"Evil needs good to be evil." This seemed to come up alot within our discussion of this chapter of Plantinga's book. It is such a funny thing to think about, that evil is not its own but spoiled good. All evil stems from good, this is so difficult to wrap my mind around, yet it seems that it should be obvious. Because of the fall we have been destined to live our lives in sin. It is everywhere around us, and even though as Christians we try to avoid it, trouble has its way of finding us.
I was met with an example of evil as soon as I was out of the door this morning. I was on my way to work, when I noticed the vehicle in front of me had a bumper sticker that said "Hate Wins." My first thought was well have fun spending eternity with satan. Then I started to wonder what had happened to him in his lifetime that all he thought he had to resort to was hate. He had lost faith in "Love Wins" and turned toward evil. I sort of wanted to follow him so that I could ask him why he had this bumper sticker, and what caused him to believe it. I also began to realize that without even bothering to talk to this person, I had decided they were doomed to hell because they had hate on their vehicle, and bam there it is a sin right off the bat this morning. I was frightened at how easily it had happened without even thinking about it.
"The glory of God's good creation has not been obliterated by the tragedy of the fall, but it has been deeply shadowed by it." I know it seems odd to love this quote, but it presents this ray of hope for me. That even though the fall has compromised myself and all the others there is still good. There will not be sin forever, some day we will all be redeemed and live forever in a sinless eternity. I think this is so amazing. God's grace never seems to make me stand in awe of him. We as a human race have done everything we possible can to disappoint our father and then some, yet not only does he refuse to turn his back on us, he reaches out to us in love saying that we are forgiven and he will forget it ever happened.
"The world shall live with the lamb. the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them"
Monday, January 17, 2011
Poison
I have to be honest and say that this was not one of my favorite readings by C.S. Lewis, but it is still a good one. One of the things that struck me the most in this reading was the point Lewis makes about being stagnant in our Christian faith. This brought back memories for me from when I was younger. My grandmother always used to say to me "Idle hands make the devil's work." She usually was telling me this so that I would be helpful to her and my mother. However, when we were discussing in class this saying kept coming into my mind. It really is true. If we stand still in our Christianity, or "hold our hands idle" we are letting the devil take hold of us. Like in the reading of Screw tape, the patient was still going to church, but he was not growing in his faith. He was stagnant. I also thought about how this can apply to the position we hold in other people's lives. If we do not help other Christians grow in their faith, then aren't we helping the devil? How often is it that we know people are struggling with life decisions, or struggling to come to terms with the life God has given them and we do not help? I know for myself that it is very hard for me to listen to God telling me to help others. We so often hear him calling us to do something yet chose to go our own way, which is not what he desires for us.
Another topic that was brought up withing class was the question if God needs to obey the moral law. This is tricky to think about. My stand is that he does not because God is all that is good in this universe. I think that God is perfect, and his having to obey the moral law would take away his Omnipotence.
"God is not merely good, but goodness; goodness is not merely divine, but God."
Another topic that was brought up withing class was the question if God needs to obey the moral law. This is tricky to think about. My stand is that he does not because God is all that is good in this universe. I think that God is perfect, and his having to obey the moral law would take away his Omnipotence.
"God is not merely good, but goodness; goodness is not merely divine, but God."
Friday, January 14, 2011
Mere Christianity
"Mere Christianity" was something very interesting for me to read. It really brought a new perspective to how I view Christianity, and my own relationship with Christ. One of the first things that struck me was when Lewis talks about the word gentlemen and how it used to be a term that listed fact. It used to mean someone who had a coat of arms and a landed property, and now it is a judgment of character. Lewis uses this example with Christian. The world is suppose to mean an individual who believes in the doctrine. Lewis states "It is not for us tot say who, in the deepest sense, is or is not close to the spirit of Christ." We cannot as Christians judge who the better Christians are. Actually, God tells us that we are not allowed to judge because he of course is the only one who can judge at all.
