Knowing / Not Knowing All the Answers
I think to myself, how uncomfortable — and undesirable — it would be to have my knowledge of things completely corrected; to finally have all the answers to every question ever asked, to have nothing to think towards; to leave nothing negotiable, ‘open for discussion’. How much more preferable ignorance seems. But given immortality, having exhausted all possible contingencies of any problem (for surely, there are only a finite number of problems with a finite number of solutions, however innumerable they seem), surely having the answer will eventually become desirable when compared to an eternity of uncertainty…Why do I hold onto the idea of wanting to figure things out for myself.… (Read more)
“Take me away, Jesus!”
You know, the “take me away, Jesus!” attitude is something I understand, and some times feel, but most of the time don’t like. I understand it because hey, who wouldn’t want to be with Jesus, right? I some times feel it because lets face it, life isn’t smooth sailing all of the time; and I don’t like it because it feels escapist, at least to me. And I have to be honest, there is a certain fear (or anxiety, or apprehension) I feel when I think this sort of thought, that I some times wonder if I’m the only person who feels it.
I was reading Dostoevsky’s The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, when I realized what it was that I was fearing: a complete change of life, perspective and desires. Often times I figure that this is a weird fear to have, especially for a Christian; I worry that I’m … (Read more)
Do Good People go to Hell?
Or for that matter, do bad people go to heaven? In both cases I believe the answer is a clear no. And I think the reason this question comes up often, and is equally as misunderstood, is because we tend to think that actions define character — which to an extent is true — but that this is it. I’m sure this belief arises from the popular notion that people are inherently neither ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ but through the choices we make lean to one side or the other. Of course, the caveat would be added that no person is completely good or completely bad. People are something of a “gray area,” where as long as one set of actions outweighs the others, we are identified as ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
That’s the problem.
I once heard an illustration comparing Billy Graham and Hitler, it goes something like this. If God’s … (Read more)
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