Huh? God? (The Q n A with Mr. LT)

Freedom I
Compare a man who's floating in outer space and a man bound by the forces of gravity on earth. Who is the free-er man? Mr Floatee or Mr Gravity?

At first, I tot it was Mr Floatee. Then again, Mr Floatee can't really move around in space can he? He'll just keep floating and be stationary, or move forever and ever. Newton's laws lah. On the other hand, Mr Gravity-bound is free with respect to earth. He can decide when and where he wants to walk and when and where to stop.

Freedom exists with respect to something.



Freedom II
Mr Guy got married to Ms Lady say 20years ago. And 20yrs ago, the single Mr Guy had the freedom to choose whether to marry Ms Lady. So, Mr. Guy uses his freedom of choice and voluntarily makes a commitment to Ms Lady.

There's something about freedom that involves making voluntary commitments.



Personality
The Greeks define personality as the intellect, the emotion and the will. A person cannot show his intellect, emotion and will if he is left all alone. Personality does not stand alone and it is relational to other people!



Responsibility
"I will be responsible for my own actions." -- Mr Human.
Sounds noble? But things don't exactly work that way. We live in a connected world. What we do affect other people as well. Can Mr Human take the responsibility for other chain events that follow?



Pain
"Pain is bad." Are you sure? Pain is the warning signal that something is wrong. It's God's megaphone in telling us that something is not right. Pain alerts us to diagnose what's not right. If there's no pain, the medical profession will be out of job.



What's right
Q: How does God decide what is right or just? Is there a moral standard God follow?
A: Can God create a stone He cannot lift? God is the standard and the moral standard is seen in God's character. God's character is love and this is seen in the oneness of the Trinity where Father, Son and Holy Spirit love each other from the beginning. God's intrinsic character shown in the Trinity is God's standard.



God is good? What is good?
God is good within His being, the Trinity. 'God is good' is a statement. 'God is good to me.' means something else altogether. When we say God is good, we are saying that God's very nature is Good. What is good? Love (the very nature of God) which existed since the beginning.



Where is God in all this? (Disasters. Eg. Tsunami)
He is there. God knows suffering. Look at Jesus and how He suffered and was nailed in the hands and feet on the cross. But God doesn't stop it bcoz He'll be infringing our freedom.



Excuse me. What freedom?
Our freedom to choose. Long ago, the first man Adam freely chose to rebel against God and declare himself (and thus his future generation i.e. all man) autonomous of God. So, we face the consequences of that choice made. Consequences as can be seen from Genesis of the Bible are:
broken relationship with God (autonomy and rebellion against God)
broken relationship between man and man (interpersonal conflict)
broken relationship within self (intrapersonal conflict. We don't even understand ourselves and can't face ourselves)
broken relationship with nature (even nature's rebelling against us)
Therefore, the consequence of the rebellion against God, autonomy = nature's rebellion. Disasters are part of the rebellion.



Why should I have a good relationship with God when he does not protect me?
Man. We all sound like we're trying to get the most from giving the least. He is God! There's awe in knowing God!



Quotes of the day:
Humans are a subset of God. We share some of His characteristics.

We don't worship God because He is safe. We worship God because He is Good.

(PS: Bits and pieces from a highly thought-provoking session with apologist Mr. LT. Pardon me if I sound mind-boggled. Much to think about.)