[amc] Re: Jesus and Jihad
- From: Stephen Hochstetler <shochste@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 08:06:28 -0500
Nevitt,
I think that this thread may be one of those best done with a coffee in
hand or over a meal, or even 2. I have pulled in two specific sections of
each note below.
From your note:
>So, I am also skeptical that religious faith is an essential component
>of "authentic" love or love-in-action. I suspect there are a great
>number of humanists that exhibit love every bit as authentic as the
>most loving Christians, and if they don't outnumber the Christians they
>probably will some day.
From my note:
>I think that without God you
> can be a good or bad person by choice, that you can be a loving person
> or not by choice, but all that you offer is what is inside you. You
> can be a very loving person, but if you don't believe in God, I don't
> think you are sharing God's love. Us humans have a hugh capacity to
> love, but it is not infinite like God's.
Response:
I did not mean to say that love from a non-Christian is not authentic.
Maybe my mistake was saying that if you don't believe in God, you are not
sharing God's love. I could see how you interpret that as not authentic.
With more thought I would change my words to say, if you don't believe in
God, you don't have access to God's infinite love to handle situations that
are beyond what we can normally handle. Some people have been given a
larger portion of love than others when they are born. That is why I said
that some people are more loving. We do all have our limits and I have
faith as a believer that we have potential to go beyond our own personal
limits when God intervenes. This does not mean that all who profess to be
believers do that on a daily basis. At any given time all of us have a
temptation to rely on ourselves instead of God. If you are a humanist,
than you only have yourself to rely on.
I think that just as God gives you specific gifts and talents when you are
born, that this happens again when you choose to follow God. No one
receives the same portion of gifts and talents or capacity to love.
However, I do have faith that I can call upon God when my limits have been
reached.
steve
Stephen Hochstetler shochste@xxxxxxxxxx
International Technical Support Organization at IBM
Office - 512-838-6198 (t/l 678) FAX - 512-838-6931
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com
Other related posts:
