Free will or lack of.......

[the village idiot]

16 minutes ago, aspenarb said:

Surely temperament has to be a major player in the thought process, none of us are the same and we have little to no choice or control in the way our emotions affect us.

 

Eg. Man comes home unexpectedly to find wife with a lover , his predisposed temperament will play a major roll in his thought process and actions , he could be any of the below  

 

Man 1. Gets in a rage and stabs the pair of them to death.

Man 2. Turns a blind eye and pretends it never happened.

Man 3. Says nothing , sneaks off, torches the wiffy`s lovers car, dobs  romeo in to his wife and reveals all  .

Man 4.  Gets off on it and hides in the cupboard  while on the hand pump.

Man 5.  Gets suicidal and throws himself off a bridge.

Man 6. Runs off never to be seen again.

Man 7. Hits the booze.

Man 8. Turns gay.

Man 9. Buys a transit and chipper ............... Nah

No argument with that Bob.

[TIMON]

 
Can you have a go at describing God, and explain why you attach that word to the phenomenon?

I’ll have a stab.............. just one word?
Ok......,,,

Jesus.

Here’s my clumsy attempt at why...

Anthropomorphic-ly speaking, he is the only way we, with our finite minds can come close to comprehending the character of an eternal, immutable and transcendent being so mind blowingly incomprehensible that he could “speak” (so to speak) the universe and everything in it, into existence.

My own life journey and experience has strongly convinced me that God can be reached, through the person of Christ.
(And, believe me, I was very difficult to convince because of all of the negative baggage that organised religion came with)

People from all walks of life have been discovering this and finding out that it is possible to have a living, vibrant, life giving and life enriching relationship with the Creator of the universe for Centuries.

The proof that this relationship is real and not just a fantasy has been the noticeable fruit of that relationship.... the character qualities that I had always been lacking in now began to manifest themselves in my life. Incredibly I was becoming more like Christ and the change was dramatic. If you knew me before I started to pursue a living faith you would be amazed as many people who know me are. (I am still very far from perfect and have a long, long way to go)

These words sum it up.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

(Galatians 6)

[the village idiot]

Great stuff Ti

 

I was specifically after Onetruth's notion of God, but it will no doubt be good and really helpful to get all interpretations on the table. Much kudos to you and woodwizzard as a lot of people keep this stuff to themselves, and when conversation stops, so do some possibilities to grow.

Hopefully, in the interests of thread integrity, we can keep some emphasis on the free will implications.

[Vespasian]

Timon

 

I was once a Christian Timon..

 

But for the most part I was a self taught Christian...  Never went to church but ruminated on the subject constantly..  Which being a lonely exercise led me to develop my own philosophy on the Christianity...

 

For instance, Jesus died for our sins.   Couldn't give a monkeys about that..  Jesus walked on water?...  made up crap to impress a gullible audience...  and on and on and on...

 

So what did I make of the story..  I came to the conclusion that the story was about bravery, sacrifice and redemption.. 

 

Bravery....   A willingness to fight for for the truth..  To suffer the slings and arrows.

Sacrifice....   To give everything you have, even to the extent of your life if you're fighting to bring light into the world/truth.. The death on the cross...  

Redemption...   you might suffer and die, but your character can never be destroyed.. your name will be honored long after your passing..

 

Didn't take much after that to get to thinking it doesn't even matter if Jesus was real or not, all I need are the lessons from the story..

 

Sorry Village Idiot  I wanted to get my story in, I know Timon loves this sort of stuff...

[the village idiot]

9 minutes ago, Vespasian said:

Sorry Village Idiot  I wanted to get my story in, I know Timon loves this sort of stuff...

No need to apologise Vesp, my argument dictates that you could not have done otherwise!

[TIMON]

Timon
 
I was once a Christian Timon..
 
But for the most part I was a self taught Christian...  Never went to church but ruminated on the subject constantly..  Which being a lonely exercise led me to develop my own philosophy on the Christianity...
 
For instance, Jesus died for our sins.   Couldn't give a monkeys about that..  Jesus walked on water?...  made up crap to impress a gullible audience...  and on and on and on...
 
So what did I make of the story..  I came to the conclusion that the story was about bravery, sacrifice and redemption.. 
 
Bravery....   A willingness to fight for for the truth..  To suffer the slings and arrows.
Sacrifice....   To give everything you have, even to the extent of your life if you're fighting to bring light into the world/truth.. The death on the cross...  
Redemption...   you might suffer and die, but your character can never be destroyed.. your name will be honored long after your passing..
 
Didn't take much after that to get to thinking it doesn't even matter if Jesus was real or not, all I need are the lessons from the story..
 
Sorry Village Idiot  I wanted to get my story in, I know Timon loves this sort of stuff...

You missed out the Resurrection! Without that there is no Christianity [emoji41]

[WesD]

2 hours ago, Vespasian said:

I sense a problem...   God knows that six million souls will go down in a gas chamber...  yet does doesn't lift a finger, or, planned it in the first place..   

 

 

According to those who believe in god though if he’d have stepped in he removes your free will. 

 

Gods gift to humanity is free will, didn’t it start with an iPhone I mean Apple?!

 

That’s not my argument btw as I’m the least religious person I know. 

[WesD]

1 hour ago, TIMON said:

Here’s my clumsy attempt at why...

Anthropomorphic-ly speaking, he is the only way we, with our finite minds can come close to comprehending the character of an eternal, immutable and transcendent being so mind blowingly incomprehensible that he could “speak” (so to speak) the universe and everything in it, into existence.

Shit Ti almost confused you for a wordsmith there! I’d say that’s far from clumsy. 

[WesD]

1 hour ago, Vespasian said:

 

Timon

 

I was once a Christian

 

Do you see yourself differently now vesp? 

[the village idiot]

15 minutes ago, TIMON said:

 

You missed out the Resurrection! Without that there is no Christianity

 

Vesp sometimes leads me to think that he believes he IS the Resurrection!