What We Believe

[ladodgers6]

Yes. I remember reading that in Dr. Alexandre Kalomiro's presentation THE RIVER OF FIRE. I still find that view more compelling than the Western view of an angry God who has to be placated. It puts all the onus of salvation on us and our choices rather than this angry God who actively chooses to save a few and damn the rest.

Still.....hard to get away from the propitiation of wrath model.

This is incorrect of what the Classical Reformed Faith, teaches.

 

[ladodgers6]

Ummmmmm......thank you. They are heartfelt and not designed to cause contention. For many years I have wrestled with so many inner demons which made me a person who was A.) not particularly fun to be with and B.) unhappy inside, even as a professing Christian. I've come to realize that the overarching reason for this is something similar to what Luther experienced. You see, it is in man's nature to transpose the relationship we have with our earthly fathers to God our Father. As such, Luther's dad was ........... not a nice person ...... and Luther transposed that to God, making God to be in Luther's mind this unpleasable tyrant. It drove Luther all his life, and you can see it in his writings.

Way off base about Luther. This is why people caricature Classical Reformed Protestantism. My Father was mean, and He hurt my Mother, and did some terrible things. Just because He is that way, does not mean God is. This Ed, hurts me to my core. That we are judged by people before they know anything about us. Sorry but I am sharing my feelings, here.

I think that something similar happened to Augustine when he came up with some of his not-so-Eastern-in-thought theories with which Holy Orthodoxy does not agree. Augustine, as you remember, lived a very dissolute life before his conversion, and I have the feeling that guilt over this colored his thinking and perception of God, especially in the Roman legal milieu in which he lived.

And in similar manner, I have had both Luther and Augustine's experiences, and I realize that I struggle to see God as loving Father instead of angry Judge.

I think I should look up Fr. Evan's audios. Do you happen to have a link?

Thanks....for your comments, helps, and especially to those who have prayed for me.

Trying to find an excuse for our anger is not the truth about God. You were on the right path, seeking to understand why God is angry with us. But to say we put God in the same boat as our bad fathers; is the same thing. Is plain wrong! I am with Edwards that instead of sinners being in the hands of an angry God. Now its God in the hands of angry sinners!

 

[Light of the East]

Way off base about Luther. This is why people caricature Classical Reformed Protestantism. My Father was mean, and He hurt my Mother, and did some terrible things. Just because He is that way, does not mean God is. This Ed, hurts me to my core. That we are judged by people before they know anything about us. Sorry but I am sharing my feelings, here.


Trying to find an excuse for our anger is not the truth about God. You were on the right path, seeking to understand why God is angry with us. But to say we put God in the same boat as our bad fathers; is the same thing. Is plain wrong! I am with Edwards that instead of sinners being in the hands of an angry God. Now its God in the hands of angry sinners!

Jesse, Christian psychologists I have read for decades have all said that it is very common for us to transfer our relationship with our earthly father to that with our heavenly Father. Perhaps you are the exception to the rule, but I will go with the psychologists, especially if they are Christians.

What very little we know of God is often expressed to us in metaphors, similes, and analogies with those things we do know about. This is why Jesus used agricultural analogies. This is why he gave the Parable of the Prodigal Son, showing God as a Father and not just King of Israel as the Psalms state. Those who have been loved and cared for in life find it far easier to understand God as love than those who have not.

 

[ladodgers6]

Jesse, Christian psychologists I have read for decades have all said that it is very common for us to transfer our relationship with our earthly father to that with our heavenly Father. Perhaps you are the exception to the rule, but I will go with the psychologists, especially if they are Christians.

How about those who did not know their Father. Or those who lost their Fathers, when they were very young?

Where in Scripture can I find this that these Christian psychologists speak of?

What very little we know of God is often expressed to us in metaphors, similes, and analogies with those things we do know about. This is why Jesus used agricultural analogies. This is why he gave the Parable of the Prodigal Son, showing God as a Father and not just King of Israel as the Psalms state. Those who have been loved and cared for in life find it far easier to understand God as love than those who have not.

I beg to differ. Those parables are meant to drive home a point. You said that Luther despised God because Luther despised his own earthly Father? I am having a problem with that.

 

[Light of the East]

How about those who did not know their Father. Or those who lost their Fathers, when they were very young?

Where in Scripture can I find this that these Christian psychologists speak of?

I beg to differ. Those parables are meant to drive home a point. You said that Luther despised God because Luther despised his own earthly Father? I am having a problem with that.

Besides the scientific/psychological aspect of it, I do have a personal dog in this fight:

Father’s Day – 2017

 

[Dorothea]

Ok here is a link to a you-tube video of the first "What We Believe" video, which I think is connected to the notes in this thread, and the other videos in the series are available on the same channel.

I see it posted the video. If the link itself is needed, here it is:
http: //youtu.be/DT5PUB5ZiqI
(remove the space after http: that I had to insert to make the link itself show)

And here is "The Inner Life of the Church" series - which I think is the more in depth one.

The Inner Life of the Church


I hope this helps!

Oh, Wow! You found the video, Anastasia! Bless you!

 

[~Anastasia~]

Oh, Wow! You found the video, Anastasia! Bless you!

Thank YOU for pulling the post again!

That will give me something constructive to do with part of mine time tomorrow.

 

[Dorothea]

Thank YOU for pulling the post again!

That will give me something constructive to do with part of mine time tomorrow.

You're welcome.

 

[UncreatedLightPress]

Hey everyone! Christ is Risen!

Uncreated Light Press

I'm posting to tell you guys about a new Orthodox YouTube channel that we have recently started and we would greatly appreciate your guys' support to help us!

Our channel focuses on bringing Orthodox Christian content to our viewers from a variety of Elders and Saints of the Church. Often times content is translated from other languages, making it uniquely available in English on our channel.

New videos go live every Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday!

Your support would mean a lot to us, and we hope that our content will also be enjoyable and useful to you guys! We encourage you guys to subscribe, to stay updated with our content and also want you guys to give us your feedback on content you would like to see and improvements you want to be made.

Thank and God Bless!

 

[UncreatedLightPress]

 

[AMM]

I’ll check it out later, thanks for sharing

 

[Phronema]

Hey everyone! Christ is Risen!

Uncreated Light Press

I'm posting to tell you guys about a new Orthodox YouTube channel that we have recently started and we would greatly appreciate your guys' support to help us!

Our channel focuses on bringing Orthodox Christian content to our viewers from a variety of Elders and Saints of the Church. Often times content is translated from other languages, making it uniquely available in English on our channel.

New videos go live every Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday!

Your support would mean a lot to us, and we hope that our content will also be enjoyable and useful to you guys! We encourage you guys to subscribe, to stay updated with our content and also want you guys to give us your feedback on content you would like to see and improvements you want to be made.

Thank and God Bless!

I look forward to the content!