Zombie Bullet Saturday

• Image one: KA Ellis, LinkedIn

• Tolle Lege 

"Secularism, materialism, and the intrusive presence of things have put out the light in our souls and turned us into a generation of zombies. We cover our deep ignorance with words, but we are ashamed to wonder, we are afraid to whisper ‘mystery.'” –A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: HarperCollins, 1961), p. 18.

• Interesting opinion...By mystery, I still support reasoned theology.

• Image two: LinkedIn

• I struggle with this next issue myself....

• Within my Reformed theological view, in my humble opinion, my desires, goals and agenda in Christ, should not be at the expense of loving my neighbour as much as I love myself (Mathew 22, Mark 12, Luke 10); nor should my desires, goals and agenda in Christ, be at the expense of loving others in the Church. See below in fellowship:

• King James Version (KJV) 

• John 13: 24: A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

• John 15: 12 :This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 

• 1 John 2: 9-10:  He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

• 1 John 4: 20-21:  20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

• New American Standard Bible (NASB)

• Back to love one's neighbour as self...

• James 2:8: 8 If, however, you are fulfilling the [a]royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

a. James 2:8 Or law of our King

Duck

Duck

God's Sovereignty and the Human Will by A. W. Pink

Cited

Why does the sinner choose a life of sinful indulgence? Because he prefers it — and he does prefer it, all arguments to the contrary not withstanding, though of course he does not enjoy the effects of such a course. And why does he prefer it? Because his heart is sinful. The same alternatives, in like manner, confront the Christian, and he chooses and strives after a life of piety and virtue. Why? Because God has given him a new heart or nature. Hence we say it is not the will which makes the sinner impervious to all appeals to “forsake his way”, but his corrupt and evil heart. He will not come to Christ, because he does not want to, and he does not want to because his heart hates him and loves sin: see Jer 17:9! 

PINK, ARTHUR W. (1968) The Sovereignty of God, London, The Banner of Truth Trust.

Saturday, June 18, 2016: Brief On Sovereignty From Arthur Pink (PhD Edit)

The Christian is regenerated (John 3, Titus 3) through God the Holy Spirit and the applied atoning and resurrection work of God the Son, as God incarnate, that prayed to and followed the will (see the gospels) of God the Father.

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I do not need a chatbot, my websites will hopefully still be online for those still in this realm. According to the New Testament, the rest can chat with me in paradise (Luke 23, 2 Corinthians 12: 4, Philippians 1) awaiting the restoration of creation with the new earth and new heaven (Revelation 21-22, 2 Peter 3, 1 Corinthians 15, 1-2 Thessalonians). 

This will be the restoration from any results of the fall, especially human sin (Genesis 1-3, Romans, Hebrews, key examples) for our present material creation. The effects on time, space and matter in the new realm, yet to be empirically observed, scientifically, of course, or fully documented, as the New Testament is religious history and not a science text.

Friday Bullets: Failed predictions, but still as good as gold?

Photo: Wisconsin, by @kochphil, Facebook-The Earth Page

• Most of my friends and family are politically more right of centre, than left of centre, in my humble opinion. 

• No one, I know of, is an outright communist, on the left, or an outright fascist, on the right.

• Some of these friends and family read and listen to conservative, alternative, new sources.

• I am not intellectually opposed to considering a proposition (conclusion), and arguments (premise (s) and conclusion) that are unproven. That are not mainstream. 

• The truth is the truth and at times, what is true, requires prayerful, rational, consideration within my worldview.

• I acknowledge that there are reasonably, government (s) secrets withheld from public knowledge.

• When a particular source of conspiracy theories makes predictions and most of them do not come true, and the source of these conspiracy theories adjusts the theories, often without repentance, that is a red flag. 

• None of us ultimately, completely, know a human mind and heart other than God, but if a source  keeps changing predictions when previous ones are proven wrong; consider that there are possible financial reasons for the source to promote conspiracy theories.

