By faith we ascribe meaning to knowledge. There is a meaning which is deeper than that of utilitarian purpose. We have what we call the ‘meaning’ of something, that is, what it is ‘meant’ for, but then there’s the meaning of existence, life, the world, which covers everything we know. There is a significance attached to all knowledge that varies from one culture to the next in the minds of individuals. This significance or meaning cannot be observed, measured, or proven through scientific method. It can only be experienced. The experience of holding to a particular understanding of the absolute meaning of life and of all knowledge is called faith.

Read More

The self may be the defined as its ability to reflect upon itself. To conceptualize death is to conceptualize the end of this reflection.

Immortality can be defined as the existence of the self apart from a reflection of the self upon itself with a recognition and experience of its insignificance before God; without a concept of its end.

The human self was created to abide in the life which caused it. It was not created to be autonomous, nor to need to reflect upon itself apart from God. For God created humans to reflect his image. His image is the capacity to give of the self without measure.

So humans were created to give of God’s life without measure or concern to their own well-being for they were abiding, or resting transparently in his providential life.

When humans sinned, they died. Prior to sin, they had the capacity to reflect upon themselves, but they did so only in acknowledgement of the God that filled their selves, and did not experience nor recognize the insignificance of the self before God. They could not conceptualize the end of the reflection of the self, for they conceptualized nothing apart from the sacrificial life-giving life of God in themselves.

Spiritual death occurred when they could no longer reflect upon the self as that which is only what God fills it to be. The reflection of the self as it was in spiritual perfection ceased. There only remains the reflection of the physical self as that which is filled by the now dead human spirit, i.e., it experiences its insignificance.

The physical self now conceptualizes the end of the physical self, and is able to do so, because it has experienced and recognized its insignificance before God. Thus, it conceptualizes the end of the reflection of the physical self upon itself.

However, because of an infusion of the life of God by his characteristic means of self sacrifice, there is once again the concept of the self as that which is filled with what God is. Though this is not complete since the concept of the end of the reflection of the physical self upon itself still remains, there is now the concept of a time when this will not be the case. This is the concept of immortality.

One could not conceptualize immortality unless it is possible in the present. For to have the ability to conceptualize the self without regards to itself apart from God, requires the gift of some measure of this life from God. Otherwise the self sees nothing but the self and is, therefore, dead. This means that either one has immortality in the present or he cannot even conceptualize or desire it as it truly is. He can only experience his nothingness.

If anyone has looked into the issues that seperate various theological camps, then the topic of predestination is likely to be on their radar. I won’t pretend to be able to explain what theologians have debated over the centuries and come no closer to agreeing on, but there are a few guidlines to help us apply to our lives what scripture says about the topic without getting bogged down in the debate its mechanics.

First, the doctrine of predestination–how, when and why God choses people to be saved, and who it is that he choses–is a doctrine given to those of us who believe. There are two perspectives in scripture: one is God’s perspective, which is never explained totally to us, but only enough for our faith in him to be strengthened, and secondly, the perspective of humans.

These two perspectives often seem to contradict eachother. For example, scripture says that “whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but who ever does not believe will not be saved.” This seems to put the salvation of a person in their own hands. Scripture also says “those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” This seems entirely God from start to finish.

The key is to understand the context. The first passage is speaking of people to whom the gospel will be preached. From a human standpoint, whenever the gospel is preached there is one of two responses: either the hearer believes or he doesn’t. It is the ones who believe and are baptized who will be saved.

The second passage is given as an encouragement to people who already believe, but who are discouraged because of the sin in their lives. Paul encourages them (in Romans 8) by telling them of how their salvation is not in how they feel or even the sin they commit from day to day, but in Christ who is their security for all eternity.

Why God predestines, who he predestines, and when he predestines them, are all questions that may remain a mystery for our whole life, but what God has told us about our responsability to believe and obey him, and the words he gives us to encourage us in our relationship with him are no less able to draw us closer to himself.

Science is concerned with observable measurements and qualifications in the physical world. By definition it must therefore be limited. For in coining a term such as ‘infinity’ it states that there is knowledge about the world that is outside of its grasp. Both the infinitely large and the infinitely small indicate that there must be ‘laws’ outside of known natural law that determines the nature of all things. Therefore, science cannot comment concerning miracles other than to say that they cannot be explained by science.

The mystery of the origin of all things, just as it points to the existence of God, also points to the existence of miracle

God’s power is the capacity for him to give of himself.

We cannot define God’s power according to the human definition of power. For humans see power as the capacity to dominate and manipulate. But if the power wants or needs anything from those under his authority, then he admits a lack in himself and thus proves his inferiority to those under his authority. Power is then contradicted.

So power is the capacity to give of the self, for this demonstrates the innate quality of the power, and thus conforms the object of this power to this quality by filling the object with the essence of the power. God is omnipotent: he is an unlimited source of life that gives without measure to his creation so that it might be filled with what he is, and thus conformed to his relationship.

Many find it beneficial to understand the essence of God’s character apart from creation or his interactions with people so that we may get to the heart of who he is. How is this possible for us who have never seen, heard, or been shown anything other than what God wills to relate to us, his creation?

Do we want to speak of his power? Power over what? How do we know he is powerful? We know of his power only in relation to his ability to create and dispose of his creation according to his will.

His omniscience? His sovereignty? All these things are only known in relationship to how he deals with us, his people.

Ah, but his glory? Look in scripture; God’s glory is always described as his greatness in the relationship he has established with his people. If it is the cherubim and seraphim who glorify him it is because of the lamb who was slain, or because of his righteousness in judgement. All these things pertain to his relationship.

It appears that God simply isn’t interested in revealing anything to us that is ‘outside’ of creation, or more importantly, that does not pertain to our relationship with him.

How can one even speculate “If God had not created”?? He did create! And thus he is a creator! If he had not created we would be talking of a completely different God. Since it is what he did we must conclude that it is what he is and serves to help us define who he is insofar as he is revealed.

God’s image is not in the abstract (as far as he has revealed it to us). God’s image as it is revealed is summed up in relationship. For even the Trinity is a relationship of three in one in which humans take part when they enter his rest. This relationship is sacrificial giving of life, otherwise known as love.

All other attributes, therefore, serve this character of self expenditure for his creation. Clearly, then, it is futile to try to come up with any sort of ‘objective’ explanation of God’s image, when all that he is shown to us in the context of a relationship with the individual!

And praise the Lord for that! For now when we study his word and seek his face we can know that whatever we find is what he desires us to know for the sake of giving it to us.

There are a variety of human emotional experiences and states of consciousness. This wide range of mental activity is one of the things which set humans apart from all other creatures. The interpretation of these experiences, however, is determined by one’s cultural mindset.

Since spirituality is integral to all human cultures it is no wonder that many unusual experiences in altered states of consciousness are attributed to other unseen powers. This cannot prove the existence of God, but only indicate that there is across the board a place, and even a necessity, in the minds of all humans for the existence of a higher state of being than that which is within human capacity.

Read More