“My People Perish for Lack of Knowledge”

Tetragrammaton (Photo credit: ideacreamanuelaPps)

On of this blog’s readers (“Morningstar”–but not Don Bailey) posted a comment on another article that read,

“Some scriptures I believe I understand. Some I know I do not understand.. One scripture says, My people are destroyed because of a lack of knowledge. Then, another scripture says, Woe to those who deprive my people of their rights.This last scripture is enough for me to believe that rights come from YHWH. BUT, it seems to me these rights are going to be denied by the oppressors regardless of whether God’s people have “knowledge” or not..I think Christ & other apostles etc.,had knowledge. Also, he,Christ said if they have persecuted me, they will persecute you. So, I am at a loss to understand what the scripture that says my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge means. Except I know what destroyed & being destroyed means.”

“Morningstar” knows God’s people are destroyed for “lack of knowledge” but, so far, he can’t figure out what that “knowledge” is.  Is the needed knowledge the Pythagorean Theory?  How ’bout how many ounces are in a metric tonne?  What’s the Las Vegas “line” on the next Super Bowl?  Exactly, what “knowledge” is needed not to “perish”?

It is a puzzlement.  I don’t know the answer for sure.  But I’ve also wondered about that essential “knowledge” for at least a decade.  And, then, about five years ago, an “answer” (or at least a possible answer) came to me.

 

Being Saved

Image via Wikipedia

I don’t like incorporated churches.  I doubt that they are real churches of the God of the Bible.  On those rare instances when I do attend a 501(c)3 “church,” I get a faintly creepy feeling somewhat like going into a hospital.  A Bible study group in someone’s living-room strikes me as a much more legitimate “church”.

Nevertheless, I see people at these incorporated churches (as well as in “private” life) who have that dreamy, peaceful demeanor of those who are already “saved”.

I don’t understand that peaceful, dreamy demeanor–probably because I don’t have that look or demeanor.  But why should I?  I have no doubt that I am “called”.  I have no doubt that I could be “saved”.  I hope that I will be “saved”.  But so far, I do not feel or believe that I am already “saved” by any event that’s taken place since I was born.

More, while I hope that those who have that dreamy look of the “pre-saved” are actually saved, I have my doubts.  I’m not jealous of these people.  If they’re already saved but I am not, I say Hooray for those who are already and actually “saved”.

But, as I said, I have my doubts.  In fact, I’m so wary of those who claim to be already “saved” that I regard their claims as a potentially dangerous conceit.  Not dangerous to me.  Dangerous to those who make such claims.

 

Adask vs. the Atheist

Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr

Someone, going by the name of “Dan” with the email snoopybandit@yahoo.com has been visiting this blog and commenting for some time.  Dan is an atheist and devotee of Ayn Rand and her books Atlas Shrugged and, to a lesser degree, The Fountainhead.  I never really enjoyed Atlas Shrugged, but 40 years ago I was also a devotee of Ayn Rand and The Fountainhead.

In the past two weeks or so, Dan has taken it upon himself to explain why God does not exist and why those (like me) who know or believe otherwise are misguided fools worshipping the “Great Skydaddy” and members of what he calls “magickind”.  Dan has relied heavily on the use of “reason” to “prove” that “God does not exist”.

I’m not having his atheistic crap on my blog.  I don’t mind that he’s an atheist, but he’s not going to get away with insulting my faith on my blog.  Nor will he get away with irrational arguments.  We sparred back and forth on a couple of comments on this blog.  I eventually posed a list of 20 questions.  He didn’t answer most of them at first, but he came around and eventually offered answers for all.

What follows are what became my lengthy responses to his answers.  My response was originally intended to be merely a “comment” but it grew so large (about 11,000 words) that it became an article.