Well it beats getting bored in Church :-)
Submitted by Forgiven on July 02 2000 04:58:00
In reply to Re: We are saved through faith submitted by Dannyboy on July 01 2000 19:32:43
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One of the most exciting Christian projects of the past decade has been the Alpha Course concept which started in a church in London and has since spread world wide. The concept behind it is that it is an opportunity to discuss these matters in small groups in a relaxed environment (ideally over food and drink), following a short chunk of input from Christian leaders. Some of the best courses are where there are an overwhelming number of non Christians, because they tend to be more honest than the Christians who are supposed to know all the answers! For information about local occurences, try the link below; it is a world wide set up now, with both Protestant and Catholic churches involved (Dirk can tell us if the Orthodox have gone for it!) Having been on a course, I found it helpful to face these issues again - give it a whirl; you should get a meal out of it if nothing else! On the specific questions raised: 1) Yes God did know the outcome when it all started - but still chose to go ahead with creating man with free will. That was his choice, one which we can't really argue 2) Yes, on a bad day the Catholic church fails to demonstrate the love of God and instead settles for the easy, institutionalised approach. As it is made up of humans, it is hardly a surprise that it gets it wrong at times, as we all do. At its best, however, it has shown God to the world effectively. The problem of suffering is the old old issue. My own answer is to see the matter as one of catastrophic consequences of the choice of the first humans to reject God. The idea runs that the world was perfect, and without suffering until the choice was made to turn away from God's way. The result of this is to release the negative consequences of this sin into the world - not only in the obvious suffering, but also unbalancing the world so that earthquakes and all the other negative things start to happen. This is a feature of the way that the world works - all actions have consequences - good actions for good, bad for bad. It makes living 'real' - as opposed to nothing having any consequences. At the heart of the Christian gospel is the death of Jesus which offers the prospect of releasing the world from these consequences - or at least offers the prospect of doing so if we allow it to be effective in our lives - and others'. I hope that moves the discussion on.... |
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