My favorite part of this reading was Chapter 1. The explanation of moral law. The thing that I found most interesting is that across all cultures there is some sort of moral law. Most cultures find fault in the killing of an innocent person, stealing another person's property, and most cultures also agree on the sanctity of marriage. They may not agree on the same number of wives as Lewis says, but they agree that you may not just have any women you want. This was very important to me in and argument against evolutionism. I don't think that anyone can truly believe that this was all random when it is such a constant. My group even discussed how animals do not have the same laws at all, some will even kill their own young for food. We even talked about monkeys and how they will become terribly violent and even disembowel each other without hesitating. Then we discussed a soul and I made the remark that animals do not have a soul, but another group member brought up the question do souls actually exist? I found this interesting. What is a soul? How do we define it, and is the definition actually true to a soul or something else?
My favorite part of this reading was Chapter 1. The explanation of moral law. The thing that I found most interesting is that across all cultures there is some sort of moral law. Most cultures find fault in the killing of an innocent person, stealing another person's property, and most cultures also agree on the sanctity of marriage. They may not agree on the same number of wives as Lewis says, but they agree that you may not just have any women you want. This was very important to me in and argument against evolutionism. I don't think that anyone can truly believe that this was all random when it is such a constant. My group even discussed how animals do not have the same laws at all, some will even kill their own young for food. We even talked about monkeys and how they will become terribly violent and even disembowel each other without hesitating. Then we discussed a soul and I made the remark that animals do not have a soul, but another group member brought up the question do souls actually exist? I found this interesting. What is a soul? How do we define it, and is the definition actually true to a soul or something else?
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Screwtape Letters
I found this essay very humorous to read. Initially the whole situation seems crazy. However as it is broken down we see the very simple things that could be leading us down a "gradual slope" to Hell. We discussed how trivial the simple decisions in life really are. Are they even simple decisions? One would think that choosing not to drink a can of soda is not something very important, but when you crave that soda and you know you would like to drink it and abstain from it then it is a big deal. Being able to say no to the simple things that tempt you will then put you on the correct path for resisting the big things. We talked about how this comes into play with addiction. We all know that addiction can be a slippery slope that will lead us away from God, our family, and all other things important to us.
Screw tape explains very easily that he wants us to feel the "dim uneasiness" so that we feel bad, but not bad enough to reform ourselves and repent. He also explains to wormwood that he wants us to keep going to church, but he wants sinful thoughts about how we are better than others to enter our minds. Church is meant to be a place where we are fed spiritually and have fellowship with our Christian friends. However, it seems that church has become just one of the things we do. It has become a chore that we must repeat every week in order to keep our mother's happy so to speak.
One of the things that I struggled with coming especially from my area is shame based church. This is very common where I am from because it is a small area where everyone knows everything about you. When someone within the congregation is being treated by a counselor for depression, instead of letting the congregation know that they are struggling and need our support because they are afraid that everyone will cast he/she out. Like professor said there are three types of people within the church, those who will not say anything to you because they think they are above you, those who say they are sorry, but treat you still as if you are below them because of course that would never happen to them, and then there are the few precious souls that actually want to pray with you and share your pain. So often do we forget that we are not individuals in Christ, but his body. To quote casting crowns
" But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?"
We are suppose to work together to show others as well as those within the body that our fellowship is to help them in their walk with Christ.
Screw tape explains very easily that he wants us to feel the "dim uneasiness" so that we feel bad, but not bad enough to reform ourselves and repent. He also explains to wormwood that he wants us to keep going to church, but he wants sinful thoughts about how we are better than others to enter our minds. Church is meant to be a place where we are fed spiritually and have fellowship with our Christian friends. However, it seems that church has become just one of the things we do. It has become a chore that we must repeat every week in order to keep our mother's happy so to speak.
One of the things that I struggled with coming especially from my area is shame based church. This is very common where I am from because it is a small area where everyone knows everything about you. When someone within the congregation is being treated by a counselor for depression, instead of letting the congregation know that they are struggling and need our support because they are afraid that everyone will cast he/she out. Like professor said there are three types of people within the church, those who will not say anything to you because they think they are above you, those who say they are sorry, but treat you still as if you are below them because of course that would never happen to them, and then there are the few precious souls that actually want to pray with you and share your pain. So often do we forget that we are not individuals in Christ, but his body. To quote casting crowns
" But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?"
We are suppose to work together to show others as well as those within the body that our fellowship is to help them in their walk with Christ.
