Re: A good question...
Submitted by F.O.D. on April 12 1999 at 07:12:54
In reply to A brief question... Submitted by Tygyr on April 11 1999 at 19:40:46
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Hi Tygyr, what an excellent question you have there. I doubt I can answer it very well ;) First, a technical point, yes there are one or two translations in English which come from the latin Vulgate, which is a translation (despite Brother Jerome's objections) of the greek Septuagint, which is a translation of the original Hebrew writings. But the majority of English translations we use today are made directly from the original Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) languages. You don't want to be carrying misinformation around, do you? (your comment about editorials probably remains fair). Secondly, a quick comment about sexuality. My view is that if God has heavy-handed opposition to my sexual feelings, then he has good reasons for that, even if I don't understand those reasons. Well enough about sexuality, that's not your real question today. So, what you're asking is how fair is it for God to be a dictorial monomaniac? "A jealous God" Deut 6:15. "He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus" 1 Thess 1:8. Now that is a good question. Thinking about it, I think the issue is one of truth. God is not saying "look, out of the great multitude of gods, you have to worship me or I'll kill you all!". No there are no other gods, if our faith is to be believed. God does not want us to be living a lie, saying "well this is my god" when it is no god at all. He is trying to keep us from existing in some false fantasy world (did you see Anakin's post at BC last week, asking that if we could wire ourselves into a boylover-friendly virtual world, would we do it? Most replies said no, they wouldn't want to live in a world that wasn't real). Look at the context of the "I am the only God" language in the Bible. Isaiah 44 is classic. v6 "the LORD says 'I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God'" ...v13 "The carpenter cut down cedars",... v15 "some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it"...v21 "Remember these things O Israel, I have made you"...v24 "I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens." It's not that our God is unfairly insisting that people acknowledge him before all other gods, it's that there are no other gods to acknowledge. The situation would be like a child who tells his parents that they're not his parents any more, instead the pink dragon that lives in the garage is now his parent. The error here is not that the child has found someone else to care for him, someone who might even do a better job of it than the parents themselves. The problem is that the child has invented an imaginary parent, one that doesn't even exist. Where's the good in that? Now the question remains, without bringing false gods into the argument, why could one not acknowledge that there is the One True God, and then say why does he not let us live on our own without having to pay homage to him? I'm not altogether sure how to answer that. I think the best I can say is that once you know how much he is concerned for you, why would you not want to be his friend? Do you know that he loves you? If you want to find literary models of God, I can strongly recommend "Sea of Glass", by Barry B. Longyear. See what you think of the computer that controls that society. And keep an eye out for the warm arm... I was shocked at how many questions that book brought up about the way things work under God. And, best of all, the hero is a 7yo boy ;) (well, until he turns 13, at least...then 16...then 18...) Why does the boy...the computer...?? (I won't fill in the blanks, it'll spoil the story) Final answer, how do I justify sublimating my own self in favour of God? Likely, by recognising that God is good, that he loves me, that he seeks the best for me and is not trying to arbitrarily force me into being something I hate. Take care, Tyg, F.O.D. |