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Author Topic:   Origins of the Judeo-Christian god and religion
iano
Member (Idle past 1941 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 136 of 282 (309167)
05-04-2006 6:13 PM
Reply to: Message 114 by Faith
05-04-2006 5:24 PM


Re: Reading God's writing in Nature
whereas nature is inscrutable to the vast majority of us.
Only insofar as we are willing to miss the woods for the intellectual trees. There is no reason to suppose that a person 2000 years ago was any less intelligent, sensitive, open to wonder, etc. - than we are now.
Supposing they could, for a moment, be rid of baggage of their age: be it Sun worship or Science worship, I would suggest that nature is perfectly scrutable. Simple, uninformed observation would but conclude one thing. And it this: nature evokes wonder in the person who stills for a moment the cacaphony inside which screams at them to attempt to explain it ALL. To be like God in other words

This message is a reply to:
 Message 114 by Faith, posted 05-04-2006 5:24 PM Faith has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 137 by Faith, posted 05-04-2006 6:15 PM iano has replied

  
iano
Member (Idle past 1941 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 140 of 282 (309178)
05-04-2006 6:39 PM
Reply to: Message 137 by Faith
05-04-2006 6:15 PM


Re: Reading God's writing in Nature
Fragments of nature did fragments of the work. The same kind of thing that Robin talked of concerning his lighthousekeeper(sic) days. Gazing at stars and vast seas and the overflowing abundance of life when scuba diving, made me feel...uncomfortable.
It confronted me with the fleeting (for I wouldn't face it for very long before escaping stage left) sense of my own insignificance. Which was immediately countered by the fact I knew I was...significant. Robins nihilism wasn't an option for some reason - I chose other escapes.
The silent majesty of nature telling me one thing. Little old me telling me another. Coming to realise that I was right made me realise the actual story the silent majesty of nature was telling me. "You are more significant than all this"
Overwhelming underestimation of my significance is what nature showed me. But to answer your question: Nature? Not a central movement in this particular symphony.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 137 by Faith, posted 05-04-2006 6:15 PM Faith has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 141 by Faith, posted 05-04-2006 7:03 PM iano has replied

  
iano
Member (Idle past 1941 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 144 of 282 (309189)
05-04-2006 7:25 PM
Reply to: Message 141 by Faith
05-04-2006 7:03 PM


Re: Reading God's writing in Nature
Iano, you are supporting my point then. Nature alone does not lead us to God.
I read people talking of 'ancient, ignorant' people coming up with the idea of god simply because a lightening strike killed their cow and I have to wonder. How would one (in any age) make such a leap. Too much exposure to too many movies depicting the idea I suppose.
There isn't enough information in nature alone to arrive at the conclusion "God". One would need a missing link in order to make the link (not that that has deterred our proto-feathered friends)
I think nature has two functions: an "I was blind" irritational-yet-unavoidable function and a "but now I see" (as described in my last post) confirmational function. Call nature repeated left jabs and "the law is a schoolteacher to lead you to Christ" as the knock out punch. That's how it was for me so its the only one I can comment on. Nature impinges on the man-external interface. The law making you realise you're dirt, works from within. The latter by far the least escapable of the two.
the question is whether raw nature without revelation teaches God to anybody or not?
I can but say "not".
This message has been edited by iano, 05-May-2006 12:28 AM

This message is a reply to:
 Message 141 by Faith, posted 05-04-2006 7:03 PM Faith has not replied

  
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