Two thousand years ago Revelation (17:14) predicted a conflict set to be in place, referring to the evil hordes that control this world: "these shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for HE is LORD of lords, and KING of kings, and they that are with HIM are called, and chosen, and faithful."
It is the thrill that precedes a new beginning -to build a society from the basic foundation since Creation.
Here is the way that God planned it. In Exodus, chapter 3, the plan starts with the smoting of every Egyptian firstborn child and firstborn beast. On the night of the smoting, GOD told each Israelite family to find a year-old Lamb without blemish, kill it, and wipe the blood on the top and sides of the door.
Exodus 12: 3-7 says: "In the 10th day of this month they shall take to them every man a Lamb ... without blemish, a male of the first year ... and you shall kill it in the evening, and they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses."
In that way when GOD came through Egypt looking for the first born Egyptians children and beasts to kill, HE would see the blood on the door posts and "Pass Over" the house.
Exodus 12: 12-13 says: "For I will pass through the Land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the Land of Egypt, both man and beast ... and when I see the blood, I will pass over you."
29-30 says: "At midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the Land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of the cattle ... and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead."
Why did GOD do it? Because HE wanted to show all His Power and that nobody else in earth is quite like Him, what HE can do with it showing that the whole earth belongs to Him, and introduce Himself to the Egyptians, to prove that HE is GOD, and giving us a story to tell our children and grandchildren.
Exodus 3:20 says: "I will ... smite Egypt with all My Wonders... Now shall you see what I will do to Pharaoh (6:1)... For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon your servants, and upon your people; that you may know that there is none like ME in all the earth ... that MY NAME may be declared throughout all the earth (9:14,16)."
Exodus 7:3 says: "I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the Land of Egypt... Go in unto the Pharaoh -for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these My Signs before him(10:1)... and the Egyptians shall know that I Am the LORD (7:5)... and how the LORD do put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel (11:7) ... against all the gods of Egypt I will execute Judgment (12:12)"
In any case, GOD is very clear in His Judgment and it was not easy to pull everything off even for Him. He had to harden the Pharaoh's heart 8 times to make it all work out as planned (4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1,20,27; 11:10).
In Isaiah 37:35-36 GOD says: "For I will defend this city to save it for MY OWN SAKE and for MY servant DAVID's sake." Then the Angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead. The main body of the Assyrian's army was slain.
Isaiah 10:12 says: "So it will be that the LORD has completed all HIS WORK on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem. HE will say, 'I will punish the fruit of the Arrogant Heart of the King of Assyria and the pomp of His Haughtiness.' " ... The LORD of hosts will arouse a scourge against him like the slaughter of Midian at the Rock of Oreb; and His Staff will be over the sea and HE will lift it up the way HE did in Egypt (10:26). And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of man will devour him. So he will not escape the sword, and his young men will become forced laborers (31:8).
Micah 5:6 says: "They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, the Land of Nimrod at its entrances; and HE will deliver us from the Assyrian when he attacks our land and when he tramples our territory." The king of Assyria's own sons became his murderers.
Who ever hardened against GOD and prospered?
The history exhibits a strong proof of the good of FIRM TRUST and CONFIDENCE in GOD.
GOD will afflict, but not forsake His People.
It is well when our troubles drive us to our knees. But does it not reprove our unbelief?
How unwilling are we to rest on the declaration of GOD!
How desirous to know in what way HE will save us!
How impatient when relief is delayed!
But we must wait for the fulfilling of HIS WORD.
Isaiah 10:24-25 says: "Therefore this is what the Lord, GOD of the Heavenly Armies, says: 'O My People who dwell (live) in Zion, do not be afraid of (do not fear) the Assyrian, who (smites, oppresses, strikes) beat you with a rod and lift up (raises) a club (staff) against you (after the manner) as the Egyptians did long ago. For in a very little while My Indignation against you will be spent and My Anger will be directed to their destruction.' "
Exodus 5:14 says: "Moreover, the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, 'Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?' "
In Exodus:14:13 Moses said to the People, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which HE will accomplish you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever."
Isaiah 7:1-5 says: "Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it. Then the LORD said to Isaiah, 'Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-Jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller's Field, and say to Ahaz, -Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remalaih, has planned evil against you, ... 7:9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah (king of Israel). If you will not belief, you surely shall not last.' "
Isaiah 30:15 says: For thus GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, "In Repentance and Rest you will be saved, In Quietness and Trust is your strength." But you were not willing ... Thus says the Lord, "Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed ME."37:9
Then 2 John 1:7-9 says : For many deceivers have gone into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the anti-Christ. Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, that you may be fully rewarded. Anyone who runs ahead without remaining in the teaching of Christ does not have GOD.
Trying to understand how this world function in our minds. Interrelation between physical and nonphysical entities.
