For all the talk about how judgemental and narrow minded we horrible Fundamentalists are, there sure is a lot of trash and judgementalism spewing from otherwise intelligent, professedly enlightened people. I cannot deny or endorse some of what has been done in the name of Christianity, any more than you can deny or endorse (at least I hope you would not endorse) what has been done to Christians in the name of ....whatever it was done in the name of. However, I can say what the Bible teaches and that is that we as Christians are to strive to live at peace with everyone, SO FAR AS IT IS UP TO US. I can't say that everyone who claims to be a Christian lives this way, but there are a lot of things that we as Christians are to live by that most don't.
As for the name of God issue, the whole point He was making when he called himself I AM is that He is larger and ultimately the greatest being there is, greater than any man-thought name could provide. The "names" used throughout the bible, are more along the lines of descriptions used to refer to a being who is beyond human description. Jehovah Jaira (sorry if the spelling is incorrect), Jehovah Neecy, Jehova Shalom (God the provider, God the protector, God of Peace) Yaweh, Father, Lord, etc. are our best attempts to describe what God is. The capital G is the way to differentiate the one true creator God from other "gods" that the Bible talks about. The bible says that there are many gods, but only one true God. The word god simply means a being who supernaturally rules over something. Satan is referred to as a god, but not the God, as he was created by and ultimately fell from grace in the presence of the true God, and now rules over this world system. Polytheistic religions worship many gods, and the bible acknowleges this, but they fail to worship The God who created all of the others. Allah is also just a man given way of describing this ultimate God.
As for God being megalomaniacal and self absorbed, well, He's God. And aren't we being a little, no a lot, egomaniacal and self absorbed to assume that our ultimately limited and weak psyches know more and can do things better than the one who created us? If you don't believe in something greater than these fragile bodies and minds that we possess and think that we humans are the ultimate beings, then that is true egotism and self absorption.
" The natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit. And he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised. "
Wow...
For all the talk about how judgemental and narrow minded we horrible Fundamentalists are, there sure is a lot of trash and judgementalism spewing from otherwise intelligent, professedly enlightened people. I cannot deny or endorse some of what has been done in the name of Christianity, any more than you can deny or endorse (at least I hope you would not endorse) what has been done to Christians in the name of ....whatever it was done in the name of. However, I can say what the Bible teaches and that is that we as Christians are to strive to live at peace with everyone, SO FAR AS IT IS UP TO US. I can't say that everyone who claims to be a Christian lives this way, but there are a lot of things that we as Christians are to live by that most don't.
As for the name of God issue, the whole point He was making when he called himself I AM is that He is larger and ultimately the greatest being there is, greater than any man-thought name could provide. The "names" used throughout the bible, are more along the lines of descriptions used to refer to a being who is beyond human description. Jehovah Jaira (sorry if the spelling is incorrect), Jehovah Neecy, Jehova Shalom (God the provider, God the protector, God of Peace) Yaweh, Father, Lord, etc. are our best attempts to describe what God is. The capital G is the way to differentiate the one true creator God from other "gods" that the Bible talks about. The bible says that there are many gods, but only one true God. The word god simply means a being who supernaturally rules over something. Satan is referred to as a god, but not the God, as he was created by and ultimately fell from grace in the presence of the true God, and now rules over this world system. Polytheistic religions worship many gods, and the bible acknowleges this, but they fail to worship The God who created all of the others. Allah is also just a man given way of describing this ultimate God.
As for God being megalomaniacal and self absorbed, well, He's God. And aren't we being a little, no a lot, egomaniacal and self absorbed to assume that our ultimately limited and weak psyches know more and can do things better than the one who created us? If you don't believe in something greater than these fragile bodies and minds that we possess and think that we humans are the ultimate beings, then that is true egotism and self absorption.
" The natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit. And he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised. "