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Struggles by Non-Christians
Can a skeptic on the fence have a personal encounter with God?
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<blockquote data-quote="2PhiloVoid" data-source="post: 77449696" data-attributes="member: 167101"><p>Obviously, nearly all aspects of the Christian faith are up for grabs, especially if and when epistemological questions are firmly applied to the systematic theology and dogmatics that leaders from each respective denomination assert.</p><p></p><p>From a general perspective, I'd say that God's Providences have been grossly misrepresented by the Faith Movement and some Charismatic groups in the United States where they've been home grown.</p><p></p><p></p><p>As an Existentialist in the Kierkegaardian mode of analysis, I'm not going to give you a "correct" understanding since the Bible is a fragmentary, diverse collection of various forms of literature over which none of us has final authority. It hardly challenges our reasonable capacities to realize that Christian theology can barely be approached systematically; we're especially negligent to pretend that any of us can articulate an absolute, comprehensive, authoritative theology to which we think everyone else must submit.</p><p></p><p>What I CAN say, and I do so with the utmost of confidence, is that with the Bible being so misread and mishandled by so many folks over such a long period of time, it's obvious we are all especially challenged to put forth what the Christian Faith "should be." <span style="color: rgb(209, 72, 65)"><strong>Being that we don't fully know what it should be, I think it's easier to say what the Christian faith isn't and what it can't be rather than was "IT IS." Looking for someone to come along and offer a final word on biblical matters, particularly those pertaining to personal empowerment, will be a long time in coming. </strong></span></p><p></p><p>Moreover, each person will have to arrive at what he or she thinks is the best answer to the question of, "What wonderful things can we expect from God and how will He endow these thing to us in our lives?" To arrive at your own answer, you'll have to engage more than one point of view, more than one Christian theology and then decide for yourself. One source (of many) I've used in relation to the outlook of this particular thread is the book,</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 40px">Grudem, Wayne A. <em><strong>Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?: Four Views</strong></em>. Zondervan Publishing House, 1996.</p> <ol style="margin-left: 80px"> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Cessationist</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Open But Cautious</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Third Wave</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Pentecostal/Charismatic</li> </ol><p>Expecting miracles or personal spiritual endowments when God hasn't shown over the last 2,000 years to be in the business of providing them very often or in a clearly ordered fashion should tell us that we might be expecting too much and to have our focus misplaced as we live out our lives in Christ. And to this, I'd affirm that I am within the "Open but Cautious" camp.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="2PhiloVoid, post: 77449696, member: 167101"] Obviously, nearly all aspects of the Christian faith are up for grabs, especially if and when epistemological questions are firmly applied to the systematic theology and dogmatics that leaders from each respective denomination assert. From a general perspective, I'd say that God's Providences have been grossly misrepresented by the Faith Movement and some Charismatic groups in the United States where they've been home grown. As an Existentialist in the Kierkegaardian mode of analysis, I'm not going to give you a "correct" understanding since the Bible is a fragmentary, diverse collection of various forms of literature over which none of us has final authority. It hardly challenges our reasonable capacities to realize that Christian theology can barely be approached systematically; we're especially negligent to pretend that any of us can articulate an absolute, comprehensive, authoritative theology to which we think everyone else must submit. What I CAN say, and I do so with the utmost of confidence, is that with the Bible being so misread and mishandled by so many folks over such a long period of time, it's obvious we are all especially challenged to put forth what the Christian Faith "should be." [COLOR=rgb(209, 72, 65)][B]Being that we don't fully know what it should be, I think it's easier to say what the Christian faith isn't and what it can't be rather than was "IT IS." Looking for someone to come along and offer a final word on biblical matters, particularly those pertaining to personal empowerment, will be a long time in coming. [/B][/COLOR] Moreover, each person will have to arrive at what he or she thinks is the best answer to the question of, "What wonderful things can we expect from God and how will He endow these thing to us in our lives?" To arrive at your own answer, you'll have to engage more than one point of view, more than one Christian theology and then decide for yourself. One source (of many) I've used in relation to the outlook of this particular thread is the book, [INDENT=2]Grudem, Wayne A. [I][B]Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?: Four Views[/B][/I]. Zondervan Publishing House, 1996.[/INDENT] [INDENT=4][LIST=1] [*]Cessationist [*]Open But Cautious [*]Third Wave [*]Pentecostal/Charismatic [/LIST][/INDENT] Expecting miracles or personal spiritual endowments when God hasn't shown over the last 2,000 years to be in the business of providing them very often or in a clearly ordered fashion should tell us that we might be expecting too much and to have our focus misplaced as we live out our lives in Christ. And to this, I'd affirm that I am within the "Open but Cautious" camp. [/QUOTE]
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