Thursday, April 14, 2011

Notes on Realization of God's Reality

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This sat in some note document for I don't know how long with the tantalizing label "woke up thinking of this the morning after the medical evaluation." I can't remember, what medical evaluation? I haven't had any real evaluation in the last couple of years. I do remember I was dreaming of these ideas and woke up formulating them into a usable version; not like the usual ideas of dreams that turn to mush with waking. I hear that twilight zone music playing again.


What is the nature of proving things? Proving things is a technology. As a technology It requires a manipulation of objects in the world. We mentally bring before our minds eye objects in the world, such as “being” or “science” or “existence” or the existence of things, the universe for example. We cannot bring before our minds eye a chunk of sanctifying Grace. We cannot manipulate God as an object in creation. Belief Is, therefore, a realization about the nature of reality, not a technology.

We make arguments for God in order to demonstrate to others something of this realization. We are actually seeking to trigger in them the same kind of realization. To do so we manipulate aspects of reality, and the skeptic proposes alternate explanations for the various aspects we try to manipulate. Obviously this course will have no more success than trying to cram God into the parade of objects we seek to present and manipulate.

The God of the Christian tradition is the basis of reality. God is Eternal, the basis of all that is (what we used to call “first cause”) and is always already, and thus, without cause. This means that God is the basis of reality. The basis of what is, the “ground of being” can’t be manipulated as though an object in creation. If we knew the basis upon which the realization of God is triggered in our own minds, we might be able to suggest to the skeptic ways to trigger the realization. But we don’t know. Of course we do not know. All we really know is that once we realize God is real, it works to live as though God is real. What can we tell the skeptic? I’m sure that what I’ve said so far will bring scoffing and trigger an orgiastic bought of “aren’t Christians stupid?” That’s because atheists have cut themselves off from the basic existential sense of reality that enables one to have this realization. At that rate there’s really nothing one can do. Why even write a book then?

The religious a priori is this realization, the argument I make is not an argument to prove the existence of God, but to seek the realization of God.

5 comments:

Kristen said...

Well said. Very well said.

There is a kind of thought which triggers that "aha!" in which people make the leaps that lead to new discoveries, new ways of putting together old knowledge. Revelation is like that "aha!" Linear thinking won't get you there-- mere logic and progression of thought won't get you there. Openness will, and humility. Willingness to leap helps. But ultimately revelation comes from outside ourselves, so we cannot receive it if we close ourselves off from it.

Atheist said...

Metarock: Belief Is, therefore, a realization about the nature of reality, not a technology.

Atheist: Belief Is, therefore, a realization about the nature of fantasy, not a technology.

Belief has nothing to do with reality or truth. In fact belief and truth are mutually exclusive.

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

Proving things is a technology, that means manipulating truth. That's what skepticism.

Atheist said...

Metacrock: Proving things is a technology.

What a strange off-the-wall comment. How is proving things a technology? I admit that technology can sometimes help us to prove things but this does not make proving things a technology

Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said...

Atheist said...

Metacrock: Proving things is a technology.

What a strange off-the-wall comment. How is proving things a technology? I admit that technology can sometimes help us to prove things but this does not make proving things a technology


if you had done your Ph.D work in history of ideas where I did mine you would know better.

expand your narrow mind and listen up. Its not the gadgets that makes something technology it's the manipulation of ideas, don't you see?