tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5596708332568087278.post1422570601339800162..comments2024-01-24T10:39:27.668-05:00Comments on Coming Untrue: Inbox: Poor Image ManagementDr. S. L. Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06303707167715370504noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5596708332568087278.post-82878741533944345062016-03-16T17:53:45.846-04:002016-03-16T17:53:45.846-04:00I would like to add this comment to my previous on...I would like to add this comment to my previous one. I just came across the material reported in the link below which reports that the Scottsdale Arizona city Council has approved that a satanic temple group will give the invocation at the April 2016 meeting. This would imply that, contrary to what we think nowadays, the God of the OT indeed still has, and indeed should have, his hands in human affairs a la OT style, and in this case quite justifiably so. His reasoning is probably if you insist on being stupid then you might as well bear the consequences. So the people who would once more want to sacrifice little babies to Baal are being given an opportunity to advance their agenda. Talking about divine punishment! Let's hope that it will be confined to Scottsdale. The punishment would of course be due to the fact that those who do not take God, and for that matter religion, seriously need to learn that it should be. Because religion seems inconsequential to the city council then why bother at all? I guess it should therefore not matter to them if ISIS gave the invocation. They will simply have to learn that humanity will never live in a spiritual vacuum and that people will always have an agenda of faith and that it is preferable that it be positive. A religion must always be defined in terms of what it stands for. The US supreme court does not appear to be very bright in spite of their learnedness by de-linking the aims of a religion from its definition. What a sloppy job!<br /><br />http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/news/facts-satanic-temple-invocation-at-city-council-meeting_s4_p22297qmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5596708332568087278.post-89591213873394521842016-03-16T05:59:04.903-04:002016-03-16T05:59:04.903-04:00I'm actually not unsympathetic to the problem,...I'm actually not unsympathetic to the problem, Q.<br /><br />I see several difficulties, though, with viewing Christ as a "change in God's strategy" designed to communicate truth to more sensitive souls who couldn't cope with the Old Testament portrayal of God:<br /><br />1) Christ was sent at a time when such delicacy did not exist. It's rather a modern development.<br /><br />2) It is well established in scripture that while God may change strategies, as you say, he does not change in his essential nature (Malachi 3:6, James 1:17, Numbers 23:19). Someone intelligent enough for university would surely see through any gloss that attempts to portray God as "developing", "maturing" or "evolving" along with human perception as being non-biblical.<br /><br />3) Christ himself, rather than distinguishing himself from the OT God of "judgment", in fact affirmed everything Jehovah did in it (Matthew 5:18). Doesn't seem as if he cared much about optics.<br /><br />At some point we have to face the fact that God is what he is. That's not going to appeal to some people. But if we are faithful, we will portray him as he is, not as we would like him to be.<br /><br />I think you are correct that the biggest issue here is that "it is now felt that people have the right to live life their way to the point where no one can tell them what to do". <br /><br />But coming to Christ requires abandoning all that.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00346761712248157930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5596708332568087278.post-53112660416556320512016-03-16T00:50:04.906-04:002016-03-16T00:50:04.906-04:00A very thorough review which however does also not...A very thorough review which however does also not ameliorate the perception created by the material. This kind of depth was undoubtedly used also in the classroom. Students, while grasping the intellectual content of the material and the offered explanations will not be able to relate to the emotional content. (In the Summer when I am going after a housefly with a swatter my son will stop me, trap it inside a glass jar and set it free outside.) It comes simply down to the fact that times have changed dramatically and it is now felt that people have the right to live life their way even to the point where no one can tell them what to do. God therefore seems to have changed strategy to a one on one relationship with him by encouraging reciprocity to his personal love as expressed through Christ while at the same time requiring personal responsibility by requiring consent through faith. <br />Qmannoreply@blogger.com