Archive for June, 2008:
The Servant-hood of God
We look at those around us, and we marvel at the rare occasion of celebrities or political figures rolling up their sleeves to work alongside the “common man.” Recently, a church I know of did a service project at 25 sites in the St. Louis area involving 450 volunteers. A friend of mine remarked at how strange it was to see “the wealthiest guy [he knows] on his knees, scrubbing toilets in a community park.” Their service takes on special significance because they set aside their status and power; they go “above and beyond” what they are called to do. Yet most cases that we see splayed across the news involve people with ulterior motives. I’m sure that Barack Obama and John McCain are great guys, but they’re not flipping pancakes at Joe’s Diner to help them cook breakfast, but to gain attention and identify with voters who can serve their interests. Read more »
New YouTube Page
So we have created, referenced and enjoyed several films from YouTube. Now we have a page that collects all of those films that we find relevant to the discussions that take place on this site. From Nooma Videos (produced by Rob Bell and Mars Hill Church) to videos that we have made, you might find these videos interesting. Enjoy!
The Seminarian Wager
We have seen discussed on several different blogs Pascal’s Wager. The contemporary atheist/agnostic response has been to generate their own version, or a “De-Conversion Wager” (it’s on the side-bar, scroll down a bit to read it). In each of these Wagers there are strong points and weak points to the logic behind them. So in our desire to affirm the strengths and challenge the weaknesses, we have come up with our very own “Seminarian Wager.” While this is far from a final product (the language of it may get massaged around a bit), at the very least the concept should come through. Without further ado, our wager: Read more »
God The Playwright
I’m currently reading Tim Keller’s The Reason for God, and I came across an awesome quote I wanted to run by you, especially considering recent discussions on the knowability of God.
“When a Russian cosmonaut returned from space and reported that he had not found God, C.S. Lewis responded that this was like Hamlet going into the attic of his castle looking for Shakespeare. If there is a God, he wouldn’t be another object in the universe that could be put in a lab and analyzed with empirical methods. He would relate to us the way a playwright relates to the characters in his play. We (characters) might be able to know quite a lot about the playwright, but only to the degree that the author chooses to put information about himself in the play. Therefore, in no case could we “prove” God’s existence as if he were an object wholly within our universe like oxygen and hydrogen or an island in the Pacific.”
Wow. Is that huge or what? It strikes me that this fits amazingly well with the literary revelation from God (Scripture) and the physical revelation (manifestation) of God in Jesus Christ. What do you guys think? Does this effectively balance the mystery of God with His personal nature? Is it possible to know some attributes and the character of God if He has revealed them to us? Where can we discern those attributes?
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