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A personal relationship with God

Postby John Anthony » August 27th, 2005, 8:49 pm

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Postby Allison » August 28th, 2005, 2:45 am

We find comfort among those who agree with us, growth among those who don't.
--Frank A. Clark
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Postby John Anthony » August 28th, 2005, 3:19 am

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Postby Allison » August 28th, 2005, 4:55 am

We find comfort among those who agree with us, growth among those who don't.
--Frank A. Clark
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Postby John Anthony » August 28th, 2005, 3:25 pm

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Postby Allison » August 28th, 2005, 5:48 pm

We find comfort among those who agree with us, growth among those who don't.
--Frank A. Clark
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Postby magpie » August 29th, 2005, 3:00 pm

There is also Evelyn Underhill's 1911 book, Mysticism, as well as her later works which are still considered classics in this field.
"Love is the will to extend one's self in order to nurture one's own or another's spiritual growth."
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Postby steveo » August 31st, 2005, 12:31 am

I long for that language of light
that speaks soft the word home.
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Postby gskern » August 31st, 2005, 1:32 am

John Anthony:
Thanks very much for adding good reference material (substance) to the discussion along the lines of how our own MINDS can provide us with experiences that some people would swear are "literal" interactions with God...

SteveO:
Thank YOU, too, not so much for your scripture pointer but for the Lewis quote, one of my all-time Favorites. Indeed, it speaks to the very core of what this whole thread is about: The only thing I really know for sure is that I have this Desire inside me which nothing in this world can satisfy; GOD is, to me, the only rational explanation for the existence of the Desire.

The Bible tells us that the heart of Man is deceitful and desperately wicked... As far as I know, no "magic" happens at Salvation, aside from the startling realization that I'll never have that Desire fulfilled by anything I will ever say or do, no matter how "good", and that 1) broken-ness leading to 2) surrender morphing into 3) devotion is the only way Home.

So with these things in mind, any "ecstatic" experience I might have is almost, for one thing, immediately suspect, and for another, wholly unnecessary to the pattern I've just described.

I'll (literally) SEE Him soon enough; in the mean time, I must do as Lewis suggested and "pray for the gift of Faith"...
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Postby John Anthony » August 31st, 2005, 6:54 pm

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Postby gskern » September 1st, 2005, 12:06 am

Hi John Anthony:

I too want to stress that the POSSIBILITY that such phenomena just MIGHT in fact be GOD is just as strong as the possibility that they are merely the results of brain activity...

But I cannot go with you to the "easier to believe" position, at least if you mean that that argument carries a greater Probability in your mind (if you meant only that it takes less "work" to believe that, you may be right, but I for one have no interest in "path of least resistance" arguments)....

I personally think the arguments are just as strong on either side, especially as we learn more about the amazing organ we have in our skulls. I would not necessarily characterize the argument, "it's only brain phenomena" as purely Materialistic, however: A pure Materialist believes ardently that there IS nothing beyond the physical Universe, and flatly DENIES even the possibility of "God manifestations" being anything more than brain phenomena...

MY argument is somewhere in the middle: I don't think we can KNOW that what we might like to view as God literally interacting with us is actually Him or merely the by-product of an amazing organ that even neuroscientists grudgingly admit they are largely clueless about...

So, wanting very much to believe that God DOES literally interact with us -- but not having had that experience myself -- I ask other believers for their experiences... As you might could guess, over the years I've gotten everything from Elvis-sightings to A Great White Light to quiet "impressions" in the heart and everything in between...
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Postby John Anthony » September 1st, 2005, 2:39 am

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Postby gskern » September 1st, 2005, 6:14 am

You're right: I've often scoffed at modern "scientists" who claim to have found "the God part" of the brain... To use one analogy, imagine a radio transistor that can pick up radio signals, which are external to it; the Materialist scientist wants to explain this by claiming the signals are merely a part of the transistor itself? How silly.

Our own Minds, though, have a tremendous capability to introduce "noise" into the equation... I'm convinced that a significant number of Christians who claim to be hearing "God" are only hearing their own "static"...

But enough about radios. I personally think we should focus far more on Obedience to the revealed Will of a Diety who will someday indeed literally interact with us... This talk of "relationship" is, to me, a diversion...
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Postby Adam » September 1st, 2005, 1:58 pm

"Love is the only art that poorly imitates nature."
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Postby John Anthony » September 1st, 2005, 4:01 pm

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