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Post by shaktidevi on Apr 11, 2006 7:02:05 GMT -5
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Post by dianaholberg on Apr 11, 2006 7:23:02 GMT -5
Understanding is bringing a concept into your reality and living it.
or, for those not inspired by reality...
Understanding is realizing that when you run out of questions, you stop growing and start faltering.
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Post by Tara on Apr 11, 2006 21:55:07 GMT -5
Damn... diana beat me. I was thinking the same thing. Understanding is when you can actually walk in someone else's shoes... to be able to relate to an idea or situation on a personal level.
If that is true, then it must not be possible to fully understand that which you have not experienced huh...
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Post by shaktidevi on Apr 12, 2006 7:22:17 GMT -5
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Post by dianaholberg on Apr 12, 2006 9:16:58 GMT -5
shakti, do you believe all experiences are intended to make our lives better? That there are none that should be avoided? And that all things that taste good, are good?
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Post by shaktidevi on Apr 12, 2006 11:47:52 GMT -5
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Post by dianaholberg on Apr 13, 2006 8:28:21 GMT -5
Hi Shakti, These questions move us from thinking about understanding to asking about beliefs, and I'm not sure that belief and understanding have necessarily a high positive correlation. They don't have to, that's for sure. But most people develop understanding by experience... and experience is filtered through belief. I find faith to be quite logical, though I didn't always view it that way. Not only on a personal level, but on a world level. You are correct about that. That's what I had assumed, but I thought it best to get it confirmed. Glad to hear it.  I'll assure you that it is not because of asking questions that I believe there are answers. It is because of the words of our Lord: Matt 7:7-11
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 "Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 "Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! [/i][/blockquote]He has proven Himself time and again. |
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Post by shaktidevi on Apr 13, 2006 10:41:44 GMT -5
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Post by dianaholberg on Apr 13, 2006 11:23:27 GMT -5
Hi Shakti, I believe that faith has an internal logic, that is, given a certain set of assumptions -- axioms, taken as given and not to be further explained I agree with what you're getting at here, but personally I've never found internal logic to be satisfactory. No matter how logical a belief is according to an individual faith, if it doesn't hold up under scientific analysis, it doesn't hold water with me. Agreed. I find many faiths to be logical in only that sense -- internal consistency. No, that's why many theologians and philosophers have offered several arguments in proof of His existence. But the proof is in the pudding, as they say. The trick is that Catholics say God is known to us via a single man in Jesus Christ, and that therefore He can be known. This is an hypothesis that can be tested, just as we can determine if any other person actually existed/exists or not. But such an investigation falls more into the realm of forensics than any other science. This is where other evidence comes into play... particularly that of various eye-witnesses. This is one of the subjects of Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ. Happy Easter to you as well! Actually, it is a promise. For notice that it says that "everyone who asks receives". Speaking for myself, this has been true in spite of unbelief. Blessings, Diana |
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Post by Tara on Apr 13, 2006 18:05:36 GMT -5
shakti, do you believe all experiences are intended to make our lives better? That there are none that should be avoided? And that all things that taste good, are good? I know that this question was geared towards shakti, but I have an opinion on it. ;D I think that it is true that all of our experiences are intended to make us into better people whether they are good or bad. I think that it helps us to understand our role in life or at least aids us in helping to make our daily decisisons. |
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Post by dianaholberg on Apr 13, 2006 22:55:25 GMT -5
Well said, Tara. As Scripture puts it, Gen 50:20-21
20 "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. |
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I'll assure you that it is not because of asking questions that I believe there are answers. It is because of the words of our Lord: