The scientific secularist makes us ask the question, “Why do you believe in God?” The religious terrorist makes us ask the question, “What sort of God do you believe in?” Both questions are crucial in the modern world, and we need an answer to both. In some ways the latter question is more important than the first, and it has been forced upon us yet again this week by indiscriminate bomb plots on aircraft in the name of God.
The suicide bomber blows himself up with the cry, “God is great”. The same cry enables a man to send his younger brother on a suicidal death mission, and, according to reports, the man responsible for the “cartridge bombs” discovered this week has perpetrated precisely that crime. Suicide and indiscriminate murder are part of the political outworking of religious “jihad” being fought in this world against the great Satan of the west. Martyrdom has been re-defined as killing one’s self in order to kill others, rather than being ready to die for one’s faith at the hands of militant persecutors.
Who is this “God” who is “great” in the midst of such terror? He is certainly a great help to the secularist cause! But the reality is that, despite the fact that the true God is indeed great, the application of that truth to such deeds is nothing more than a blasphemy against his greatness. It is a work of deception in the degenerate human mind. Unfortunately there are many such misrepresentations of God in the world, whereas in the nature of the case there is only one true God.
If one thing becomes immediately clear from all this, it is that the idea that all “faiths” or “beliefs” lead to the same God is manifest nonsense. We might safely say that humble, generous souls with a heart for righteousness and love might well find their way through the labyrinth of religious systems of the world to the one true God (cp. Cornelius). But religious systems more often block the way, or point in wrong directions.
The Judeo-Christian God of the bible rejects categorically both murder and suicide; Christianity as a religion has had its fanatics, but genuine Christianity has always rejected both murder and suicide even in its doctrine concerning war. It cannot be remotely construed as leading in the same direction as suicidal jihad, nor of coming from the same source.
Understanding who God is and what he is like is fundamental, therefore, to real and true faith. But only God himself can reveal his own nature, and the Old and New Testaments claim unequivocally to provide us with that revelation; they do not purport to be human philosophy but revelation. It is when we begin to piece this biblical revelation together and hold it alongside our own experience and living encounters with God that we begin to realise how utterly self authenticating this witness is, and that it is leading us to the truth.
The crucial encounter with God is in meeting the risen Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life; he is the light of the world; he is the one who has revealed the “name” of God (that is to say, his nature), He has revealed it both in his person and in his teaching. Fundamentally, love totally predominates; judgement and righteousness provide an essential balance to love, are indeed an integral part of love; total provision is offered for every aspect of human need; eternal life is underlined heavily.
He sends us out to love our neighbours, to love our enemies, to do good to all people, and as far as lies within us to be at peace with all. This is self-authenticating truth!
Bob
To make a comment: click on word “comments” below, write your comment in the white box which appears and add your name and e mail address (if you wish), choose “select profile”, click “anonymous” and then continue.
The suicide bomber blows himself up with the cry, “God is great”. The same cry enables a man to send his younger brother on a suicidal death mission, and, according to reports, the man responsible for the “cartridge bombs” discovered this week has perpetrated precisely that crime. Suicide and indiscriminate murder are part of the political outworking of religious “jihad” being fought in this world against the great Satan of the west. Martyrdom has been re-defined as killing one’s self in order to kill others, rather than being ready to die for one’s faith at the hands of militant persecutors.
Who is this “God” who is “great” in the midst of such terror? He is certainly a great help to the secularist cause! But the reality is that, despite the fact that the true God is indeed great, the application of that truth to such deeds is nothing more than a blasphemy against his greatness. It is a work of deception in the degenerate human mind. Unfortunately there are many such misrepresentations of God in the world, whereas in the nature of the case there is only one true God.
If one thing becomes immediately clear from all this, it is that the idea that all “faiths” or “beliefs” lead to the same God is manifest nonsense. We might safely say that humble, generous souls with a heart for righteousness and love might well find their way through the labyrinth of religious systems of the world to the one true God (cp. Cornelius). But religious systems more often block the way, or point in wrong directions.
The Judeo-Christian God of the bible rejects categorically both murder and suicide; Christianity as a religion has had its fanatics, but genuine Christianity has always rejected both murder and suicide even in its doctrine concerning war. It cannot be remotely construed as leading in the same direction as suicidal jihad, nor of coming from the same source.
Understanding who God is and what he is like is fundamental, therefore, to real and true faith. But only God himself can reveal his own nature, and the Old and New Testaments claim unequivocally to provide us with that revelation; they do not purport to be human philosophy but revelation. It is when we begin to piece this biblical revelation together and hold it alongside our own experience and living encounters with God that we begin to realise how utterly self authenticating this witness is, and that it is leading us to the truth.
The crucial encounter with God is in meeting the risen Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life; he is the light of the world; he is the one who has revealed the “name” of God (that is to say, his nature), He has revealed it both in his person and in his teaching. Fundamentally, love totally predominates; judgement and righteousness provide an essential balance to love, are indeed an integral part of love; total provision is offered for every aspect of human need; eternal life is underlined heavily.
He sends us out to love our neighbours, to love our enemies, to do good to all people, and as far as lies within us to be at peace with all. This is self-authenticating truth!
Bob
To make a comment: click on word “comments” below, write your comment in the white box which appears and add your name and e mail address (if you wish), choose “select profile”, click “anonymous” and then continue.
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