There's nothing wrong with emotions, but once you make emotions the basis of your faith and NOT knowledge or Truth, that becomes a problem. Our faith is not based on emotions, but it is based on knowledge, reason and evidence. Emotions fluctuate all the time, but knowledge and truth never changes. Don't let emotions dictate what the truth is, but it is the truth that will dictate and guide your emotions. Thank you J.P, absolute spot on. Pray for Australia, there is a dire need of apologetics here. My prayer is Lord willing, that I am able to plant a ministry here.
Oh, how right you are! Thank you for your maturity and depth of insight. We do not base our life on emotion or feeling. Gods truth is always our sure foundation!
Dr. Moreland, I have learned so much from you in the last 20 years. You have ministered to my soul, and you have become an essential part of my education. Thank you.
@@mikewilliamson4986 The question; "Are you a Hindu?"; is appropos of nothing at all. Questions are not probative. Statements (knowledge as indicated by Dr. J. P. Moreland) is the only probative identity. What I appreciate at this particular moment, is the opportunity for us to apply our knowledge to your communication here Mike Williamson. Whereas your communication is not specifically relevant, persons who can bring knowledge to bear upon the matters presented by Dr. Moreland, are able to distinguish between Wisdom and Folly, as taught to us in the Book of Proverbs in the Holy Bible. Alternatively, perhaps you are biased against those who are Hindu. It really does not matter, as what Dr. Moreland discusses, invites people of intelligence to show their thoughts about all subjects. Your introduction of an Interrogative, is de facto, a presentation of an absence of actual knowledge. That is specifically why you are asking a question. As Christian Apologists, we seek to provide answers to questions, rather than to go about in the world attempting to trap other persons with profound puzzlements in language or unstated premises.
(16:25) -I've had that feeling twice, and after much prayer it turned out not to be from God.. Don't just rely on feelings, even intense ones. Prayer and reading the word are most important
@@collectorofstuff158 Yes, mental powers is sufficient as a general reference to any discourse of ideas. The parables of Jesus are a demonstration of "mental powers" which serve to illustrate essential concepts. What a person informed philosophically and theologically understands is that asking minimalist interrogatives is not a means by which cleverness is indicated. If a person is to demonstrate "mental powers" the expression of such functions require an expanded articulation. In that regard, the life and ministry of Jesus Christ is to be contrasted with communications like your own. Two words, with the addition of 3 Question Marks, is not equivalent to a full articulation of "mental powers". Dr. Moreland for example, is a more recent demonstration of "mental powers" as his conceptions are presented in their full expression with complete analysis. Therefore, it is relevant that there be a distinction between a demonstration of "mental powers" by a person's ability to communicate, as contrasted by persons who offer far less significant communication. Two Words and 3 Question Marks do not serve as a meaningful communication nor is it evidentiary of "mental powers". Interrogatives, in point of fact, are indications and declaratives of the absence of an actual knowledge.
We also need to depend more on God's strength so that there will be more miracles, which are really good evidence that Christianity is true. Pray that the lord of the harvest will send more workers out into the harvest field because the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
I totally agree. But it goes wider than religion - emotion is replacing knowledge everywhere. It's effortless to have feelings but it's hard to acquire knowledge. That's why the charismatic churches are the only ones growing. And the arts and humanities are the ones behind this empowering emotion to the detriment of knowledge. The belief is that one doesn't have to have knowledge about a subject to have a valid opinion on the subject - nuclear power generation is bad; forget the fact that it kills least people per unit of power generated than any other way of generating power. I feel so strongly about knowledge in religion that I wrote a book called Fact Based Faith.
A good analysis so far (21.50) but very Americanocentric. The problem of the fall of the Christian mind is a cultural pestilance throughout the Western world. I'm writing from England.
i've had to deal with unwanted OCD thoughts that caused me to think blasphemous thoughts Do not worry, there is hope to be forgiven and there is hope to overcome and reduce and get rid of OCD thoughts
Either God can do nothing to stop bad things, or he doesn't care to, or he doesn’t exist. God is either impotent, evil, or imaginary. Take your pick, and choose wisely. The only sense to make of tragedies like this is that terrible things can happen to perfectly innocent people. This understanding inspires compassion. Religious faith, on the other hand, erodes compassion. Thoughts like, 'this might be all part of God’s plan,' or 'there are no accidents in life,' or 'everyone on some level gets what he or she deserves' - these ideas are not only stupid, they are extraordinarily callous. They are nothing more than a childish refusal to connect with the suffering of other human beings. It is time to grow up and let our hearts break at moments like this.
Badlatvian Skepticaman, whatever you can say about Christianity, you have an excruciatingly hard case to make if you think it has made the world a less compassionate place. Do you know anything about history? The Red Cross. The Salvation Army. Such and Such Presbyterian Hospital or Such and Such Methodist Hospital or some other church organization that started a hospital. Perhaps it is okay for skeptics to just sit around and feel bad about tragedies, but Christians have a long history of doing good in response to them. And to your first proposal, I would suggest you read If God, Why Evil, by Norman Geisler or Chapter 27 in Moreland and Craig's book, "Philosophical Foundations of a Christian Worldview." If you think that the move that humans are fallen and not "innocent" makes Christians callus, then I suggest you look at the One that Christians are supposed to follow and see if His view that we are all sinners made him less compassionate. Jesus of Nazareth, God incarnate, was a man of immense compassion and loved people so much that He was willing to die for them - for you.
Respectfully you only gave 3 options, I submit to you the 4th is most plausible. All the evil things that people do or natural detriments can be used, have been used and will be used by an omniscient living God to transform the lives affected. Even unbelievers attest to this truth about tragedies or problems, they learn from it and even begin organizations to help others cope.
David Miktam What on earth makes option 4 plausible? It includes an apparently unneeded entity to explain random tragedies and problems and therefore violates Occam's razor and as a consequence is objectively less probable than a naturalistic explanation. _"Even unbelievers attest to this truth about tragedies or problems, they learn from it and even begin organizations to help others cope."_ There's nothing about a tsunami that makes supernatural creatures probable - sorry. The connection simply is not there. Moreover, you ignore millions of people who simply die due to all kinds of disasters like that. Children with brain worms simply don't have their lives transformed.
The Christian using their mind to defend their faith is heretical? Firstly, you are breaking the Ninth Commandment. Second, your comment shows a sad disconnect with two thousand years of Church history. I encourage you to use YOUR mind before saying such nonsense.
