Logical understanding! Which proves a bit of an issue in this case.
Not really. There's an area of Christianity devoted to apologetics, which deals largely with logic. I am involved in apologetics myself. Perhaps I can be of some assistance if you're struggling with the logical side of Christianity.
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Don't mess with Yoda!
"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done.""
-C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (emphasis mine)
"You must be imaginative, strong-hearted. You must try things that may not work, and you must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from. Your only limit is your soul."
-Chef at the beginning of Ratatouille
Not really. There's an area of Christianity devoted to apologetics, which deals largely with logic. I am involved in apologetics myself. Perhaps I can be of some assistance if you're struggling with the logical side of Christianity.
That'd be great. One of the fundamental questions that I have has been asked for centuries. I know that God exists outside of time (I understand that logic) but the whole creator of the creator argument still leaves me in doubt as to how God, well, existed (and still exists) in the first place.
I hadn't even heard of apologetics prior to this, it sounds exactly like what I need to inform myself about. The more you know, the more you don't know!
I'm eighteen, and for the past year or two I had never really thought about God .. just followed the usual routine of Church and prayer of thanks etc. But it's hit me that I just don't have the faith that I want to have.
I look at my brother, mother, grandfather and grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousins - I can really 'see' their faith. And I just feel so lost. For instance today, my cousins showed me some photos and videos of their missionary trips to Burkina Faso. It was great to see them (especially considering I thought it was going to be a drag!) and I really feel as if God is with them.
I can't say the same for me. I make a point of attending church and listening to what the minister has to say; reading the Bible and [trying to] understand what I can of it. I'm hoping that this step, creating this post, will help along what is a long path, with great glory at the end.
When it comes to prayer, I struggle. When I do pray, I seek guidance and I just don't feel as if it's getting anywhere. When I don't pray at night, I feel so lost yet wonder "will it make a difference?"
Any advice is much welcomed, however repetitive or dry-sounding. I'm in a, in words of my minister, a spiritual no-mans' land. I can't go back knowing that salvation lies ahead; but I can't seem to make any forward progress.
I appreciate any advice you have, from both Christian and non-Christian views.
I went through exactly what you are going through when I was the same age. Now, in retrospect, I believe it was God calling me into a deeper walk with Him. I was just like you, active in church, even playing the guitar for our youth group, belonged to young discipleship groups, read the Bible, even prayed for others, but deep down inside, I struggled with the truth that I just didn't believe in it all, not like others appeared to.
The best advice I can give is to pray. All alone one day, I fell to my knees and I prayed for the faith that the apostles had remembering that they went from the worst of non-believers, timid, afraid and hiding when Jesus was arrested and crucified to men willing to be martyred for their faith.
I wanted that, and I began praying for it. The first thing the Lord led me to do afterwards was to read the Bible all the way through, but this time to pray for His eyes, for His guidance so that I would read the Word, the message He intended for us to hear.
I found that life-changing in and of itself.
Don't give up. The faith He gave me has sustained me all these years (I'm in my fifties now). It has never wavered and only grows more powerful with each passing year. It was even able to sustain me when Christian ministries I was a part of fell apart. My eyes and ears, I realized, had moved from those around me directly onto Him.
My guess is He has something very special in mind for you, a ministry perhaps, or simply a voice for Him where you are, but He needs you to open your heart to Him in a way you never have before.
God bless you in this journey. I will keep you in my prayers.
__________________ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
That'd be great. One of the fundamental questions that I have has been asked for centuries. I know that God exists outside of time (I understand that logic) but the whole creator of the creator argument still leaves me in doubt as to how God, well, existed (and still exists) in the first place.
I hadn't even heard of apologetics prior to this, it sounds exactly like what I need to inform myself about. The more you know, the more you don't know!
Thanks
That's certainly true in apologetics. True, the design argument points to a designer, but not necessarily to the God of the Bible. That's why I don't use it. What do you mean when you ask 'how God exists'?
Rather, it is the Bible that points to God. That seems a bit simplistic when you read it, but what is required to make that statement makes it what is likely the most monumental argument in terms of evidence it needs to support the idea. It's a more historical and archeological approach, and that's why I like it. I'm a bit of a history nut. It begins with the idea that the Bible is reliable and authoritative: a good eyewitness account, in other words. Lee Strobel, while I hate to use his arguments, has a good compilation of information in his book Case for Christ. Going far deeper than Strobel is Craig Blomberg in The Reliability of John and The Reliability of the Gospels. An even better compilation for general information is The Apologetics Study Bible.
Surprised by Faith speaks more to the philosophical side of Christianity, and from what I've read thus far is a great book.
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Don't mess with Yoda!
"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done.""
-C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (emphasis mine)
"You must be imaginative, strong-hearted. You must try things that may not work, and you must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from. Your only limit is your soul."
-Chef at the beginning of Ratatouille
All this talk of logic is tiresome. What is logical about the resurrection of the dead? God defies logic, and the more you try to understand the less you will. And how is it that your minister has declared that you are in a spiritual no man's land? Is that his idea of edification?
All this talk of logic is tiresome. What is logical about the resurrection of the dead?
Everything, when you take the metaphysical as a real thing. It's just not a scientific possibility...
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Don't mess with Yoda!
"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done.""
-C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (emphasis mine)
"You must be imaginative, strong-hearted. You must try things that may not work, and you must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from. Your only limit is your soul."
-Chef at the beginning of Ratatouille
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