resurrecting faith
NT Wright in this article in the Australian has much to say about the bodily resurrection and whether a belief in this is necessary to be a Christian. He also talks about Dan Brown and his best seller book - The Davinci Code, which is soon to be made into a movie and compares it to gnostic literature.
It is an interesting read but I thought this quote was wonderful.
“Jesus was going around ‘doing the kingdom’, healing the sick, cleansing lepers, feeding the hungry, he was celebrating at a party with all the wrong people, transforming people’s lives and saying cryptic things such as: ‘Let me tell you what the kingdom of God is like’,” Wright says.
“The church has it the other way around. It has tended to say: ‘We must say it, say it, say it as clearly as possible and if there is any energy left over, we’ll do a bit of it as well.”‘
April 27th, 2006 at 10:21 am
What moral standards does God follow?
Are moral standards whatever God defines (might is right) or does God act in a recognisably moral way because we all recognise there are standards independent of both God and man which are intrinsically moral? In the latter case, it does not require a moral lawgiver to define morality.
I think morality is possible independently of whether God mentions it or not.
April 27th, 2006 at 10:26 am
More on morality.
Morals only make sense in a group of similar intelligent beings living in community. It is not applicable to the inanimate world (to state the obvious). This could mean that morality outside human society (and possibly other animal species) does not make sense. So it doesn’t make sense that God is moral as God is an indepenent being with no equal. For humans, then, morality consists of an agreed set of fair principles - the best ones being those that do not change over time and are universally applicable.
April 27th, 2006 at 10:28 am
The moral argument in my opinion reveals that God is really an idealised concept of human behaviour. It is a powerful argument against the existence of God.
April 27th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
and yes DD (posts 31 32 33) in true atheistic style you plunge into sophism to desperatley try and justify your position…
31
in the Christian worldview God doesn’t follow moral standards, he is the standard. i am sure i have spoken to you before on euthyphros dillema, do you think that this sort of thing has never been thought of in Christian circles before… whether true goodness or moral ‘oughtness’ exists seperate to God is immaterial to Gods existence, and if it was then, without a standard that we are all expected to abide by we are subject to morality by democracy which is untenable… you know this… we can’t make murder right by voting on it.
32
your right when you say that morality outside human society doesn’t make sense- this is the Christian worldview. Humans are different because the have been made in the image of God and have self awareness, morals, conscience, awareness of right and wrong and a special relationship in our purpose with our creator.
no one is saying that God is moral but that he is the source of our morals .. our guide for running the human machine in the way that he has purposed it.. it is wrong for us to commit murder but the same moral judgement cannot be made of God when he decides that your time has come..
33
the moral arguement apart from God doesnt make sense because there would be no compunction upon any being to do anythin other than what he or she wills, no sense of guilt/responsibility as there is only responsibility to oneself.
April 27th, 2006 at 7:20 pm
DD: “morality consists of an agreed set of fair principles”
Mmmm… would you agree it is good to:
discuss differences of opinion in a courteous and respectful way?
give others the benefit of the doubt?
avoid ridiculing or mocking the beliefs of others others?
avoid hurting the feelings of other people wherever possible?
not bother others with trivial requests… eg throwing up endless questions without any interest in how others respond?
not irritate others deliberately?
be open minded, with sufficient humility to know one does not have all the answers?
Most atheists I have met are highly moral people… I think you’ve be letting the side down of late.
Come on, you’ve been asking for it!!!!!!!!
I’d like to hope all the blogging Christians agree to these principles too! Admitedly this is a medium where it’s all to easy to write first, and think about how others might feel later. Apologies at this point to all I may have offended here!
April 28th, 2006 at 6:51 pm
Agree. I’ll be the second to admit I fall short of your high standards, Janet.
April 28th, 2006 at 7:25 pm
Grace to you then. I pronounce absolution upon your confession.