When I was younger, and a whole lot dumber, I once asked God not to help me. I was flying out to california to report to Marine Corps Boot Camp. I was prideful, and full of myself. I actually asked God to not help me. I told Him that I wanted to do this on my own. Man, how stupid was I? :dis: What's great is that God still loved me, and He still watched out for me. Despite my boastfulness, he still showed grace. All of my successes, and all of my accomplishments are due to Him. I am truly blessed, despite myself. It is not a crutch, if it is not an option. We can't demand God to only help us when we ask for it. We are God's people, and he will help us whether we ask for it or not, because he loves us.
Do I owe all of my success to him as well? What about a muslim that has great achievements? I'm not following the logic here. A crutch is not defined by whether it is an option or not. Once again, all of us, or just those of us that believe in him?
We, all of us, owe everything to God. Yes, even muslims. Call it a crutch if you want. In reality, what's wrong with a crutch? If you break your leg, would you not need a crutch. It's no different with all of us...we are broken, separated from God. When we are not capable, due to our frailty as humans, to handle a situation, God is always there for us. Read this... Psalms 91 1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress:my God; in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust:his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand;but it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; 10 there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, Mt. 4.6 · Lk. 4.10 to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Mt. 4.6 · Lk. 4.11 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Lk. 10.19 14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble;I will deliver him, and honor him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation. God loves all of us, even those who speak out against Him. Through grace, those who believe, and trust, in Him will be saved. Sadly, those who do not accept him will one day be forever separated from Him. Such is the cost of sin CParso. "For the wages of sin is death"
Your use of the word crutch, and mine, are not the same. You know this as well as I do. This seems to be a two person conversation anyway, so who cares if we get back on topic or not? Actually, this is kinda on topic. We both agree that some people use environmentalism as a way to fill a void...in your mind, a crutch. My argument is that religion should not be used as a comparable because it isn't defined, or applied, in the same way.
Alright, so I see why you said that "it is not a crutch if it is not a choice" now. What I'm saying is that often times people turn to religion when they feel like they cannot handle something. They use god as a crutch to feel better about a situation. This is not about what god actually does for us, as in looking over us, but rather what people wish he did for us - by taking a burden off our shoulders because we believe it is out of our hands. As I mentioned earlier, there is nothing wrong with this, but it is what it is. I do, because I found the article interesting and wanted to discuss it... that's why I posted it. Not sure I follow...
It is comforting knowing that God has my back. Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Job 5:20-21 In famine he will ransom you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes. I was just restating that environmentalism and religion are two different things.
St. Anselm said theology is faith seeking understanding. This need for understanding lies at the root of all religions because at the very heart of all religions lies eternal mystery. Christianity DEMANDS that we be open to possible understandings of that mystery which may not have occurred to us. What we don't know about God far outweighs what we know of Him. As a result, when we speak of God we often end up speaking of Him in the negative. Yes, God loves us, but not in the way that we love. Yes, God has justice, but not justice as we think of it. So the human language is a very poor media for speaking about God in that it is very restricted. It has limits. Every time we arrive at a point where we think we have discovered some unique truth about God that we did not know before, we almost immediately realize we have merely opened a door to more questions. Theology is often looked upon as a process of answering questions, but this is wrong. Theology is more of a process of questioning answers. It is the means by which truth becomes accessible. That's why we have to be open minded.
Look Bengal Buddy. You have to understand that you and I do not share the same religion. About the only thing we agree on is that God created everything. From there we start going down two separate paths, and I personally do not believe that those two paths will lead to the same place. You pick and choose what to take literally from the Bible. For instance, you say God created the Earth...so you agree with Genesis 1:1, which says "In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth". You are accepting part of it as literal "God created" and saying that just about everything else that follows is symbolic. Where does it end? In John 5:46–47 Jesus said: “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” Jesus was emphatic that the writings of Moses had to be accepted to understand what He was saying. So...No...I do not believe we are to be "open minded". We are to 1) Believe the Word, and 2) adhere to the Word. I have never claimed to understand the ways of God. Nor would I. You, and theologists like you, claim to have some kind of higher level of understanding of God than people like myself. I do not understand your reasoning because I can not understand your logic on how you randomly pick and choose what to take as literal, and what to take as symbolic in the Bible. If something is symbolic, then what is it symbolic for? For you, the Bible seems to be little more than a L. Ron Hubbard novel. Some interesting reading about your saint anslem.... http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/anselm.htm#H3
