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Reason and the Message: Difference between revisions
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The way that most message believers see it, these two points don’t seem to be compatible. To believe the first point requires faith, and revelation. And it does. But it is the different paths that we take to arrive there — primarily, the subject of point #2 — that will shed much light on how we can stand in absolute unity on the attributes of the bible, while attempting to communicate across galaxies with regard to the message. | The way that most message believers see it, these two points don’t seem to be compatible. To believe the first point requires faith, and revelation. And it does. But it is the different paths that we take to arrive there — primarily, the subject of point #2 — that will shed much light on how we can stand in absolute unity on the attributes of the bible, while attempting to communicate across galaxies with regard to the message. | ||
=Jesus talked about reasoning= | =The Biblical approach= | ||
==Jesus talked about reasoning== | |||
Jesus said the greatest commandment was “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”. (Mat 22:37) What does it mean to love God with all your mind? | Jesus said the greatest commandment was “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”. (Mat 22:37) What does it mean to love God with all your mind? | ||
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That is the problem. We have been programmed to operate spiritually from a ''faith vs. reason'' paradigm that says that in order to activate faith we have to deactivate reason. The problem is, the Bible teaches no such antithetical relationship between the two. God intended them to work in perfect synthesis, with spiritual faith working at a higher level above our human capacity to reason, not in a vacuum devoid of all logical sequence of thought. | That is the problem. We have been programmed to operate spiritually from a ''faith vs. reason'' paradigm that says that in order to activate faith we have to deactivate reason. The problem is, the Bible teaches no such antithetical relationship between the two. God intended them to work in perfect synthesis, with spiritual faith working at a higher level above our human capacity to reason, not in a vacuum devoid of all logical sequence of thought. | ||
=The Bible says that you should answer the questions of skeptics= | ==Jesus' reaction to someone who questioned him== | ||
There was an individual who initially believed that Jesus was the messiah but then started to question whether this was, in fact, correct. We can all learn from Jesus' example. | |||
The individual's name was John the Baptist, a relative of Jesus. John was the one who baptized Jesus and said this of Jesus: | |||
:''I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 3:16–17.</ref> | |||
But after John was thrown into prison by Herod, he started to have questions: | |||
:''And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, '''“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”''' And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” | |||
:''When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written, | |||
::''“ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, | |||
::''who will prepare your way before you.’ | |||
:''I tell you, '''among those born of women none is greater than John'''. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 7:18–28.</ref> | |||
Was Jesus upset when John questioned who he was? | |||
Why are so many in the message upset when someone questions whether William Branham was a great prophet, or even a prophet at all? This was not the pattern of Jesus. Jesus was fine with John's question. | |||
Did Jesus tell John's disciples that he was clearly the messiah? No! | |||
What did Jesus do in response to the question? He simply pointed to the evidence. | |||
Why do so many in the message get angry when when someone asks whether the evidence supports William Branham's view that he was a great prophet? | |||
This is not the Biblical pattern. Jesus gave the example of requiring people to examine the evidence. | |||
==The Bible says that you should answer the questions of skeptics== | |||
Many in the message ignore the many issues we have raised in this website and, when challenged, refuse to engage in any meaningful discussion or even attempt to answer the questions raised. | Many in the message ignore the many issues we have raised in this website and, when challenged, refuse to engage in any meaningful discussion or even attempt to answer the questions raised. | ||