Many years ago I read the following book, and it did little to bring me closer to God:
"The Intellectuals Speak Out About God: A Handbook for the Christian Student in a Secular Society", (September 1, 1984), by Roy Abraham Varghese (Editor).
I respect the Bible, and occasionally read a Scripture if it has been referred to me by someone in conversation or writing, or if I have a notion and want to read what the Bible says about it, but again this does little to bring me closer to God. All sermons and printed literature from the established Churches leave me cold, they are all saying the same things over and over again and I tell them, or dismiss the literature saying I am already converted, the preachers are wasting their time and I am wasting my time reading the literature. Perhaps one day I will read something, or hear something said which will astound me, and I hope and pray for that.
This position of mine has led me to think that I could write about my views of God, and of course I would be humbled yet pleased if it had an influence on someone. I am of course no intellectual, just a common man searching for some truth in this wicked world, so here goes.
To begin, I have to believe that there exists a supernatural realm undetectable by all of our worldly efforts in our known time and space. Our understanding of electromagnatic waves, strong and weak nuclear forces and the mathematical theories associated with these phenomena bring us no nearer to this supernatural realm, in spite of the fantastic advances in science, technology and engineering which this understanding has brought us. Our only connection is a spiritual connection, and I am adamant in my belief that there is a spiritual side to my existence in this world and that I need to feed and nurture it just as much as my need to nurture my physical, intellectual, emotional and psychological aspects.
My acceptance of the existence of God is really quite simple. I look and marvel at the beauty of creation, the geosphere, the biosphere and now possibly the noosphere through telecommunications and this evolution cannot have arisen by chance. There has to be a great designer. As far as I know all religions aspire to this concept of a supernatural being, or beings, but for me the only religion which makes complete sense is Christianity. Why is this so?
The Bible has to be the basis on which I hold this view. I cannot accept that a great designer has no purpose in creating the universe which we observe, and the most obvious purpose is to fulfill its creation (I assign no gender, that is a figment of man's imagination to make the stories of the Bible more acceptable to mortal man) with the advent of human-kind in its likeness. There may well be many other life-forms in the universe, but none will have the possibility of a spiritual connection with God, anymore than any of the miriad life-forms here on earth which we do know about. With God designing us in its likeness we were given free will and the ability to choose, it did not want us to be mere puppets on a string. Most of us have chosen badly, exemplified by the story of Samuel giving the Israelites a king against God's advice. But its plan was simple. It knew It would come to earth as a man with whom human-kind could relate more easily rather than with some mysterious supernatural being. Jesus was God, none of this nonsense about Him being the Son of God; this was written into the Scriptures by the writers so that the readers of the time could again relate more closely to God, through Christ. Being God, I have to believe that the resurrection of Jesus as a man was a reality in this world, that God's return to the supernatural (heaven) as a spirit occurred, but it remained with us as the Holy Spirit which now resides in each of us assisting us with our spiritual connection with God.
I have to stop and post this entry, there is so much more to write about, not least the acceptance of the devil as another spiritual being, and the great controversy (acknowledging Ellen G. White of the Seventh Day Adventist Church) between good and evil.
"The Intellectuals Speak Out About God: A Handbook for the Christian Student in a Secular Society", (September 1, 1984), by Roy Abraham Varghese (Editor).
I respect the Bible, and occasionally read a Scripture if it has been referred to me by someone in conversation or writing, or if I have a notion and want to read what the Bible says about it, but again this does little to bring me closer to God. All sermons and printed literature from the established Churches leave me cold, they are all saying the same things over and over again and I tell them, or dismiss the literature saying I am already converted, the preachers are wasting their time and I am wasting my time reading the literature. Perhaps one day I will read something, or hear something said which will astound me, and I hope and pray for that.
This position of mine has led me to think that I could write about my views of God, and of course I would be humbled yet pleased if it had an influence on someone. I am of course no intellectual, just a common man searching for some truth in this wicked world, so here goes.
To begin, I have to believe that there exists a supernatural realm undetectable by all of our worldly efforts in our known time and space. Our understanding of electromagnatic waves, strong and weak nuclear forces and the mathematical theories associated with these phenomena bring us no nearer to this supernatural realm, in spite of the fantastic advances in science, technology and engineering which this understanding has brought us. Our only connection is a spiritual connection, and I am adamant in my belief that there is a spiritual side to my existence in this world and that I need to feed and nurture it just as much as my need to nurture my physical, intellectual, emotional and psychological aspects.
My acceptance of the existence of God is really quite simple. I look and marvel at the beauty of creation, the geosphere, the biosphere and now possibly the noosphere through telecommunications and this evolution cannot have arisen by chance. There has to be a great designer. As far as I know all religions aspire to this concept of a supernatural being, or beings, but for me the only religion which makes complete sense is Christianity. Why is this so?
The Bible has to be the basis on which I hold this view. I cannot accept that a great designer has no purpose in creating the universe which we observe, and the most obvious purpose is to fulfill its creation (I assign no gender, that is a figment of man's imagination to make the stories of the Bible more acceptable to mortal man) with the advent of human-kind in its likeness. There may well be many other life-forms in the universe, but none will have the possibility of a spiritual connection with God, anymore than any of the miriad life-forms here on earth which we do know about. With God designing us in its likeness we were given free will and the ability to choose, it did not want us to be mere puppets on a string. Most of us have chosen badly, exemplified by the story of Samuel giving the Israelites a king against God's advice. But its plan was simple. It knew It would come to earth as a man with whom human-kind could relate more easily rather than with some mysterious supernatural being. Jesus was God, none of this nonsense about Him being the Son of God; this was written into the Scriptures by the writers so that the readers of the time could again relate more closely to God, through Christ. Being God, I have to believe that the resurrection of Jesus as a man was a reality in this world, that God's return to the supernatural (heaven) as a spirit occurred, but it remained with us as the Holy Spirit which now resides in each of us assisting us with our spiritual connection with God.
I have to stop and post this entry, there is so much more to write about, not least the acceptance of the devil as another spiritual being, and the great controversy (acknowledging Ellen G. White of the Seventh Day Adventist Church) between good and evil.
