God is love
We have reason and can appreciate intellectual evidence. For example, the evidence of beauty in music or in painitng is perceived by our mind, and not by our senses. An animal may hear the same sound, or see the same colour without being impressed by their harmony and proportion. Apart from the bible altogether, our rational nature is enough evidence for the existence of God.
God is love. He asks the freely given love of men and not a compelled love. Because He is just, He will not deprive us of the free will which is in line with our rational attribute. We cannot be free to love and serve God without being free to reject him and rebel against Him. Even if God wants men to be free,He cannot take from them the power to choose evil. If he enforces goodness, He takes away freedom. If he leaves freedom, He must permit evil, even though He forbids it. It is our dignity that we are master of our own destiny instead of developing like a tree that has to obey natural law.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Examination of Intellect
The reality of any statement must be tested by our intellect and not by our imgination. When we can't understand any statement, it is called inconceivable. This means that the statement itself contains a contradiction itself, so that no concept can be formed with our intellect. A four-sided triangle, for example, is inconceivable, because triangle is a three-sided figure. A less-instructed athesist will ask whether God can make a weight so heavy that He cannot lift it. And so whichever answer we give, we shall admit there is something God can't do. But the question is literally meaningless: a weight that an omnipotent God can't lift is as complete as a contradiction in terms of a four-sided triangle. In either case, the words mean nothing because they cancel each other out. There is no point in piling alot of words, regardless of their meaning, and then ask ignorantly "Can God amke that?" God can do anything, but a contradiction in terms is not a thing at all.God could not make a four-sided triangle or a weight that He Himself cannot lift because that is inconceivable; that means nothing.
The reality of any statement must be tested by our intellect and not by our imgination. When we can't understand any statement, it is called inconceivable. This means that the statement itself contains a contradiction itself, so that no concept can be formed with our intellect. A four-sided triangle, for example, is inconceivable, because triangle is a three-sided figure. A less-instructed athesist will ask whether God can make a weight so heavy that He cannot lift it. And so whichever answer we give, we shall admit there is something God can't do. But the question is literally meaningless: a weight that an omnipotent God can't lift is as complete as a contradiction in terms of a four-sided triangle. In either case, the words mean nothing because they cancel each other out. There is no point in piling alot of words, regardless of their meaning, and then ask ignorantly "Can God amke that?" God can do anything, but a contradiction in terms is not a thing at all.God could not make a four-sided triangle or a weight that He Himself cannot lift because that is inconceivable; that means nothing.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Man endowed with freewill
If man is not free, he cannot be expected to keep laws, and should not be punished for breaking laws. There is no obligation to observe a law when it is not possible to keep it. Consciousness is another proof for freewill. We are not only conscious before acting that there are various ways open to us, but we are conscious that we may stop or hesitate acting, and after acting, are conscious of self reproach, realising that we should not have acted in a certain way. The possession of reason has to come with freewill. For example, taking another man's money may be considered as involving the moral evil of obtaining it by theft, or as exchanging your goods with him. The action of taking money itself allows a man to concentrate upon one aspect or another, proposing to himself the good or evil choice.
If man is not free, he cannot be expected to keep laws, and should not be punished for breaking laws. There is no obligation to observe a law when it is not possible to keep it. Consciousness is another proof for freewill. We are not only conscious before acting that there are various ways open to us, but we are conscious that we may stop or hesitate acting, and after acting, are conscious of self reproach, realising that we should not have acted in a certain way. The possession of reason has to come with freewill. For example, taking another man's money may be considered as involving the moral evil of obtaining it by theft, or as exchanging your goods with him. The action of taking money itself allows a man to concentrate upon one aspect or another, proposing to himself the good or evil choice.
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