Sensus Divinitatis (2)

The beautiful sights you are seeing are from the Saguenay River near Tadoussac in Quebec, Canada.

Why am I posting pictures from Tadoussac ?

Well, many many years ago when I must have been around 4 years old, our family went sightseeing on this river.

And so this wilderness environment unfolded around me as our pleasure boat made its journey and impressed upon me something of a greater Being unlike myself (as much as one could say I had a sense of "myself" at the time).

I may have been slightly awestruck. The experience did present itself to me as an inescapable one, most definitely.

I am quite convinced that it was my first encounter with what the Bible speaks of in Romans 1:20 .

Now would that experience at the tender age of 4 or thereabouts have been sufficient to lead me to a true knowledge of God ?

I feel the best "true knowledge" imparted to me on that occasion was what was in fact true of myself from my birth : that which the Bible calls being "in Adam".

And so being "in Adam" I was potentially on the road to engage in the practices being denounced by the Apostle Paul in the immediate context of that passage.

After that experience at the age of 4 years I was irrevocably changed having been confronted perhaps for the first time with my lostness.

Salvation not by Works

[9] After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.

They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

[10] And they cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."

[11] All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

[12] saying:

"Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"

(Revelation 7:9-12)

This morning in church we sang a hymn which contained this phrase "Salvation belongs to our God".

What does this mean ?

One thing it must mean is that its' antithesis i.e. "salvation belongs to US" is completely excluded.

What does that imply ?

It implies that we [man] cannot do anything to earn, keep or work for salvation.

Isn't that great ?

Isn't that wonderful ?

Isn't that why the multitude are singing and praising the Lamb who is on the Throne ?

Sensus Divinitatis (1)

I went to the Technorati web site and did a blog search on the words "sensus divinitatis".

I actually also set up RSS feeds to come to my Yahoo feed reader anytime a blog post appeared in the blogosphere which contained this tag.

And so recently the RSS feeder served me up the following little gem on the subject.

It from a chap called Felipe Fontes who is no doubt a Christian and lives in Brazil (nice place).

Therefore the post was naturally enough in Portuguese.

Having fed the link through Google Language tools here it is in the Queen's English :

I believe in God, sovereign not servant, perfect in all His ways, transcendent, totally other, but One who becomes related in a pact of love with His creation.

I believe that God created all the existing, visible and invisible things, in the land and skies, and that when creating all the things God meant its perfect intention in accordance with them.

I believe that to the man this meant that God has endowed man with His image and similarity, and this implies that man can know God and the reality that encircles him.

It also implies that we are endowed with the knowledge of the divine - "sensus divinitatis", and that all rationalizations and lies against reality are nothing more than the attempt to suppress and to refuse the knowledge of God who requires devotion.

I believe that the knowledge of God and of ourselves is determinative for all and any type of knowledge, and that the fullness of the truth only can come after the tried and true knowledge of God and of ourselves.

Therefore, there enters a clear antithesis : the wisdom of the world, and the wisdom of God.

I believe that the only safe source of knowledge is the Holy Bible, inerrant and autoritative revelation of God to man.

I believe that my knowledge is achieved by the correspondence with the meaning determined by God for something at its creation, when found through the special revelation of the Bible, and the general revelation actually experienced in my heart “coram Deo”.

Being thus, I know!

Thanks Felipe.

There are a number of things I like about Felipe's formulation.

First, I like his first paragraph and particularly the expression where he speaks of God as "One who becomes related in a pact of love with His creation". This really says a lot not least of which that God's relation to us as His creation is, if I may say it without wishing in any way to be irreverent, maintained by means of that same glue that holds the Trinity together - love.

Second, he speaks of God as One who "requires our devotion" . Nothing is added to Him by our devotion, of course. Devotion is our right and proper response as the created and dependent beings that we are.

Finally, almost in a throw away fashion he seems to have identified the ontology of that dichotomy which has come to be known in New Testament revelation as the "wisdom of the world" versus the "wisdom of God" (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-31).

Scarborough Fair

Are you goin to scarborough fair? parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine Tell her to make me a cambric shirt, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme Without no seams nor needlework, then shell be a true love of mine Tell her to find me an acre of land, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme Between the salt water and the sea strand, then shell be a true love of mine Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme And to gather it all in a bunch of heather, then shell be a true love of mine Are you goin to scarborough fair? parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme Remember me to one who lives there, she once was a true love of mine

"70 Years Later Guernica Holds Secrets"

"70 Years Later, Guernica Holds Secrets" by Paul Haven is an interesting article.

