Re: tsunami impact on animals

Sheila wrote:
We are being made perfect in our faith by turning to God, trusting Him, and following after Him.
 
And Sheila's remark helps with understanding the difference between men and animals. Animals do not need to turn to God. They behave instinctively. Only man has self consciousness and free will (which a few of you have already mentioned). Having self consciousness, man is also self aware of his own mortality. And so he suffers an excess of ontological anxiety because he ponders his own non-existence.

Jesus said:
“When you disrobe without being ashamed… you will not be afraid.”*

Translated into modern psychological jargon: When your self consciousness is gone, your fear (ontological anxiety) will be gone too.

*The Gospel of Thomas (37) in The Nag Hammadi Library, revised edition, James. M. Robinson, general editor, Thomas O. Lambdin, translator, Harper Collins, 1978

My paper True Religion makes this distinction (between instinct of the lower animals and man's self relective consciousness) and reconciles it with human evolution. A few of you have read it.
Turning to God is doing God's will. You turn to God by making learned behavior intuitive.

rich
Received on Tue Jan 11 12:28:40 2005