Conversations Concerning Us

Introduction             The faith and reason debate has been one that has plagued the church for centuries and has had people thinking about the relationship between these two things and other variables for the same amount of time. The ultimate point of this particular discourse will be to support a certain point of view as superior to the other viewpoints. Faith and reason are foundationally and relationally grounded in Scripture and therefore these two aspects should be viewed as two components that work together in a synthesis or coherent fashion to achieve God’s ultimate end in humanity. With this view in mind, I will argue that faith and reason are to remain in balance with each one serving its own function and not overpowering the other but ultimately having its own designed purpose within mankind. Overview of Faith and Reason             The most obvious pla...

Introduction             The Christian faith is far more then mere dogmas arranged in such a fashion as to create symmetry amongst a peoples or obedience to a defiant group. The Christian faith is a relationship that causes humans to act and trust according to the things that they come to know and learn about God. But how does this look functionally speaking and what does this mean per se? That is what this discourse is set out to get straight, define the Christian faith in the fullest sense possible so that the believer may function appropriately within the body and live accordingly as each should. The Christian Faith Defined             At the outset the proper understanding of faith should be defined and understood so that there is some clarity regarding this muddied issue. Faith essentially means to believe or trust. But more fully faith has three components: no...

Introduction             Reason is not something that can readily be removed from the spiritual life of the believer. Below, this line of thought will be further developed but the first and foremost reason for this connection is our direct connection to God himself ( Imago Dei ). All of mankind/ humanity has been created in the image of God and God being the creator of the orderly, rationally functioning universe has displayed rational capacities which have been imparted to his most precious creation, us (Gen. 1:27 NASB). [1] This is an important initial concept to understand for God has a mind as does mankind, though its functionality has been altered by the fall, it is still called to learn and worship God. With this understanding, we can further develop how the exercise of reason is a believer’s spiritual act of worship to God. Overview of Reason in Scripture          ...

            As the information tends to expand and our society grows there looms this ever-present cloud of exclusion. The content to follow may be difficult to grasp because of the linkage to a dark past and by no means is this comparison likened to the same in so far as the severity of physical punishment is concerned. But the idea that I present is one that is ideological and strikes at the core of what it means to be human, having a will.             The Christian faith has a dark past of enduring some of the harshest of punishments (and lashing out punishments as well, unbiblically I will add) during its infant stages of growth. Under some difficult years of persecution, many people stared death in the face just because they proclaimed Christ as their Lord. Under Nero, Decius, and Domitian (to name a few) the church experienced massive amounts of suffering due to claims brought against it such...

     Initially, these writings were going to be something rather simple but the name of the overarching theme seemed rather robust and had captured something within me. "Conversations Concerning Us" is something I feel this world needs. Especially within the context of current events. With subjective morality, relative truth, and hateful speech and actions running amuck as if Pandora's box had been opened. These articles I have come to realize will be apologetic in nature and will not hold anything back and if I can tug at the heartstrings of just one then my writing has not been in vain. What will follow will be just a short writing on the issue of morality and how our sense of morality determines the kind of world we live in. Morality is a compass whereby we determine the direction of our actions and the actions of our societies but the question is whether or not there is something that transcends ourselves (humanity) that is the guiding factor. With a little bit of tho...