Is it possible to go through life without believing in anything? Can we do science and limit ourselves in our thinking to nothing but the facts? Source: A Discourse on Belief
A Discourse on Belief
Category: Faith
Balance Between Scripture and Spirit
Reaching for one without letting go of the other
I feel compelled by the Holy Spirit (I hope) to explain myself a bit. Please forgive me if this gets into a little self-conscious rambling.
I have touched recently on some important doctrinal issues without really addressing them in a doctrinal way. That is intentional, but that leaves me a little self-conscious about it.
I have brushed past many doctrinal issues in this blog, and some of them are themes that I come back to quite often. Recently, I have veered dangerously close to issues like the inerrancy of the Bible and Bible hermeneutics, though I have not used words like that, other than to acknowledge at some points those rocks that exist in the turbulent waters.
I often reflect on the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. I often reflect on atonement, redemption, salvation and similar themes, though I don’t often use those words. Anytime we speak of the cross, the specter of those doctrinal ideas arises.
I am usually not all that conscious about doctrine in the sense of academic formality or denominational purity. This also is intentional, though it isn’t intended in any rebellious, skeptical or heretic away.
What I always aim for is “mere Christianity”.
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What If God Is Cruel
In light of recent events and the difficulty, pain and suffering in the world, here is a thought experiment that might offer some perspective.
Take a moment with me and consider: what if God was cruel? What if God was completely unpredictable and wholly uncaring towards us? What if God was arbitrary, uninterested and unkind?
Some might say that God seems to be that way… if there is a God… pointing to passages in the Old Testament that portray God as angry, wrathful, retributive and seemingly callous about human life and suffering. Some say that they cannot believe in a God like that.
But, hold on a second. Why should God be the way we think He should be? Why should God be the way we want Him to be?
If God is God, and there is no higher authority, who are we to demand God be anything other than whoever He is and wants to be?
Indulge me a little here.
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Should the Bible Be Taken Literally?
When demand that the Bible be taken literally in all respects, we are imposing our own standard on the Bible and insisting that it talk to us in that way.
Whether the Bible should be read and interpreted literally seems to be an open question in the 21st Century. Some Christians, and many people who criticize Christians, seem to think the Bible must be read in a literal, wooden fashion, and it must stand or fall based on what people say is “the literal interpretation” – the Bible is either literally true or literally false, and there is no third position.
So, let me put this out there – do we approach other literature that way?
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Living Like An Atheist?
If God created the universe, created you and me and everything we know, doesn’t He deserves more of us?
Ravi Zacharias is a well-known speaker on faith, culture and philosophy. He travels around the world, rubbing shoulders with the intellectual elite. He wasn’t always the intellectual sort. He wasn’t always a man faith. He called himself an atheist growing up.
In an interview, when he was pressed on that point, he said, “Atheism is a strong word. I was living like an atheist.”
How many of us live like an atheist?
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Navigating by Faith 