This led them to deemphasize the goal of divinization in favor of habits of self-control, industry, and thrift. Then let him, under the influence of partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part. An oft-repeated but, in my view, ultimately misguided self-critique by Christians, is that we are better known for what we are against than what we are for. Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. The whole aim of their ‘practical and experimental’ preaching and writing was to explore the reaches of the doctrine and practice of man’s communion with God.Let’s recommit ourselves to see God himself as our greatest good and highest end.“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.” (Ps. Christian theology is incoherent to the point of absurdity. There is clear evidence that Christianity has evolved as human understanding of the world has changed whilst a real, God-given religion, should never need to change. Whatever Judaism is, it is not the worship of the God-shaped hole. The apostles and prophets delivered to us divine revelation.
Christ completed His propitiatory work. Is there evidence that contradicts, or casts grave doubt on Christianity? Postmodern Christianity undermines the very foundations of faithfulness by instrumentalizing God, turning God into a means and not an end. Where Christians had once preserved a tension between the pursuit of supernatural perfection and the promotion of worldly flourishing—distinguished as “perfect” and “imperfect” vocations—reformers wished to make spiritual ideals more accessible. There is clear evidence that Christianity has evolved as human understanding of the world has changed whilst a real, God-given religion, should never need to change. If this were not the case, all honest and intelligent people would accept that God exists, just as all honest and intelligent people accept that black holes exist.All that is left for Christians is faith and their feelings. And I think we have a need, we have a hole in our heart, I believe it got there by evolution, it got there naturally, and it is effectively filled by God for most people. It is quite ridiculous. We can look for evidence to support claims people make and when there is robust supporting evidence, and no contrary evidence, we can conclude a claim is probably, but not definitely, true.However, it is easier to prove something is false—all you need is one piece of contradictory evidence. You might say, “David!
Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and the more ‘religious’ (on those terms) the more securely ours. Religious practice often finds its fullest flower when the fight to maintain faith is the hardest.
God killing his son so he can forgive our future sin is like me breaking my son’s legs so I can forgive my neighbor in case she ever parks her car on my drive.
But I think it needs to be filled by something—and if you leave it empty [people] don’t just feel an emptiness. But who would go through those dark nights of the soul to maintain fidelity to an abstract conception of community, to a God who isn’t there? Maybe it’s not your place to critique all of these things.
A part of being human is believing in gods and worshipping and having a sense of the sacred.