Answers and More Part Two

Jeff and Amy both mentioned my kowtowing statement in their comments, so I guess it deserves more clarification because it touches on other things.

RESPECT. By kowtow, I meant servile deference and from fawn: obsequious (to follow) behaviour. And a God who chases humans around with his love hoping they'll take it from him is obsequious and servile. But, thanks to some clarification from Jeff, God doesn't do that, so he isn't servile or obsequious or fawning. He is steadfast and powerful and loving. I can and do respect that. Amy, you thought if I were God that I wouldn't kowtow to humans. I probably wouldn't, but that doesn't mean I'd be a good God, and I think we're all fortunate I'm not.

VALUE. I'll try to make the last part of my previous post a bit clearer, hopefully Ockam won't get me. I'll rephrase by saying, "I don't find my value in the fact that God sacrificed his son for me." Jeff, you're right that my possibility comes from the Creator. [While the previous assumption about unrequited love being more valuable has been debunked, I'll continue to defend my reasoning. I figured rejected love was more valuable, so if I accepted God's love instead of rejecting it, that made it less valuable. So according to that thinking, identifying yourself by a love you have devalued by accepting it doesn't make sense. That is why I don't identify myself by God's love for me. I hope I provided more answers than questions.]

MORE. I talked about my disillusionment before in the "Jeremy Birge" post. Now I'll talk a bit about my beginning and a different disillusionment. I was baptised the summer before my freshman year. I chose to be baptised because I wanted to be part of the Remnant (there was a Prophecy Seminar the previous autumn from our pastor.) We were in the eleventh hour of eschatological time. I didn't want to miss out. The problem with this was that ten years later I don't have that urgency, and since I was baptised into the second, not first, advent part of Seventh-Day Adventism, I'm left with not much. When I was baptised, I didn't really accept what I should have as a baptismal candidate, Christ's sacrifice. This continued from that point. I've never prayed to Jesus, always God. So I understand my circumstances have come from my past and my honesty, or lack thereof, with what I truly believe. Which brings us to . . .

BELIEF. To me belief is an acceptance of an intangible based on evidence. Faith is acceptance of an intangible in spite of evidence. Faith is important, as hope is important. I believe in God and have faith in many aspects of Him. A lot of my evidence of God comes from my ability to reason. I've also felt strong emotion during worship which I attribute at least partly to God. I also hope that there is a god, which is my main exercise in faith.

Vansittart Huggins