Plantinga Chapter 2
This chapter is a good section of the book to read because it awakens a person to the greatness of the beauty of this Earth. God created every tiny detail, and I think we tend to forget that, and that is why for some it is so easy to forget that we are called to be stewards of this Earth. Something that was said in class yesterday really struck me, the fact that the planet can survive without us, but we cannot survive without the planet. This made me really think. We take so many things away from this Earth, we in fact are destroying it in many ways. Species have become endangered or ceased to exist because of some of the things that we have done. It is just really frustrating that some people take the approach well it was given to us to use so let's use it because when it gets too bad God will come and redeem us anyway. The fact that people actually believe this seems so strange doesn't it? Yes, God gave us the Earth to use for the things we NEED, NOT for foolish indulgence. I think that if I was God and I saw his own images destroying the perfect things he had created, I would not be in any hurry to save them from the havoc they created for themselves. I just feel that we overlook how complex even the most simple things are. Like pollination for example, God created specific creatures ( that we often see as a pest) to go from plant to plant and keep them alive. My favorite I think was actually in this chapter, but isn't it a miracle that when we breath out it is the exact thing a tree needs to stay alive, and then that tree produces oxygen that will keep us alive. We see that as something so simple when it really is the marvelous creation of God. We were put on this Earth to empower not overpower, and I think we tend to lose sight of that.
Another quote from the book that was important to me was "...that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists." How powerful, just to think our parents loved us once they knew that we had been conceived, but God loved us before we were even a thought in our mother's mind. We were loved long before it was even our time to become part of this world, and after the world has long forgotten us God will still love us and we will be singing his eternal praises.
Another wonderful thing that God calls us to do is be silent. To meditate on his wondrous creation. When this got brought up in class I immediately thought of this small hayfield by my house. I had gone out to it just after the hay had been cut (because it smells wonderful!) and seeds from the cottonwood trees were being blown in the wind and there was not a cloud in the sky. It is the most beautiful thing to see, and so very wonderful. Also, when we meditate on the beauty of this Earth., I seem to get this overwhelming feeling of awe. That I am privileged enough to be a part of these wonderful things, that God thought to create me! I am his own image, and I am called to be like him. I like what was also said in class yesterday, if we would treat our neighbor as precious as our own child, how different our world would be. We need to know that the awe we feel in being God's creation is the same in everyone else. Everyone is the image of God, and they should be an eternal splendor in our lives. We need to treat everyone as a precious life because they are. They too were loved before they even existed, and maybe God put them on this Earth to change our lives. So we need to treat them as Holy because of course, they are. :)
Another quote from the book that was important to me was "...that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists." How powerful, just to think our parents loved us once they knew that we had been conceived, but God loved us before we were even a thought in our mother's mind. We were loved long before it was even our time to become part of this world, and after the world has long forgotten us God will still love us and we will be singing his eternal praises.
Another wonderful thing that God calls us to do is be silent. To meditate on his wondrous creation. When this got brought up in class I immediately thought of this small hayfield by my house. I had gone out to it just after the hay had been cut (because it smells wonderful!) and seeds from the cottonwood trees were being blown in the wind and there was not a cloud in the sky. It is the most beautiful thing to see, and so very wonderful. Also, when we meditate on the beauty of this Earth., I seem to get this overwhelming feeling of awe. That I am privileged enough to be a part of these wonderful things, that God thought to create me! I am his own image, and I am called to be like him. I like what was also said in class yesterday, if we would treat our neighbor as precious as our own child, how different our world would be. We need to know that the awe we feel in being God's creation is the same in everyone else. Everyone is the image of God, and they should be an eternal splendor in our lives. We need to treat everyone as a precious life because they are. They too were loved before they even existed, and maybe God put them on this Earth to change our lives. So we need to treat them as Holy because of course, they are. :)
The Weight of Glory
"We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offer us...we are far too easily pleased." Once again this quote is just stands out so greatly to me. I think that God is laying it on my heart as a reminder that I don't need to get lost in these earthly things because something so much more powerful awaits me. It is important when we have such a big influence telling us what we need to have, and what we should want that we remember God's creation and to think big. Far too often we get caught up thinking our life is coming to an end over something that really has no meaning at all. We find our desires to be too strong, and maybe they are, but for the wrong thing. They are not too strong for God's glory, I don't think that could ever be possible.
