- May 11, 2005
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SPF posted the following in another thread and it got me thinking... so I asked if it would be ok to spin this off in another thread, including the quote text and was given the go ahead.
One seeker guy who comes to our Bible studies has real issues with the genocide God advocated in the old testament. He says he likes the teachings of Jesus, but he is very troubled by the actions of God in the OT. And while we can propose some reasons as to whay God did this, they are not very convincing to him. I've walked with Jesus for decades, and I look at those actions, and find them troubling, albeit they were never a barrier to my faith.
In a sense, this confirms your statement that the barrier is one of morality, albeit in this fellows case, he needs to be comfortable with God's morality, as contrasted with his own.
I've run into others who find theodicy to be a barrier to conversion. And while its controversial as to whether one can leave faith or not, theodicy seems to be a big player when it comes to folks leaving Christianity.
Philosophy is a weakness of mine... so am looking for input as to how I might better communicate with the seeker guy and others.
I believe wholeheartedly that what keeps people from becoming Christians is never intellectual, but always moral. It is our sinful nature that keeps us from Christ. People may hide behind the guise of intellectual barrier, but at the end of the day it's always going to be moral.
One seeker guy who comes to our Bible studies has real issues with the genocide God advocated in the old testament. He says he likes the teachings of Jesus, but he is very troubled by the actions of God in the OT. And while we can propose some reasons as to whay God did this, they are not very convincing to him. I've walked with Jesus for decades, and I look at those actions, and find them troubling, albeit they were never a barrier to my faith.
In a sense, this confirms your statement that the barrier is one of morality, albeit in this fellows case, he needs to be comfortable with God's morality, as contrasted with his own.
I've run into others who find theodicy to be a barrier to conversion. And while its controversial as to whether one can leave faith or not, theodicy seems to be a big player when it comes to folks leaving Christianity.
Philosophy is a weakness of mine... so am looking for input as to how I might better communicate with the seeker guy and others.