The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
There is something I think of as ‘First Premise’ in spiritual matters, and I try to always keep it in mind. It is that God, in His true majesty, power, glory, and love is simply beyond our comprehension, at least while we are in earthly form. So however we conceptualize Him, it is inadequate. You and I are analytical, and want to figure things out, but no matter how we try to nail down what exactly God ‘is’, it’s beyond us. So Go, in His wisdom, has given us the Law and guidance, but then we must have faith in the rest of His attributes and plans.
You wisely follow the principle that ALL facts matter, and that includes the ones that we can’t - at least for now - ‘prove’ to be facts. It’s tricky. How do we ‘know’ that God exists, loves us, and has a Plan for us? How do we ‘know’ that the miracle of Creation is beautiful beyond words? We can ‘experience’ these things, and trusting in God can intensify and magnify the experience. Anyone who has experienced God’s love ‘knows’ that it is real - but we can only believe it as ‘factual’ through faith.
This is one of the reasons that I hold you in such high esteem, Peter. You are rigorously fact-based, but you are wise enough to know that we mortals can’t ‘know’ all of the facts of God’s Totality. We figure out what we can, but then must trust God through faith. So many intelligent atheists can’t grasp that.
I’ll bet that in your youth you knew people who compared you to Mr. Spock of “Star Trek”. Remember when Spock said, in one of the movies, that (paraphrasing) “logic is only the beginning of truth”? You, Peter have evolved from being Spock to being more like someone on the Q Continuum. Magnificent!
Wise, beautiful, and well said, Peter!
There is something I think of as ‘First Premise’ in spiritual matters, and I try to always keep it in mind. It is that God, in His true majesty, power, glory, and love is simply beyond our comprehension, at least while we are in earthly form. So however we conceptualize Him, it is inadequate. You and I are analytical, and want to figure things out, but no matter how we try to nail down what exactly God ‘is’, it’s beyond us. So Go, in His wisdom, has given us the Law and guidance, but then we must have faith in the rest of His attributes and plans.
You wisely follow the principle that ALL facts matter, and that includes the ones that we can’t - at least for now - ‘prove’ to be facts. It’s tricky. How do we ‘know’ that God exists, loves us, and has a Plan for us? How do we ‘know’ that the miracle of Creation is beautiful beyond words? We can ‘experience’ these things, and trusting in God can intensify and magnify the experience. Anyone who has experienced God’s love ‘knows’ that it is real - but we can only believe it as ‘factual’ through faith.
This is one of the reasons that I hold you in such high esteem, Peter. You are rigorously fact-based, but you are wise enough to know that we mortals can’t ‘know’ all of the facts of God’s Totality. We figure out what we can, but then must trust God through faith. So many intelligent atheists can’t grasp that.
I’ll bet that in your youth you knew people who compared you to Mr. Spock of “Star Trek”. Remember when Spock said, in one of the movies, that (paraphrasing) “logic is only the beginning of truth”? You, Peter have evolved from being Spock to being more like someone on the Q Continuum. Magnificent!