Christians believe that our minds are inherently flawed. After the Fall, our conclusions became untrustworthy. But God cannot communicate with us without the message being interpreted by our flawed minds.
So how can we ever be certain of God's word to us?
Do we necessarily have to rely on our admittedly flawed understanding?
"Lean not unto thine own understanding"
Proverbs 3:5
2007-09-21 03:04:39 · 5 answers · asked by Eleventy 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No. We rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. I would never want to rely on my flawed understanding.
2007-09-21 03:12:13 · answer #1 · answered by High Flyer 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I have to say eleventy, you are the most tolerant atheist I've seen on YA, and you always ask good non-threatening questions. I wish more of them were like you.
You are correct in saying that we have "flawed minds." This is abundantly clear when one sees the thousands of different versions of Christianity. Fortunately, God knew our minds and made up for it as part of his plan. In Mathew 16 16:19 (I have to verify that after I post this) we read that Jesus gives Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven. He then says that whatever Peter binds on earth will be bound in heaven, and whater he looses on earth will be loosed in heaven. So what implications does that have? We know that if God exists then He is infinitely perfect. We also know that heaven basically means that to be in full communion with God. So if something exists in heaven we know that it is perfect. An imperfection in heaven would be a logical imposibility. So if something is bound in heaven, and consequently bound on earth, then Jesus is implying that the thing bound on earth must be perfect because it is also in heaven. This is one place where Catholics get the doctrine of papal infalibility. History tells us that Peter has passed on this power in an unbroken line down to Bendict the XVI today.
There's obviously a little more to it than that, but that's the basic idea. We need a way to know truth without fear of error, and God provides us with this.
2007-09-21 10:13:46 · answer #2 · answered by Thom 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
god can communicate with us without reading the bible
2007-09-21 10:11:11 · answer #3 · answered by masterorbiter 2 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Study it. Ask God what he was trying to say. If people have gotten it wrong, he'd tell you.
2007-09-21 10:19:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
Excellent question with all of its implications. Well done.
2007-09-21 10:09:39 · answer #5 · answered by glitterkittyy 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