Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] [RELIGION] new gnostic gospel discovered

[Rick Buford <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

Stephen Montgomery-Smith wrote:
> > Rick Buford wrote:
> >
> > Take, for example, a person (well call him X for now), who wants to 
> > make the world a better place. X's goal is to make the world a better 
> > place by spreading the word of his God to the whole world. Now, taking 
> > your Proverbs quote, whether he does this by burning at the stake or 
> > feeding and clothing all the non-believers is pre-determined by God.
>
> You have it precisely correct.

By this logic, then the Inquisition, and all of the abuses of the 
Church's power, was the Will of God? The Crusades?

> This whole issue is rather difficult, and I think that a great many 
> Christians feel the same way as you do.  This leads to two dichotomous 
> ways of thinking - hyper-Calvinism in which God controls everything, and 
> free-will plays no role at all, and Armenianism in which man makes the 
> final decisions, and God just creates opportunities for men to make 
> decisions.  (In all these debates, the decision that is primarily 
> discussed is whether to accept salvation or not.)  This debate is an old 
> one, for example it is the whole subject of Martin Luther's book "The 
> Bondage of the Will."
>
> However my feeling is that the Bible really does teach both messages 
> concurrently, and doesn't even seem to recognise that this is an issue. 
>  I am told that in the Hebrew mindset that there is no contradiction 
> between God controling everything and man having free will.

This does not appear to be a very logical mindset...

> Rather than seeing it as an out and out contradiction, I see it as a 
> rather difficult paradox which we have yet to fully resolve.  In this 
> manner, it is rather similar to the modern theories of general 
> relativity and quantum mechanics.  They are both theories that clearly 
> have a great deal of truth in them, but as yet physicists have been 
> unable to reconcile them in a fully coherent manner.
>
> Stephen

While I can accept your analysis as valid for yourself, I can't help but 
think that part of the reason you're able to accept it as "paradox" 
instead of "contradiction" is your predisposition to faith.

Rick
--
We simply can't idiot-proof everything. Sometimes the idiots just have 
to suffer and die.
--http://www.overheardintheoffice.com/

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