosophy of
Science which tells us that the scientific method rests on a more basic
philosophy which cannot be proven scientifically. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">
<a href="http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/philosophy"><b><span style="color: #0000e9; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/philosophy</span></b></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Psychology and strict science
- <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/09/18/psychiatry_and_mental_illness_has_science_gone_too_far/"><span style="color: #0000e9; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">http://www.salon.com/2013/09/18/psychiatry_and_mental_illness_has_science_gone_too_far/</span></a></span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><a href="file://localhost/evernote-html-snippet/::#_ftnref3"><b><span style="color: #0000e9; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">[3]</span></b></a></span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";"> <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-eureka-moment/"><span style="color: #0000e9;">http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-eureka-moment/</span></a></span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Existential Reasons for Belief in God: A
Defense of Desires and Emotions for Faith</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"> </span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">by
Clifford Williams</span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><a href="file://localhost/evernote-html-snippet/::#_ftnref4"><b><span style="color: #0000e9; font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">[4]</span></b></a></span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";"> The seven
main “mega-explanations are:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">1.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">
</span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Physicalism or Materialism – The belief that everything is
physical, or is necessitated by, the physical. There is no “super
natural” world in which God or other “spirit” beings exist. Everything is
ruled by and understood by the laws of physics and natural science.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">2.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">
</span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Pantheism – The belief that God is everything and everything is
God. In reality there is only one being that has an appearance of being
many. All is one and all is God. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">3.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">
</span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Deism - A belief in God based on reason rather than revelation
and involving the view that God has set the universe in motion but does not interfere
with how it runs.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">4.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">
</span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Polytheism - The belief in more than one deity, especially
several deities. None of these deities are eternal, infinite, all
knowing, omnipresent, or all powerful. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">5.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">
</span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Theism - belief that one God created and rules humans and the
world, not necessarily accompanied by belief in divine revelation. This
one God could have also created other “spirit beings” but these beings are
dependent and under the ultimate control of the one God. God is the
source of morals, ethics, and ultimate justice for humanity.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">6.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">
</span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Nihilism - The belief that there is no objective basis for
truth, objective knowledge about anything is impossible, and that life is
pointless.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">7.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">
</span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Christianity - the world view based on the life, teachings,
example, death, resurrection, and return of Jesus the Messiah/Christ.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16564036513154789524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4309491745524836577.post-63511153605381429632015-08-29T17:39:00.002-07:002015-08-30T03:24:05.985-07:00Outline of thoughts on "How Can I Find Truth?"<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">Socrates Café<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">Serious Questions to Ponder
Series<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">Question 1:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can I find truth?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">Definition:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Truth corresponds to the actual state of reality and is not an
illusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reality is that which does
exist as opposed to that which does not exist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What “is” defines reality and what “is not” defines illusion. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">Truth is an accurate understanding and
communication of reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To seek truth
is to figure out what reality is and adapt my thinking to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">[1]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">How can I find truth?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Two Extreme Options<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Superstition –Irrational beliefs that
interpret experience<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">B.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scientism - Only what can be discovered by
the scientific method is real.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">[2]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">Notes<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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</span></b>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">II.
Other Options<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">A. Logic vs. the illogical - A cannot equal non-A – Law of
contradiction. Something cannot be true
and false at the same time. No true
paradox possible. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">B. Existential experiences which give us a
“eureka moment” of insight into the state of reality. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[3]</b></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">C. Historical Occurrences<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">D. Scientific discoveries<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">E. Trusted Revelation from God<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="font-size: large;">F. Metanarrative, which is a “big story”, that
provides the most likely harmonization of the collected data. The “Mega-Story “is an attempt to get a
“forest” view of reality. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[4]</b></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
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<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-size: large;"><br clear="all" />
</span><br />
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<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">[1]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></b></span></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"> For a discussion on the various understandings of truth we can
look at </span></b><a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth/#CohThe"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth/#CohThe</span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth-correspondence/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth-correspondence/</span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/truth/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">http://www.iep.utm.edu/truth/</span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">[2]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></b></span></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"> “The principles and empirical processes of discovery and
demonstration considered characteristic of or necessary for scientific
investigation, generally involving the observation of phenomena, the
formulation of a hypothesis concerning the phenomena, experimentation to
demonstrate the truth or falseness of the hypothesis, and a conclusion that
validates or modifies the hypothesis.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">This raises the issue of
the Philosophy of Science which tells us that the scientific method rests on a
more basic philosophy which cannot be proven scientifically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><a href="http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/philosophy"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/philosophy</span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">[3]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></b></span></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"> </span></b><a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-eureka-moment/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-eureka-moment/</span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">Existential Reasons for
Belief in God: A Defense of Desires and Emotions for Faith</span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"> by Clifford Williams <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4309491745524836577#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">[4]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></b></span></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow';">The
seven main “mega-explanations are:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Physicalism or
Materialism – The belief that everything is physical, or is necessitated by,
the physical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no “super
natural” world in which God or other “spirit” beings exist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything is ruled by and understood by the
laws of physics and natural science.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Pantheism – The
belief that God is everything and everything is God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In reality there is only one being that has
an appearance of being many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All is one
and all is God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Deism - A belief
in God based on reason rather than revelation and involving the view that God
has set the universe in motion but does not interfere with how it runs.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Polytheism - The
belief in more than one deity, especially several deities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of these deities are eternal, infinite,
all knowing, omnipresent, or all powerful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Theism - belief
that one God created and rules humans and the world, not necessarily
accompanied by belief in divine revelation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This one God could have also created other “spirit beings” but these
beings are dependent and under the ultimate control of the one God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is the source of morals, ethics, and
ultimate justice for humanity. <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Nihilism - The
belief that there is no objective basis for truth, objective knowledge about
anything is impossible, and that life is pointless.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Narrow";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Christianity -
the world view based on the life, teachings, example, death, resurrection, and
return of Jesus the Messiah/Christ.</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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