Quote:
Originally Posted by zeek
How do You KNOW? Because the Bible tells you so? If that's all you have, then, what about all the internal evidence that the Bible is a fallible book written by ordinary pre-scientifically-minded humans? And, what of all the evidence about nature and the world that contradicts the Bible.? It seems you must ignore that. Isn't it really the case that your belief in God and that "He cares" is based on faith and not knowledge? And isn't it in fact faith IN SPITE OF the world you know through your senses?
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That's the whole deal. That faith triumphs over the senses. But it's not blind faith. For example, if I have faith in something spiritual other than God, that faith is blind, because there is no experiential validation of that faith. But time and again I have been at the end of my rope, and God has come through. Sometimes without, but always within. I can't explain it, but he is there loving me and reassuring me. I know him, I touch him, I see him. He cares. And he shows me some light, and I see like I never have before, and I realize more how wise he really is and how little I really see or know.
Zeek, the fact is the kind of KNOWing you are insisting on is not the kind God gives in this life. He doesn't give proof, he just gives evidence. You can evaluate the evidence as it suits you, but you will be accountable to him for how truly honestly you did evaluate it, and he knows exactly what is going on in your heart. So, yes, it is a test of faith, and of character. Nothing is provable. That's because God is a first principle, an axiom, and axioms always have to be taken by faith. So the question is not
whether you take things on faith, because you cannot live without doing so. The question is
what you will take on faith and
why.
Zeek, You are describing exactly how it is (though in a rather cynical way). God is so great he expects us to believe. He has answers for all your questions. But you have to trust him. There is sufficient evidence, in nature, in history, and in our experience to do so, IMHO. And that determination has proven to be the best one I've ever made, though I certainly had many excuses to give up on God.
In the end, everyone will KNOW. But there is no test, no challenge in that kind of knowing. God is not going to give us a math proof of him in this life. Then again, you really don't have a math proof of much else either. So choose.