God is not a scientific problem

From Abraham Joshua Heschel “God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism” pages 101-102

Not a Scientific Problem

What are the grounds for our certainty of the realness of God?  It is clear that we cannot submit religion to scientific logic.  Science is not the only way to truth, and its methods do not represent all of human thinking.  Indeed, they are out of place in that dimension of human existence in which God is a burning issue.

God is not a scientific problem, and scientific methods are not capable of solving it.  The reason why scientific methods are often thought to be capable of solving it is the success of their application in positive sciences.  The fallacy involved in this analogy is that of treating God as if He were a phenomenon within the order of nature.  The truth, however, is that the problem of God is not only related to phenomena within nature but to nature itself; not only to concepts within thinking but to thinking itself.  It is a problem that refers to what surpasses nature, to what lies beyond all things and all concepts.

The moment we utter the name of God we leave the level of scientific thinking and enter the realm of the ineffable.  Such a step is one which we cannot take scientifically, since it transcends the boundaries of all that is given.  It is in spite of all warnings that man has never ceased to be stirred by ultimate questions.  Science cannot silence him [man], because scientific terms are meaningless to the spirit that raises these questions, meaningless to the concern for a truth greater than the world that science is engaged in exploring.

God is not the only problem which is inaccessible to science.  The problem of the origin of reality remains immune to it.  There are aspects of given reality which are congruous with the categories of scientific logic, while there are aspects of reality which are inaccessible to this logic.  Even some aspects and concepts of our own thinking are impregnable to analysis.

Very, very well put.

God Bless.

Chris

Kabbalah, Mysticism, Scripture and the World

Many of you recognize that I have been searching for a deeper appreciation of Scripture in my walk with God.

I’ve been reading some Jewish commentaries in my pursuits and have drawn a deeper appreciation (through the Holy Spirit) of the life and times of the prophets and kings of Israel and Judah and their relation to God’s revelation of His annointed Son, Jesus Christ.

It was only natural I assume that my thirst for “more of God” led me to kabbalah – the mystical teachings of Jewish sages that was originally oral and only lately has been put down in written forms.

I was highly sceptical about what I would find and I always attempt to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1) to see if there was value to be had in the kabbalah teachings.

Read on….

Our God

To whom can you compare God?

What image can you find to resemble him?

Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?
Or if people are too poor for that, they might at least choose wood that won’t decay and a skilled craftsman to carve an image that won’t fall down!

Haven’t you heard?
Don’t you understand?

Are you deaf to the words of God– the words he gave before the world began?
Are you so ignorant?

God sits above the circle of the earth.
The people below seem like grasshoppers to him!

He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them.
He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing.

They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither.
The wind carries them off like chaff.

“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
Look up into the heavens.

Who created all the stars?

He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.

O Jacob, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles?
O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?

Have you never heard? Have you never understood?

The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.

Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.

–Isaiah 40:18-31 NLT

The simple pleasures of knowing God

Sometimes I wonder off the path of just enjoying God’s grace. The beauty of His creation and the joy of my salvation. Often I dig into deep dive theological discussions (debates?) that end up only robbing me of the simple pleasure of knowing God. I forget to listen to the world around me and pick up on the laughter, the giggles, the innocence, the simple things that can be found if you listen for them.

Christians should be weak and abused because of their weakness

In a recent blog conversation someone made the following comment to me:

The belief in the Christian god tells oneself that being meek, weak, and abused in this world out of weakness will be rewarded in your afterlife.

So being meek, weak, and abused in this world out of weakness will be rewarded in my afterlife?

He associates being meek with being weak and abused out of weakness. Should Christians be weak? Does meek mean weak as we understand it today? Does humble mean weak?

I want to hear from you.

My questions to you reading this:

IS THIS THE PERCEPTION OF CHRISTIANITY, (CHRIST) ONE OF WEAKNESS AND ABUSED PEOPLE?

SHOULD IT BE IF IT IS (OR IS NOT)?

Read on…