Another topic that was brought up in class is that we need to approach God and his amazing glory not for our own personal gain, but because we feel the power of God calling us for the greater good. We cannot approach God thinking "What am I going to get out of it?" because if we do we will not get anything. "Those who have attained everlasting life in the vision of God doubtless know very well that it is no mere bribe, but the very consummation of their earthly discipleship"
However, even though we as faithful believers know the great things that await us we often forget the direction our desire should take "These things-the beauty, the memory of our own past- are good images of what we really deisre; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols breaking the heart of their worshippers for they are not the thing itself they are only the scent of a flow we have not found." We have this yearning for things we don't know but we still desire them. So often we know that we desire to go to heaven, but we associate Heaven with Earthly things. We have no idea what Heaven will be like and that is suppose to be one of things that makes it most beautiful. We need to rest assured in the promise God gives us, that Heaven will be perfect.
Another quote that Lewis puts in his essay is also one of my favorite scriptures "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." This verse makes my heart sing with anticipation. How amazing will it be at the end of our life to hear the creator tell us we have served him well. We have lived our life for him and he is proud of us. I think this is kind of the essence of "The Weight of Glory" In part of the essay it talks of God's glory being a burden, and that can be easily misinterpreted. To me it means that God has given me the most amazing gift and I did nothing to receive, I actually have done things that should make God turn away from me, we all have. That is why it is so hard to carry because we feel this great love given to us for no reason and it is hard to understand the concept of why God would do that. It is a heavy thing to think about, but that is why it is so magnificent. No matter what you will do in your life, God will love you.
Another topic that was brought up in class is that we need to approach God and his amazing glory not for our own personal gain, but because we feel the power of God calling us for the greater good. We cannot approach God thinking "What am I going to get out of it?" because if we do we will not get anything. "Those who have attained everlasting life in the vision of God doubtless know very well that it is no mere bribe, but the very consummation of their earthly discipleship"
However, even though we as faithful believers know the great things that await us we often forget the direction our desire should take "These things-the beauty, the memory of our own past- are good images of what we really deisre; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols breaking the heart of their worshippers for they are not the thing itself they are only the scent of a flow we have not found." We have this yearning for things we don't know but we still desire them. So often we know that we desire to go to heaven, but we associate Heaven with Earthly things. We have no idea what Heaven will be like and that is suppose to be one of things that makes it most beautiful. We need to rest assured in the promise God gives us, that Heaven will be perfect.
Another quote that Lewis puts in his essay is also one of my favorite scriptures "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." This verse makes my heart sing with anticipation. How amazing will it be at the end of our life to hear the creator tell us we have served him well. We have lived our life for him and he is proud of us. I think this is kind of the essence of "The Weight of Glory" In part of the essay it talks of God's glory being a burden, and that can be easily misinterpreted. To me it means that God has given me the most amazing gift and I did nothing to receive, I actually have done things that should make God turn away from me, we all have. That is why it is so hard to carry because we feel this great love given to us for no reason and it is hard to understand the concept of why God would do that. It is a heavy thing to think about, but that is why it is so magnificent. No matter what you will do in your life, God will love you.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Our English Syllabus
This essay was very helpful in evaluating myself as a college student, as well as what I truly want out of my education. So far at Calvin everything has been about getting the best grades possible, because I need to get into the nursing program. Today in class I realized that not only was I missing so many opportunities but I was also thinking that the nursing program is something that I needed. I now realize that I cam to Calvin to become a better individual, to get everything that I possibly can out of this education. Of course I still want the nursing program, but my life will not cease to be if I do not get in. The lord closes one door in order to put me on the path that he desires. C.S. Lewis states that "Knowledge is the natural food of the human mind." We as human beings have that desire in us to learn, but so often we get distracted by what we think is important when in reality we need to be feeding our minds. As we discussed in class we chose to attend a liberal arts college because we desire a broader base for our education, but "our problem is to find which of theses we can neglect with least violence to the nature of the tree." We trust Calvin as well as our professors to guide us in learning the things that are important, and neglecting the things that may benefit us but will not be as necessary as others. Also, we are called to go out and discover for ourselves. We are not to be content with just the things that are given to us in the classroom. "Here's your gun, your spade, your fishing tackle: go and get yourself a dinner. Do not tell me that you would sooner have a nice composite menu of dishes from half the world drawn up for you. You are too old for that." We need to be hungry to learn for our own good.
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