tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7382534.post3252635661613655629..comments2007-07-14T17:56:09.627-04:00John Piippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629118383980527338noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7382534.post-49148262002703929662007-07-14T17:56:00.000-04:002007-07-14T17:56:00.000-04:00Perhaps a study of the basically limited ideas of "God" might help.<BR/><BR/>For example:<BR/><BR/>Monotheism - the belief that there is one God (Christianity, Judaism, Islam)<BR/><BR/>Pantheism/Monism - the belief that everything is "God" (Hinduism, Buddhism [everything is not "God" but everything is "One" - a metaphysical monism)<BR/><BR/>Polytheism - there are many "gods" (or many "spirits - primitive religions)<BR/><BR/>Deism - There is a God, but God has nothing to do with us or his creation<BR/><BR/>Atheism - There is no God<BR/><BR/>When it comes to worldviews, there are not a plethora of them, but a quite limited number of them.<BR/><BR/>Next - C.S. Lewis was once asked "What is the difference between Christianity and the other world religions?" He answered: "That's easy. It's grace." So, among the religious choices, only Christianity has the idea of God coming to communicate his love and grace to us, and accepting us... by grace, not by deeds we do. The other world religions are deed-oriented. That is, one has to "do" a certain number of things in order to be in relationship with "God."<BR/><BR/>In this regard, I would suggest you read N.T. Wright's excellent little book Simply Christian. <BR/><BR/>Your point about Christian churches is a good one. I suggest: begin by re-reading, with a listening ear, Matthew/Mark/Luke/John. Go yourself to the original Christian documents. Look at various churches in light of these.<BR/><BR/>What if it is just your own imagination? Here's one way I can answer this, and it's by using something from C.S. Lewis. See his little essay "On Obstinacy in Belief." When it comes to God one can relate to him in at least two ways. 1) A reasonable approach, so that our faith makes rational sense. For me, the Incarnation is key here. I value the idea that, instead of us searching for a hidden God, God has come searching for us; 2) upon believing in God one enters into relationship with God. Lewis calls this "the logic of personal relationships." It's different from pure rationality.<BR/><BR/>For some ideas about listening to God see some of the books in the bibliography I posted a while ago on this blog.John Piippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629118383980527338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7382534.post-33307288905341883192007-07-14T14:18:00.000-04:002007-07-14T14:18:00.000-04:00I hear you but I have concerns that whatever I decide to select as a basis for my beginning may not be right. If it isn’t then I could be getting on the wrong track and build on that.<BR/>Are my concerns unusual, because, if I consider that both Muslims and Christians are claiming to worship God and yet so different…? How do we account for that?<BR/>And that is just one example of two religions that are out there. I have been involved in a couple of christian churches and they were very different on many things. <BR/>Your counsel is to do this myself and see what God hilights to me. What if it is my imagination and I begin to dwell on it? I would be chasing my own idea and thinking it was God. Then if I use other authors I have to believe I would find one that has similar views to ones I already started forming.<BR/>Just now thinking about it I can see why there are so many different versions of stuff out there. I am just another person thinking I know what God wants.<BR/>Just working through this is helping me though so I hope you don’t mind.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7382534.post-9251253808826386762007-07-13T08:08:00.000-04:002007-07-13T08:08:00.000-04:00Hello anonymous:<BR/><BR/>The Jewish-Christian understanding on meditation is like chewing on food... slowly. <BR/><BR/>I would say, begin with Scripture. Read Scripture with a listening ear. Then, when God highlights a certain verse or verses for you, meditate on that. Which means: ponder it.<BR/><BR/>How do I gain a good understnading of God? <BR/><BR/>1. Immerse myself in the Bible. <BR/>2. Study the biblical understanding of God. This is really not so hard to get at.<BR/>3. Use commentaries and other helps that schoalrs have written. Many scholars have written things about the God the Bible speaks about that are intelligible for non-scholars.<BR/>4. For example, biblically, God is good. There's really not much debate on this.<BR/>Was this any help?John Piippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10629118383980527338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7382534.post-17880050058087412932007-07-12T21:45:00.000-04:002007-07-12T21:45:00.000-04:00I suppose given the power of meditation, if I meditate on an wrong understanding of God, I become that...?<BR/>How do I guard against that? Are we sure that we have a really good understanding of God? Who has that? How can I be sure?<BR/>I mean, all the different stuff you hear and see!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com