Taking Religion Seriously is Murray’s autobiographical account of the decades-long evolution in his stance toward the idea of God in general and Christianity in particular. He argues that religion is something that can be approached as an intellectual exercise. His account moves from the improbable physics of the Big Bang to recent discoveries about the nature of consciousness, from evolutionary psychology to hypotheses about a universal Moral Law. His exploration of Christianity delves into the authorship of the Gospels, the reliability of biblical texts, and the scholarship surrounding the resurrection story.
Murray, the author of Coming Apart and coauthor of The Bell Curve, does not write as an expert. He acknowledges that those taking religion seriously for the first time, like himself, must grapple with topics and ideas that defy intellectual mastery. In this book, Murray offers his personal example of intellectual struggle toward religion.
“Maybe God needs a way to reach overeducated agnostics and that’s what I stumbled into,” he writes. “It’s a more arid process than divine revelation but it has been rewarding. And, if you’re like me, it’s the only game in town.”
Commission Earned
If you don't open yourself up to the reality that thousands of blessed and divinely realized human beings have incarnated in our midst over our history to share the truth of the divine and to present their personal revelation of the divine and its truth, then you are ignoring thousands of informative writings, millions of pages of teachings and the like that will all serve everyone and their search for the divine and divine realization in this lifetime. Christianity is simply one part of the great 5000+ year tradition of religion among humans.
ReplyDeleteA question for which nobody has an answer is this. Why would an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent being who COMMANDS that humanity worship him NOT provide proof of his existence. Not only is there NO PROOF, there isn't even an credible evidence of his existence. Religion is based SOLELY on blind faith. Any time you attempt to discuss religion with a "believer" the conversation will ALWAYS be a discussion for of feelings and beliefs, NOT facts or evidence. The solution is simple. God needs to prove he exists. But somehow that doesn't seem to be important to the irrational. When humans left behind irrational belief and chose evidence based science we left the dark ages. Why would we forsake rational science and return to irrational emotions based beliefs.
ReplyDeleteThat was an interesting example of using human reasoning to try to explain/unexplain(totally a word) God.
DeleteYou can take the most intelligent dog that has ever lived, and try to teach it algebra. The dog will never understand, because no dog is wired to be able to. In the same way, we may have been created to simply be unable to comprehend what to us are the mysteries of existence, and the intelligent creator's purposes in doing so. Just a possibility to consider.
DeleteTo quote one wiser than I, yet of the same belief, John Lennox...
Delete“Either human intelligence ultimately owes its origin to mindless matter; or there is a Creator. It is strange that some people claim that it is their intelligence that leads them to prefer the first to the second.”
John Lennox
Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University (emeritus), internationally renowned speaker and author of several books on the interface of science, philosophy and religion.
https://www.johnlennox.org/
The obviousness of the divine as everything that is, has been, or ever will be is obvious. What more do you need?
DeleteThere is NOTHING OTHER THAN THE DIVINE. HOW COULD IT BE OTHERWISE?
ReplyDeleteWho made the divine? Man did
DeletePersonal experience counts as nothing to those who seek for proof. So I offer a couple of verses from the bible to think about. Psalm 19, "The heavens declare the Glory of God, the firmament shows his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech no language where their voice is not heard". This verse confirms that all creation is of God. Any thoughtful observer should realize that the world in all of its complexity could never arise from mere chance. John 20:29, "Thomas, because thou has seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen and yet believed". For those who are undecided, I propose a simple question. If God did not die for your sins and you pass away, what have you lost? Your existence ceases and you have lost nothing. But if you refuse to believe that God died for you, and you do not accept his gift of redemption, eternity spent alone in darkness will be your fate. Are you willing to risk it?
ReplyDeleteThank you for pointing to what God says about Himself in His Word.
DeleteYep
DeleteMy science education actually strengthened my belief in God.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The ooze and electricity argument to kick off all the life we see falls apart a bit when you see how complex even the simplest cells are. The God of the Bible makes the most sense and the Bible does stand scrutiny.
ReplyDeleteSuperstition is superstition even if you call it religion
ReplyDeleteAnother name for God, is Source, a theory behind this name is God/Source is a quantum being/natural AI computer, recognized as the highest life form in the seeable universe, ie, The Source of everything else.
ReplyDeleteLife occurs in a darnedest places. The supposition is is it beyond possible life takes almost all forms, and within various structures of life, always a hierarchy exists, naturally, so why not a being of such proportions and grandeur. How can anyone say its not possible, when all around us everyday the impossible becomes part of our collective intelligence of cognizant beings, how wonders never sease.
I for one can buy into the notion of a God/Source, if for no other reason, for me personally specifically, because DNA is possibly Source given, the utter core of life as I know it with my eyes and mind, secondly, it is really good design, snd that design exists everywhere. So my perception is, why no? Why not indeed.
God is just an imaginary friend.
ReplyDelete