Re: A profound disturbance found in Yak butter.

In a message dated 5/27/2006 10:19:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
dopderbeck@gmail.com writes:
But the gift and assurance of faith ultimately comes from the Holy Spirit and
not from evidence.
I think that this is the only epistemology that Scripture affirms. I think
that the picture given us all through the Bible is that God meets us
personally, speaks to us personally, and proves Himself to be in our lives personally.
There is never an equation or a scientific validation available to prove the
faith -- we either rely on God being there for us and then He really shows up
and meets us, or we have nothing. Apologetics is the icing on the cake, but
not the cake itself. The cake is entirely the experience of interacting with
God personally and discovering that He really is there. My own faith is weak
when I don't pray and I don't have much experience of God meeting me and
surprising me often. But when I have been really sanctified in my heart and really
sought Him with all my heart, then He has always been there. That's the real
reason I believe -- not science or history or logic. And I am not so naive as
to believe that other religions don't have experience as one of their key
arguments, too, and so I have struggled to evaluate whether I am only fooling
myself. But in the end I must conclude that God really has interacted with me,
and that other religions may have real experiences (of some sort) too and that
this does not contradict Christianity. God really has done remarkable things
in my life, in answering prayers in fantastic ways, and in speaking to me
directly and through other people. He really has revealed Himself to me, despite
the fact that I am a bugger ball most of the time.

It is a dirty game we are playing, being forced to decide whether to believe
in Christ. Our souls depend on the outcome, and it seems we are given so
little to be able to play the game. Truthfully, it is not a fair game at all.
The Biblical perspective is that we really don't deserve to be granted a fair
game. We are not neutral a priori. We are enemies of God, not his friends,
unless (and only insofar as) He changes us. It is precisely because of our
sinfulness that the game seems dirty and unfair to us. It is not a shortcoming in
God or in the epistemology he makes available to us. We must know that we are
rotten in our sinfulness and therefore really don't deserve a "fair shake" or
nothing else makes sense. So that is my epistemology. I think this is the
only Biblical epistemology, and if we are looking for scientific or historical
proof to the neglect of actually seeking and experiencing the person of God
directly and immediately, as someone who doesn't deserve it, then we will always
be unhappy with the lack of clear proof. This is not a Wittgensteinian game,
because in that game God doesn't actually interact with the participants.

I can't explain adequately to my children why I take them to the doctor's
office to get a shot. Their lack of maturity prevents them from having a fair
epistemology to understand why I would do this to them. They are just subjected
to the shot and they cry and feel like it is unfair because I demand that it
should happen. How much less should we sinners be given a fair epistemology
in our dealings with God, when the Bible says that we are not merely immature
but truly enemies of God. Even as Christians, we have done nothing to deserve
a fair epistemology.

As a scientist I find that it is so very easy to lose sight of this fact --
that biblically, if we are searching for proof of God with all our heart, then
we are going down the wrong trail. We are supposed to search for God, not
proof of God, with all our heart.

God bless!
Phil Metzger
Received on Sat May 27 23:00:21 2006