70 years or 92 years.

Spaniards or Turks.

What is the difference ?

Adam and Eve were the first to do a dirty and then try to hide it
(read Genesis 3:1-13).

Human nature has not changed since Adam and Eve has it ?

If proof were needed here is your proof and just in time for Armenian Genocide Memorial day.

What is the solution ?

Is it political ?

No.

The solution is spiritual, not political. Anything else is not totally but mostly a waste of time. In any case, I'm convinced it's a waste of MY time so I'll leave it to the "activists". And i may send them a cheque to help them out a little. Maybe.

But i would rather the activists and those who are the targets of the activists realise together for their own sakes and for the sake of the rest of us that God has provided the solution.

What is the solution ?

It's right there in Genesis, right after Adam and Eve have made a mess of it for all of us : it's in Genesis 3:15. It's often called the "Protoevangelion" which in Greek (the theological language of the New Testament and of Christians) means "the first gospel". It is the first preaching of the gospel or the preaching of the gospel in advance. "In advance of what?" you ask. It's in advance of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you see Jesus ? Do you see Him right there at the very begining of history ?

Here is Genesis 3:15. Here is Jesus.

See Jesus - "The Offspring of the Woman" :

"And I [God] will put enmity
between you [the Serpent] and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."

Three Christians Killed in Turkey

Linkestan 2007 04 23

Nobel Laureates call for tolerance, contact and cooperation between Turks and Armenians : best proposals yet to be tabled by any party.

Blogger: User Profile: Scott Starr : I really like this guy's profile -- cool !

Who is John Hagee?: weird

Notes on Anselm's Cur Deus Homo: 6 (the brief version) : on the nature and effects of sin

3 Christians murdered in Malatya, Turkey

Deaths mark first known martyrdom of Turkish converts since founding of republic.

Read More

My All Time Favourite Car : The 1976 Alfa Romeo GTV (Sprint)

I also managed to find the Al Pacino movie where this car was featured --- in seconds.

Amazing thing, this Google.

Here is what one reviewer wrote :

“I gave this film 3 stars for the calm, romantic, almost "haunting style" the film projects onto the viewer....and Pacino's 1976 Alfa Romeo GTV sports car, driving around those old streets of Italy rated 2 stars all by itself!”

That’s what I remember from the movie, as well; although, I think the reviewer was being a little bit too generous : I would give the car 3 stars and the movie none, to be honest!

Global Warming's Cousin : Eternal Warming

(views:110)

Linkestan 2007 03 31

The so-called ‘Akdamar museum’ - Turkish Daily News Mar 30, 2007
and
Future of Akdamar wrapped in the word 'maybe' - Turkish Daily News Mar 31, 2007 : two reports from Akhtamar

In or out? : we are family.

Dorothy L. Sayers on Tolerance : a pretty good definition

Global Warming and ID : this thing is not going away, folks.

Iranian petition against the 300 movie : read the comments put up by the signatories

What if the Big Bang is bunk? Yes, what if ? Maybe the Bible is true after all.

Impeach George Bush : "Here, here"

How Trustworthy are Climate Change Models ?

Watch THIS CLIP of the MIT professor talking on the subject.

At the 11:56 mark, the issue of whether CO2 is the cause or the effect of global warming is raised in a question from the floor.

The professor responds that it is a "chicken and egg problem" and says "we don't have an answer to that" but then adds that it is "a firm conclusion".

"A firm conclusion"? Maybe he was hoping nobody would notice that comment and nail him with follow up questions like :

"What is a firm conclusion? That CO2 is the cause of global warming? Didn't you just say 'we don't have the answer to that'?"

But they just let him get away with it.

At the 13:36 mark he puts up a slide showing the discredited and dishonest "hockey stick" graph.

Why dishonest ?

There was a period in recent human history which was hotter than it is now but you wouldn't know it from the way the "hockey stick" shoots up at the right side of the graph. The graph does not reflect the historical fact that Vikings were farming in Greenland around 1000AD.

At the end of his spiel on the "hockey stick" graph he again uses the expression "another firm conclusion". I think they have a term for that in psychology : it's called overcompensating.

The rest of his hour long talk (if you can bear it) is all about his model.

After you've taken that in, read THIS and ask yourself the question in the subject line of this post.

