The Coffee House Eon Scripture Study 1.1 - Introduction to a Creed

My Beginning Topics by Rodney Paris

This is a note about my personal beliefs. This note doesn’t cover everything I believe but in the realm of faith, it does touch most of the essential items that I have been given about God and His word.  I work very hard not to use “Christian sounding” words… primarily because those words often have a built-in errors and bias.  People think they already know what certain words means so they don’t hear what you are actually communicating. As a man who trusts the words God says about His intentions and plans… I won’t even call myself a Christian. People hear the word “Christian” and attach an entire set of ideas to those who self-identify as a “Christian” and I honestly don’t hold to all of those things the way many people do and NO TWO PEOPLE are Christian in the same way so it becomes a lazy label.

I love where I am now as a human.  I have been taught and believe wonderful, fun things about the Great God. I love where I am now as a human.  I have been taught and believe wonderful, fun things about the Great God. Telling people about what I know is easy (and fun) since I worship a good God who has given humans a good gospel.

So... to begin, here is the structure of existence as I understand it:

- Reality

- Truth

- Belief, and

- Faith

REALITY (another word for attempting to describe God)

There is only One Objective Reality.

There is no subjective reality that overlays The Reality. Since all is out of, through God, and shall return to God... the One Reality is fixed and centered on all that God is... There are subjective experiences, relative understanding, private interpretations, and personal beliefs, and preferences, but there is only One Reality. No human can know, understand, encompass, conceive of, or grasp all of reality... but there is a Singular Reality. (Deut. 6:4)

The concept of reality is an expression of an abject, objective, absolute existence (reality) out of the grasp of any being (creature) except God. Only God has a handle on reality. God created reality as deeply and richly as He desired it to be, but it is still an inferior subset inside of Him and outside of us. Yet, even as a lesser object... all reality is out of our grasp. There are not enough words... there is not enough time... there is not enough thought to encapsulate, grasp or know all of Reality (or even reality.) Think of the concept of reality as a way of gesturing toward God, but it in no way approaches God (Rom. 15:4, 2 Tim. 3:16.)

TRUTH (a story or structure to organize information about reality)

The quest for Truth (which is information about Reality) is a part of a cycle. I see humans seeking a system of symbols that in concept correctly and consistently describe Reality. The system people seek... I'm calling it Truth. The One Reality is absolute and thus not able to be compared to anything in existence.

There is nothing about Truth that is so important that it allows truth to contradict the One Reality. Truth must be consistent with all that is known of Reality. No belief or thought can be valued enough to stand against The One (John 17:7, 1 Thess. 2:13.)

Please, consider that I may be wrong about what I find as truth and how I see Truth. By this, I mean, if what I believe IS the truth (which means I now have a system of symbols to describe some part of Reality (God)) then I know it is representative of the One Reality that is defining and unchanging. If I seek to know Truth, then I can "go hard" (as they say.) Truth tellers become fearless in their search for and examination of truth. Truth tellers can challenge their system because a system that aligns with Truth will describe some part of Reality... and will grow in accuracy and precision through examination. There is nothing about a good system (truth) that should generate fear. Examination will always show truth to align with Reality in increasingly consistent and deeper ways. Truth thrives during examination.

BELIEF (my internalized level of understanding information)

Belief is an intellectual assent, an appreciation of the relation between truth and reality. Belief is a living, growing apprehension of information that can present a being with options for thought, attention or actions. A description of reality, detailed in concept, expressed in symbol and presented for its consistency to the reality discussed... this is a thing believed to be true or false in varying degrees. Something is to be believed based on the level of acceptance of the congruence between that truth and experience.

Our beliefs empower us to make choices. Our beliefs guide our preferences. Our beliefs are deeply rooted in our culture, education and the expectations that come together to form experience. Our beliefs are empowered by a truth, but directed by our faith.

FAITH - Faith is...

"...an assumption of what is being expected, a conviction concerning matters which are not being observed..."

"...confidence in what we hope for, and assurance about what we do not see..."

"...substance of things hoped for..."

"...of things hoped for a confidence, of matters not seen, a conviction..."

Faith is the disposition given by God to direct what we apprehend, understand, expect, and rely upon. Faith is a gift from God, and it is only from God. Faith may be limited, but it is not blind. Faith is the substance that informs us. It is the earnest fund, the down payment, the deposit that points toward a belief in a truth consistent with reality. In matters of faith toward God, the faith is the evidence that informs our belief to know the truth and see reality. Keep in mind that our reality is a faded subset of the True and Actual God.

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Having offered that four part framework of thoughts... I can now speak toward my creed.

God does not warn against questioning, examination or searching. I have limited knowledge and therefore I must be wrong in my understanding of truth at some level. I search, examine, and fight to find a truth consistent with reality... The Truth of God. While fighitng to preserve a doctrine or an established thought, it is the case that the fight is, in fact, the effort to preserve ease or status. Personal examples of this type of fight have proved the design element of human nature that thrives on comfort, self-protection and ego preservation.

God peeled the "skin" of my belief off this body of mine. He left me raw, exposed, and embarrassed without the protection of what I once believed. God taught me that truth exists independently of me. Truth is not found in the heart. It is found in alignment to the Reality that God promises through a gracious gift of faith. Truth is found (for purposes of our discussions) in God's word, in the evidence and items of life, and in clean, clear logic. How I feel or what I desire will only throw shade on the light of truth. Feelings are another type of information, but that info, by itself, is not truth.

God warns against reaching a determination before a hearing. Determining the conclusion of an examination comes...

(wait for it...)

...as a conclusion of an examination.

The Bereans are famous for their examination of the things they were told. They didn't 'compare' what they were taught by Paul to their beliefs, but to reality... to the word of God. They searched the scriptures... not their prior understanding or beliefs.

THE LOVE OF GOD

God loves us. God loves all that He has created. There is no fear in love. There is nothing to fear in truth. There is nothing to fear about God, and nothing to fear from God. Yes, fear is the beginning of wisdom, but, it is the beginning of wisdom, not the objective or a path. Fear is at the place of an infant, a child... when I was a child, I thought and acted as a child. Love is a thing desired by children, but only the mature understand what 1 Corinthians 13 claims that love is defined to be by God.

There is no fear in love.

This is an important side-note.

ANYWAY...

- Rodney Paris

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This is a brief addendum from GerudoKing. Upon searching the Greek text, I found that "belief" and "faith" are, in truth, one and the same, and there is no real reason to distinguish between these two as a believer. When I asked Rodney about this delineation he made, Rodney said,

"The distinction made between 'belief' and 'faith' was drawn up on a non-concordant frame for consumption for a set of religious unbelievers. It is an old essay that dates back to my earlier awareness... I had discovered the Concordant website at the time of this writing, but had not yet seen the value of it (I hadn't learned the depth of the errors elsewhere)... anyway, in the unbelieving world, they do have a distinction drawn between faith and belief... subtle but not definitive."

Thus Rodney Paris is here writing to the religious zealots on their terms, so us scripture nerds can relax a bit. The points he's made here are still understandable. Grace and peace!