sedertree, thank's for attaching the link for me. again i enjoy differing views. i take my relationship with god very seriously. in order to find god (if one is looking) one must have an understanding of many views and not blindly accept what someone has told them. if there is a god and if he has made himself known to us, that means he has "rules". meaning he has outlined the way to him and what pleases him and what doesn't. when i die i want to make sure that i am right. if there is a god, he will not accept our lame excuses of why we didn't know him when he made himself known. and why we chose to play by our rules instead of his. if you have kids, you know EXACTLY what i mean.
and please don't read into this that i am a self-righteous pig or an arrogant person. i am neither of those. but i am very confident in my position of "knowing" who god is and what he wants. he has made himself known and i bow to his authority.
here is my "take" on the link you sent me. because i do not like to pollute conversation with many words, i will keep it simple. intellectuallism can exclude many people. simplicity INCLUDES everyone. god loves simplicity because the way to knowing him is simple. it is people that try and make it complex. just like the link you gave me. it was an intellectual exercise in futility. an acknowledgement of a god, while still trying to keep him at arms length. empty words that lead exactly.........nowhere. the worlds history is littered with theory's about god. men, try as they might for conscience and intellectual purposes, "make up" who god is. one cannot make up god and then expect to know him. unless the person has no intereset in knowing him in the first place.
intellectualism can actually become the downfall of a man. at the end of our lives it's not the amount of knowledge that counts (quanity), but the kind of knowledge (quality). i have included at the bottom of my "theory" a simple (keeping it simple) scripture reference on the difference between wasted knowledge and true knowledge. man is good at filling his time up on earth in wasted intellectual pusuits. only to find at the end of his life he is spiritually bankrupt.
the bottom line : god can be known if a person want's to really know him because he has made himself known. but the catch is that a person must be willing to play by his rules. he has made the terms of the relationship. one thing i truly like about my relationship with god to this day, he did not make me a robot. i STILL have free-will choice. so there you go, anyone can "know" him if they WANT TO. or one can spend a lifetime intellectually explaining him away.
just so i am clear to whoever reads this i am going to make the most arrogant statement any man can make. i "know" god and i know the way to him. there are not many god's, only one. there are not many ways to god, only one. and if i am going to challenge people on their "claims", i better be able to back up mine. and i am willing to do it for anyone. however, if a person isn't interested in actually "knowing" god, then it would be a wasted conversation. god cannot violate a persons free-will and will not make himself known to that person. in todays vernacular : "god CANNOT be played". so it's either intellectual ping-pong and holding god at arms length. or parking your brain in your back pocket for awhile in order to allow your heart to see him. but, it is a personal choice. i made up my mind now, not later.
here is the scripture (pretty simple huh?) romans chapter1 verses 19-22
19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.
god in this scripture is talking about how evident he is in his "creation", yet man still manages to "try" and explain him way. sorry, can't do that !!
..........................visiondude