• Not just ideological reasons, but also financial reasons. 

• Especially when this 'reshuffling' continues on for years.

• I recently watched an online presentation  which revised  recent failed predictions, that were not really acknowledged as such. But the source still claimed to be usually correct. The source also promoted a book by that source and provided a visible set link to buy gold on the website.

• Not just ideological reasons, but also financial reasons. This can be true in both political and prophetic religious contexts, as examples.

Burned eye/A little on Fideism

Image one: VGH/UBC

Last evening on Zoom, as our home group/bible study leader asked how we were; I informed the group that my one eye was recovering from the most recent steroid injection with the 27 gauge needle, My surgeon opined that some of the steroid had leaked onto the eye causing the burning on the eye and eye lid.

Oh, that explains it (getting better). I was wondering why under my eye was burned a bit. But our home group/bible study leader did not want to hear about it... 

The sclera (white) of the eye is still recovering. It looked like it was growing into the iris with three white spots on my green/blue iris, but rather the sclera was swollen and is less is so now. I can barely see one white spot at this point, in the mirror.

I think I have a found a social way to end conversations, that is even better than mentioning lame conspiracy theories with no significant, evidential support. (I look normal)

Image two: Twitter

Blackburn

Blackburn writes that fideism takes a pessimistic view concerning the role of reason for achieving divine knowledge. The emphasis is instead on the merits of acts of faith. Blackburn (1996: 139).

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Stanford

'The term itself derives from fides, the Latin word for faith, and can be rendered literally as faith-ism.'

'Fideism” is the name given to that school of thought—to which Tertullian himself is frequently said to have subscribed—which answers that faith is in some sense independent of—if not outright adversarial toward—reason. In contrast to the more rationalistic tradition of natural theology, with its arguments for the existence of God, fideism holds that reason is unnecessary and inappropriate for the exercise and justification of religious belief.'

According to R.K. Johnston, fideism is a term used by Protestant modernists in Paris in the late 19th century. It is often used as a pejorative term to attack various strands of Christianity as forms of irrationalism. Johnston (1999: 415). Fideists, following Kant, who noted that reason cannot prove religious truth is said to base their religious understanding upon religious experience alone. Reason is believed to be incapable of establishing faith's certainty or credibility. Johnston (1999: 415). Grenz, Guretzki and Nordling note that fideism states religious and theological truth must be accepted without the use of reason. Grenz, Guretzki and Nordling (1999: 51). An extreme form of fideism states that reason misleads one in religious understanding. Grenz, Guretzki and Nordling (1999: 51).

Johnston explains that the concept of fideism has little value as most theologians would not deny the use of reason. The term fideism is useful when it describes an excessive emphasis on the subjective aspects of Christianity. Johnston (1999: 415).

Agreed. My approach is the use of practical reason, academic reason, including revelation from the biblical scripture while prayerfully seeking God's guidance.

Search Fideism

Kant explains in The Critique of Practical Reason that the noumena realm is the theoretical department of knowledge denied, while the phenomena realm is one’s own empirical consciousness. All positive speculative knowledge should be disclaimed for the noumena realm according to Kantian thought. Kant concludes the text by noting that the phenomena realm is the external realm where consciousness has existence. The noumena realm is invisible and has true infinity where Kant believes one can reason that contingent personality is dependent on the universal and necessary connection to the invisible world. Kant (1788)(1898)(2006: 100).

Search Kant

BLACKBURN, SIMON (1996) Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

GRENZ, STANLEY J., DAVID GURETZKI and CHERITH FEE NORDLING (1999) Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms, Downers Grove, Ill., InterVarsity Press.

JOHNSTON, R.K.(1996) ‘Fideism’, in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.

KANT, IMMANUEL (1788)(1898)(2006) The Critique of Practical Reason, Translated by Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, London, Longmans, Green, and Co. http://philosophy.eserver.org/kant/critique-of-practical-reaso.txt