Comments for Eclectic Christian

Comment on Alternatives to Division – #1: The Christian and Missionary Alliance and the Role of Women as Elders by Keith

Keith — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:50:05 +0000

The gradual wearing down of weak leadership by the feminist movement. We are being more informed by culture than Scripture. It is 2012 and female ordination is next. In the next 20 years the move toward gender neutrality will be expanded. It already includes the re-writing of Scripture (2011 NIV – a repackaging of the discontinued TNIV). At least one country already issues gender neutral passports. How will we distinquish between the people who identify themselves as men or women with those who do not identify with either?

Comment on Reflections on the Deity of Christ – The Image of God by Kris

Kris — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:09:21 +0000

Just to share, I believe that many do seek God. As children, many were taught that we were created to know, love and serve God. We cannot know something, without seeking to know and even to try to understand IT. It wasn’t until I openly, without fear, asked God, “What is this all about?”, that I started really being able to receive the answer.

I believe that God communicates with anyone that seeks Him, in a way in which we are prepared to receive the information. God has always come to us in a way in which we could understand, as individuals, and as human beings. It is the fact that God is truly in us, that we seek to understand the love that is within us.

Consider how at Pentecost, everyone understood the Holy Spirit in their own language. Even now, each person understands things in a different way, according to their own personal abilities, as well as intelligence and maturity. It has always been a wonder at how different we each are, and yet, we are all joined in a way that we can exist and work together as a team, in so many ways. We often miss how much of life is truly a miracle in itself. We are conditioned to accept things so matter-of-a-factly. That is amazing in itself. ;o)

Comment on Reflections on the Deity of Christ – The Image of God by Kris

Kris — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:52:22 +0000

There is a reason why no one has “seen the Father”. The One True God is an Infinite, Perfect, Supreme “BEING” which means He can only be “experienced” in Spirit. God is indescribable in human terms, but we try and try, but how can true perfection be explained finite terms. It can’t. However, Christ is our connection to this Perfection of Supreme Being. As humans, we can never be perfect in being; so it is in Christ’s unconditional love that he connects all of us; even those that do not know Him, to that which is Perfection. This has been communicated, over time, to me, in ways that would be difficult to share. I understand that can be said of all of us, for even those that we may not think have any kind of connection according to our beliefs, we must assume that they could not exist unless they do so through the Will of God, and therefore must be accepted as such.

This is why I believe that to be truly Christian, we can never destroy anything that God has made with any type of negative feeling. When we decide that we must stop the life of anyone or any creature that God created, we must do so with some degree of sorrow that it had to be done for the good of the majority.

Comment on Are Liberals and Atheists Smarter? by Brandon

Brandon — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:33:31 +0000

I’m not so sure that they can “peacefully” coexist. If a scientist is trained to question and prove everything then there is no bounds to be set in this respect. Therefore, I see the Christian perspective as a dangerous one because you are taught to take concepts and notions on faith. If one is not careful, then this blind faith aspect will overflow into one’s career which drastically impedes productive output.

There is yet another psychological term for all of this and that is “cognitive dissonance.” This term is used to desribe the effect on the mind of two opposite and competing ideas. Faith and science do not mix, are opposites, and certainly do compete. Now, the effects may be small, but they can also lead to more restrictive routes in which people go to extremes in ruining their lives, commiting suicide, or simply becoming logically incoherent.

I think what you are refering to at not being at odds would rather be the minimization of the relative negative outcome. But just like anything else there are possibility spectra and outlyers. I hope that you and your family can break the mold.

Comment on Are Liberals and Atheists Smarter? by Eclectic Christian

Eclectic Christian — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:23:35 +0000

My son is looking at taking Engineering Physics at University. We have always encouraged him in the to investigate, and challenge. But we do not believe that reason and faith have to be at odds, rather that faith in God is a "reasonable" conclusion to draw from the evidence that exists in the world. Having said that, I think that taking a look at the BioLogos.org website would be helpful to anyone trying to understand how Science and Faith can peacefully co-exist. Here is one article written directly about that subject.

Comment on Are Liberals and Atheists Smarter? by Brandon

Brandon — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 03:57:18 +0000

Tradition needs to be broken at some point and religion should be left behind entirely or taken in context of a means to instill discipline and right/wrong. There is nothing more important than reasoning skills though and sadly religion never addresses this. The whole creation of christianity and many others stemmed from astrology and the study of the stars. Afterwards, it was twisted into many myth-ridden forms that serve only to control the masses while the elite manipulate to their old ends.

My advise is to help your friend see the light. Philosopher Spinoza once said, “reason is the natural light of the mind.” Only science and mathematics/philosophy can lead one to a true understanding of nature. Religion is a 10k yr old attempt at this that fails more often then not. Would you use a 10k yr old version of transportation to travel from the US to Europe??? I think not

Comment on Are Liberals and Atheists Smarter? by Nat

Nat — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 01:24:57 +0000

Interesting. I am a high schooler at a very privileged institutions and one of my best friends fits almost exactly into the model of the student about which you wrote. He is one of the smartest kids I know, but is controlled to the core by his parents, who are very religious. Interestingly though, I highly doubt he will diverge from science/math. Somehow he has found a way to believe in both, though I worry that the contradiction forming in this will force him to make a choice, which will no doubt be controlled by his parents

Comment on The Coming Evangelical Collapse – A Statistical Support – Part 2. by Precast Detailing

Precast Detailing — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 09:53:07 +0000

Precast Detailing…

[...]The Coming Evangelical Collapse – A Statistical Support – Part 2. « Eclectic Christian[...]…

Comment on The Coming Evangelical Collapse – A Statistical Support – Part 2. by middleman

middleman — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:55:45 +0000

middleman…

[...]The Coming Evangelical Collapse – A Statistical Support – Part 2. « Eclectic Christian[...]…

Comment on Are Liberals and Atheists Smarter? by Brandon

Brandon — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:28:14 +0000

It sounds like you and your children may be above the mean then. I went to school with a fellow that was one of the brightest among us and watched as his over bearing family pushed him into religion and at that time he diverged from science and mathematics. He seemingly fell apart from year to year to some downgraded form of his prior self. He went from the best private engineering school in the country to working at a gas station in the area he grew up. I do not believe he would have taken this path unless driven by an outside force as he was too bright and talented to fall from within. The worst possible event in my life is the observance of collapse in potential of a fellow man. I cringe when I see it and I put a great deal of effort into helping others find a better path. The path to science, philosophy, and reason since it is after all the true light of the mind (Spinoza).

I would never say that for a certainty everyone following religion is not intelligent. There have been plenty of religious folk throughout history that were very intelligent in fact. But, at the same moment we must use statistical tools to come to some end decision. From my experience there were more people with lower logical reasoning skills in religious sects than those outside of these faiths. My colleagues have the same experience and so I can only conclude one end result after all is said and done.

The standing opinion among the educated is that those following religion blindly are below the bar. One must never follow blindly and be held accountable for their actions. Using the notion that God will forgive your sins is a big stumbling block and source in creation of repeat offenders. So, if you bring your children up correctly and in a fashion that curiosity is never hampered by the rote or tradition, then believe anything you wish and prosper. However, if you end up using religion to limit your potential, then drop that ideology like it’s hot and move on in some logical fashion.

Question everything and question often and there is no doubt that you will eventually find the truth among the bogus. You will also be delighted that the creator (for me nature) has blessed your life with so much more than you ever could have asked for in the start of this hard work. Taking the route least taken and making your own way while adhering to some personal principle is that only means to enlightenment.