Thursday, February 09, 2012
Who Is Saved and How - 4
In the Old Testament, God says to Abraham, "Do not worship the stars, for that has been GIVEN UNTO THE NATIONS" which opens the door to the possibility that different people are permitted different standards. After the great flood, Noah is given the Noahbite laws for the nations which contain only five commandments. Moses married the daughter of the high priest of the Medianites who later joined Moses for worship in the wilderness which suggests that there were other acceptable religions for other people. The Zoroastrians, who had split off from the followers of the Rig Veda, and whose language in their Avestas shares many words in common with Saknskrit, preach that each people were given their own religion. In Islam, Mohammad borrows this Zoroastrian concept but adds that all of those religions initially given became corrupt and therefore it was nessary for God, Allah, to send one final prophet, Mohammad, the "seal of the prophets", to deliver the uncorrupted message of the Qur'an. St. Paul writes in Romans that when the nations do by nature what is right apart from religion then they have a "law written in their heart." We must question the value, the purpose which eternal torment with no possibility of repentance or reform might serve. It is less obvious that an eternal paradise of pleasures or bliss makes little sense since constant sensation ceases to be a sensation so we would become accustomed to and bored with rivers of wine and honey and a harem of supernatural houri virgins. If there is some supreme omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent being which designs the universe then we may easily see aspects of the divine plan in the natural world in the form of competition, natural selection,survival of the fittest and evolution. The Greek Orthodox believe that consciousness is not possible apart from the physical body and this is
why ressurection from the dead is necessary since they reject the notion that a disembodied soul can fly about like some cupid. If wisdom and understanding of justice is MORE important that the facticity or history of one's deeds then such knowledge and understanding requires constant practice and exercise through the trials and tribulations of changing circumstances.
why ressurection from the dead is necessary since they reject the notion that a disembodied soul can fly about like some cupid. If wisdom and understanding of justice is MORE important that the facticity or history of one's deeds then such knowledge and understanding requires constant practice and exercise through the trials and tribulations of changing circumstances.
Moses clearly states (paraphrasing) "This days has been placed before you good and evil; life and death. CHOOSE, therefore, LIFE." So we are given free will and it is our free choice to choose which indicates that our understanding of wisdom and our habits of choice define our character and are of greater importance than the audit trail of our actions and mistakes in the balances of justice at some judgment. In the Bookd of Esther, the wicked Haaman is plotting the genocide of the Israelites. Queen Esther's uncle, Mordecai, writes to her (paraphrased) "You have it in your power to choose to help and save your people but if you choose not to then G-d will arrange for the help to come by some other means but you shall not share in the reward of your good work." On the other hand we can plainly see that intellectual comprehension may be necessary but is not sufficient to lead us to the better choice. We all know the dangers of tobacco and alcohol yet our knowledge of the risks
does not always cause us to abstain from behavior which is self-destructive.
does not always cause us to abstain from behavior which is self-destructive.
