I am a theist. There; I said it. I believe in the one God who created the Universe and created all of humanity. I normally say, I believe in God (not 'a' God), because I seek to have a personal relationship with such a being, through his son Jesus Christ. What I want to explore is not so much, my theism (Christian theism you could say), but rather, other's disbelief in the existence of an Intelligent Designer (or A-theism).
Questions come to mind (amongst many, many other questions), about those who are not 'theists':
I'll tell you why I am a theist. I think that to believe in a designer who created the complexities of the Universe is more logical than believing in the non-existence of such a creator.
I'll tell you why I am a mono-theist. I wholeheartedly believe in the validility of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, and the verses that iterate that the Lord God is one. (Deut 6:4, for example).
I'll tell you why I am a Christian. Well, the answer contains a myriad of reasons, but some that come to mind, is the genuine moving of God's Spirit in my life, and the consistent co-incidences that occur in my life related to what I sensed God was doing in my life, and what the Bible was saying. The realisation that life without Christ was meaningless. The realisation that I was a sinner (and the experience I felt within that realisation) and the forgiveness I experienced as the Spirit tangibly moved in my life and confirmed what the NT Scriptures spoke about. I'm a Christian also, in less religious terms, because of the example I saw around me of people who were Christians and the desire to replicate that kind of living.
So, I am a mono-theist. A reformed Anglican. A disciple. A born-again Salvationist. A Spirit-filled apologist. A sojourner. An evangelist at heart. A preacher. A reader, amongst many other things...
But most importantly to me, I am a follower of Christ.
Questions come to mind (amongst many, many other questions), about those who are not 'theists':
- Where does one derive its morality from?
- What code of ethics do you follow?
- You could put it down to humanism, but then what makes one's choice to murder wrong, if they believe it is right?
- How do you explain the complexity of nature without a belief in a Deity:
- The heart that pumps the right amount of blood to the brain
- The photosynthesis process that cleverly converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, including oxygen, which humans then breathe.
- The banana that conveniently tells you by its own skin colour when its ready to eat (green -> yellow -> brown)
- The relative stability of the growth of such a complex Universe, including, for instance, tides on the Earth's oceans dependent upon the orbit of the moon around the Earth.
I'll tell you why I am a theist. I think that to believe in a designer who created the complexities of the Universe is more logical than believing in the non-existence of such a creator.
I'll tell you why I am a mono-theist. I wholeheartedly believe in the validility of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, and the verses that iterate that the Lord God is one. (Deut 6:4, for example).
I'll tell you why I am a Christian. Well, the answer contains a myriad of reasons, but some that come to mind, is the genuine moving of God's Spirit in my life, and the consistent co-incidences that occur in my life related to what I sensed God was doing in my life, and what the Bible was saying. The realisation that life without Christ was meaningless. The realisation that I was a sinner (and the experience I felt within that realisation) and the forgiveness I experienced as the Spirit tangibly moved in my life and confirmed what the NT Scriptures spoke about. I'm a Christian also, in less religious terms, because of the example I saw around me of people who were Christians and the desire to replicate that kind of living.
So, I am a mono-theist. A reformed Anglican. A disciple. A born-again Salvationist. A Spirit-filled apologist. A sojourner. An evangelist at heart. A preacher. A reader, amongst many other things...
But most importantly to me, I am a follower of Christ.
A thought to ponder...
ReplyDeleteIf a Christian believes in God and commits their life to Him, and turns out to be wrong, they having nothing to lose. If an atheist (or non-christian) chooses not to believe in God (and commit their lives to Him) and it turns out they're wrong, they have EVERYTHING to lose.
W.
Another thought to ponder Anonymous - what if the Muslims are right? You've then believed in the wrong version of God and are going to the Muslim version of hell, so in that case you have everything to lose by not following Allah.
ReplyDeleteJack, some of your arguments aren't based right. Eg. - jack-"so the validity of the Old Testament that condones slavery but condemns eating shellfish and getting tattoos," its out of context without the new testament, old n new put together tells the whole story. Both of them valid.
ReplyDelete"and did Noah get two Tasmanian devils to walk onto his boat during a world wide flood, then have them wander down to Tasmania after..." I don't know about anyone elses take, but I think the 'world' is only as big as you know. Y'know?
Anon w , like your thinking.
I guess we can only make judgment and choice on what we know, and be judged by Him on that. No one else!
Please don't apologise Pete, as there is very little to apologise for, and you make assumptions about me that fit your preconceptions about people with doubts and questions. In fact I'm just sorry that you had to go down the line of "he must have been treated badly, therefore he is against God/Jesus/church". At least you didn't go down the other predictable path that many fundamentalists like to go down, accusing me of loving my sinfulness, therefore being against God/Jesus/church. I have simply found myself asking hard questions in recent years about my faith, and getting less than satisfactory answers. I realise that most people find great comfort in their Christian beliefs and don’t really want to think too hard about them. But I do want to question things, and I want to know the truth. For me, there are too many things about mainstream, traditional Christianity that make little sense and I cannot believe them to be true. So I continue to hang onto small parts of my Christian faith, attend my Corps for family, friend and community reasons and try and find some compatibility between what I believe to be true and what is preached and/or taught there. You are right that I dislike fundamentalism, as its proponents arrogantly assert that they are right and everyone else is wrong, and those that do not believe as they do are destined for eternal punishment. I’m not sure exactly where you fit on the scale from extreme liberal to extreme fundamentalist, but I appreciate the fact that you at least publish my comments and respond to them, which is more than some of your contemporaries do.
ReplyDelete**NOT innerant.
ReplyDelete