More on the late Hrant Dink

Earlier posts on this blog about him can be read by clicking HERE.

Entering "Hrant Dink" as a search parameter on the YouTube site will return a number of video clips.

The one with the greatest number of views (97,060 at last count) has been helpfully translated into English by Murat Altinbasak at his Amerikan Turk blog site, if any are interested.

Quote of the Day

"We offend God when we defend sin."

Daniel Owino Ogweno

Linkestan 2007 03 18

The exoneration of Serbia... is a shameful decision.

Why do we ivite them in the first place? Mehmet Ali Birand : the truth is struggling to come out.

Linkestan 2007 03 17

“Climate Denial” — What’s Next, “Evolution Denial”? : with level headed and sober analysis in the comments section

RealClimate - Comments on Swindled! : discussing the issues raised by the Channel 4 programme "The Great Global Warming Swindled" over at the Real Climate blog.

Depeche Mode "John the Revelator" Video

Believing the Bible and what it teaches is most important. Bush claims to do so. Yet, Bush has let himself be manipulated by Neocon elitists who are quite happy to co-opt Christian or any other belief which suits their own aims. (Watch the documentary called "The Power of Nightmares" to find out how this ideology works). So Bush has been the cause (on a smaller scale) of misery and chaos of the kind the Antichrist will bring on earth. Who knows ? The seeds of instability which Bush has sown in the most strategically important region in the world may perhaps set the stage for the Antichrist.

Do Your Bit For Global Warming

Video: The Great Global Warming Swindle

Watch this video. Don't fall for false eco-religion. The most poignant remarks as to real human cost of this deception are made near the end of the video by the man who was co-founder of Greenpeace.

Which is the "Odd One Out" ?

There's a television programme here in the UK called "Have I Got News For You". It's a weekly comedic take on things that have been reported in the news during the previous week.

Can you look at the four pictures above, think of what's been happening in the news recently and guess where I'm going here ?

But, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

There is one round in the programme called the "Odd One Out" round. It's where 4 pictures are presented in clover leaf fashion :

"The "Odd One Out" round [is]where four personalities, characters or objects are presented to a team, whereupon it [the team] must identify the interloper, and the topical, amusing or ridiculously obscure link between the other three." (1)

Before getting to the so-called "odd one out", I want to focus on "the ridiculously obscure link between the other three" for now.

You might have read somewhere on the Internet that a judge in Turkey issued a court order banning access to YouTube in Turkey. What was the reason ? The reason was that some videos had been posted there insinuating certain things about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk which were deemed to violate certain laws about what can and cannot be said about him.

Doesn't that remind you a little of the Muhammad cartoons over a year ago ? Is there some connection ? We'll get to that in a minute.

But, now is probably a good time to bring Elvis on stage.

I can't ever remember Elvis being at the centre of the kind of controversy surrounding the other two. Nobody has ever "insulted" Elvis so that his fans took to the streets, burned effigies or sought court orders against the offender(s).

Wait a minute.

I suppose there was a time when a certain Michael Jackson sought the mantle of "King of Rock and Roll". He purchased the rights to quite a number of Elvis songs and even married (for a while) the King's daughter. Elvis fans may have observed these machinations with contempt and a certain outrage.

Michael before long found himself disgraced in one scandal after another and so Elvis remains safe as the King of Rock and Roll and his fans can rest easy.

Yes Elvis the King, of rock 'n roll, that is. King . . . and more ? According to THIS some see the Elvis phenomenon as a new religion.

A religion ? With that said we are now getting closer to the "ridiculously obscure link between the other three". Perhaps what I am saying is that these people have been made into gods by their devotees.

For what is G-o-d but that which is forever above and beyond all criticism, above and beyond all faultfinding which is but blasphemy?

And such are to a greater extent Muhammad and Ataturk, aren't they ? And to a lesser extent so is Elvis.

Reference to the deification of Muhammad in what is known as "folk Islam" could be mentioned to demonstrate that man does not find it enough to worship that which is completely transcendent.

Is there something in all of this which points to a deeper reality, a universal need in man to worship a divine/human messiah ?

I think there is.

The exploration of this question should take us back to the very beginning of history - literally back to Adam and Eve where in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, we read the following :

11And He [God] said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"

12The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate."

13Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

14The LORD God said to the serpent,
"Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life;

15And I [God] will put enmity
Between you [the serpent] and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel."

(Genesis 3:11-15)

All people are descended from Adam or in other words we can say all are from "Adam's seed". But here the promise has to do with the "woman's seed". Can you see that from the portion I highlighted above ?

At the time this prophecy was written down it may not have been clear that the only person in human history who is not of "Adam's seed" was to be JESUS born of the Virgin Mary -- entirely of the "woman's seed".

Many people might say they believe this but can they explain what was the reason why JESUS came into the world this way ?

For the answer we must go to another portion of the Bible called Romans where it is written :

12Therefore, just as through one man [i.e. Adam] sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--
(Romans 5:12)

There's a lot being said in that one verse. Have you noticed ? It gives us the reason why there is sin and death in the world .

Earlier in Romans we read this :

23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

(Romans 3:23)

And ...

23a For the wages of sin is death

(Romans 6:23a)

The punishment of sin is judgement as it says :

27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,

(Hebrews 9:27)

The good news is ...

23b the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 6:23b)

The Bible tells us that in order to be saved from sin and the judgement to be faced for sin when we stand before God we must call JESUS LORD :

9that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

10for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

11For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."

12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;

13for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."

(Romans 10:9-13)

Every one's conscience speaks to the possibility of having to give an account after one's death. It is right and necessary to call JESUS LORD because He is the Son of God. The One to whom and before whom all will stand to give account has been identified :

31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.

(Acts 17:31)

and here :

5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

(Philippians 2:5-11)

The heart of man seeks a saviour and always will do so. There are false messiahs who may have been greatly gifted intellectually or accomplished great things in their lives but there is only one who a) died for the sins of the whole world and b) rose from the dead and lives now with real power to save - JESUS the one and only Son of God.

Come and as it says in Scripture "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." (Psalm 34:8)

Think you don't need God's offer of salvation in JESUS ?

"He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe." (Proverbs 28:26)

Will you do it now ?

Will you acknowledge JESUS IS LORD and be saved from your sins for all eternity ? You can do it now privately just between you and God as you read these words.



(1) "Have I Got News for You" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linkestan 2007 03 09

Stop calling Ataturk gay, say Turks . . . and so YouTube is banned in Turkey by court order.

Iranian MPs enraged over test accused of mocking Muhammad : keep talking.the truth will come out eventually for all to see.

Racism of Japanese society : with an interesting discussion in the comments section

Grace, Psalm 78 and the authorities set up by God

In our house groups we're looking at aspects of God's grace in line with our verse for the year.

In our last study,we looked at Psalm 78. The title of the lesson was the Patient Grace of God. My daily readings prior to the study were in the book of Exodus where we find Moses' father-in-law Jethro giving what can only be termed sound management advice. You can read about in Exodus 18:13-26.

What was God's solution ?

It seems that implementing Jethro's inspired management advice solved the chaotic situation among the children of Israel at that time. That chaos of that time and place is re-told in Psalm 78 with the added commentary of God's great displeasure at all that was going on.

It seems the appointment of persons in places of authority over the people was how the spiritual disease was to be kept in check.

The same theme of rebellion and chaos goes right through Psalm 78 where we are again told about children of Israel but now as settled in the Land. They are settled but without a King and so up to mischief once more.

What is God's solution ?

The answer is given in verses 70-72 where God appoints King David to be a "shepherd" over His people. And again spiritual harmony is restored. Of course the significance of the Psalm for us is that it further points to the Son of David, the Messiah Jesus who is our Shepherd par excellence who leads us according to Psalm 23.

Contrary to all the egalitarian claptrap that infects the popular culture, the human condition calls for established authorities. The authority of God Himself is assumed but this alone, if we go by the case studies in Psalm 78, is insufficient.

God therefore, sets up human authorities over us for our own good which takes us immediately to the New Testament where this principle is made more explicit.

You can read about it in the following sections of 1 Peter :

1 Peter 2:13-3:17 , 1 Peter 5:1-17

What Kind of Personality Do I Have ?

Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISFP)

Your personality type is caring, peaceful, artistic, and calm. Only about 7% of all people have your personality, including 8% of all women and 6% of all men You are Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

How Open-Minded Am I ?

You Are 48% Open Minded

You aren't exactly open minded, but you have been known to occasionally change your mind. You're tolerant enough to get along with others who are very different... But you may be quietly judgmental of things or people you think are wrong. You take your own values pretty seriously, and it would take a lot to change them.

How Open Minded Are You?