Tuesday, 23 May 2017
Tuesday, 9 May 2017
WHO WAS SOREN KIERKEGAARD?
Quotes: "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." "Once you label me you negate me." "Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced."
Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (May 5, 1813-November 11, 1855) was a Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic and religious author who is widely consider to be the first existentialist philosopher, though he did not use the term existentialism. He proposed that each individual -not society or religion- is solely responsible for giving meaning to life and living it passionately and sincerely, or authentically.
Existentialism is a term applied to the work that despite profound doctrinal differences, shares the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject -the acting, feeling, and living. Freedom is the predominant value, and authenticity its primary virtue. The individual starting point is characterized by a sense of disorientation, confusion, or dread in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. The trend became popular in the years following World War II, and strongly influenced many disciplines besides philosophy, including theology, drama, art, literature, and psychology.
One of Kierkegaard's recurrent themes is the importance of subjectivity, which has to do with the way people relate themselves to (objective) truths. While objective facts are important, there is a second and more crucial element of truth, which involves how one relates oneself to those matters of fact. Since how one acts is more important than any matter of fact, truth is to be found in subjectivity rather than objectivity.
Kierkegaard recognizes and accepts the notion of alienation (feeling of separation from, discontent with, society; feeling of a moral breakdown in society; feeling of powerlessness in the face of the solidity of social institutions; impersonal, dehumanized nature of large-scale and bureaucratic social organizations), although he phrases it and understand it in his own distinctly original terms. For him, the present age is a reflective age -one that values objectivity and thought over action, lip-service to ideals rather than action, discussion over action, publicity and advertising over reality, and fantasy over the real world. The meaning of values has been removed from life by lack of finding any true and legitimate authority. Self-aware humans must confront an existential uncertainty. Humanity has lost meaning because the accepted criterion of reality and truth is ambiguous and subjective thought -that which cannot be proven with logic, historical research, or scientific analysis. Humans are not motivated and do not find meaning in life through pure objectivity. Instead, they find it through passion, desire, and moral commitment, something that come about through a direct relationship (rather than analysis) between one and the external world. This relationship is a way of looking at one's life that evades objective scrutiny. Individuals need to gain their souls from the world because it actually belongs to God. Kierkegaard concern is about the inner fight for faith.
He said, "Abraham had to leave his ancestral home and emigrate to an alien nation, where nothing reminded him of what he loved -indeed, sometimes it is no doubt a consolation that nothing calls to mind what one wishes to forget, but it is a bitter consolation for the person who is full of longing."
Kierkegard was discussing about the Christian who wants to be a Christian living in a world that has abandoned Christianity. A world where all individuals are forced to take an "image" of the positive part in Christian Democracy and in a non-Christian Democracy where none are allowed to take an active part in Christianity.
Kierkegard put it this way, "Getting the majority vote on one's side transforming one's God-relationship into a speculative enterprise on the basis of probability and partnership and fellow share-holders is the first step toward becoming objective." "The love which covers multitude of sins is never deceived. When the heart is filled with love, the eye has the power to foster the good in the unclean and is never deceived; for love when it gives, does not scrutinize the gift, and this eye does not see the evil but the pure and encourages the pureness of heart by loving it, this eye is fixed on the Lord. But when one gives with one eye and with seven eyes looks to see what one will get in return, then that heart is filled with envy, and the eye has power to call forth uncleanness even in the pure. Certainly there is a power in this world which by its words turns good into evil, and there is also a power above which turns the evil into good; that power is Love which covers a multitude of sins."
He continued, "Love does not seek its own, for there are no mine and yours in Love. The individual has the right to do so as he pleases with this contentious and yet legally entitled mine; and if he seeks his own in no other way than that which Justice allows, Justice has nothing with which to reproach him and has no right to upbraid him for anything. When Hate dwells in the heart, then sin lies at man's door, and its manifold desires exist in him; but when Love dwells in the heart, then sin flees away, and he sees it no more. Then, when disputes, malice, wrath, quarrels, dissensions, factions fill the heart, one then need to go far in order to discover the multitudinousness of sin. But when joy, long-suffering, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance dwell in the heart, a man, even if he were surrounded by a multitude of sins, remains an alien, a stranger, who understand only a very little about the customs of the country, even if these were explained to him. Justice is identified by its giving each his own, just as it also in turn claims its own. This means that justice pleads the cause of its own, divides and assigns, determines what each can lawfully call its own, judges and punishes if anyone refuses to make any distinction between mine and yours. As soon as someone is defrauded of his own, or as soon as someone defrauds another of his own, Justice intervenes, because it safeguards the common security in which everyone has his own. If the distinction between mine and yours is not achieve by its own, then confusion intrudes and a change is produced. Justice tries in vain to secure for each person his own; it cannot keep the balance and a revolution, war, earthquake, or so much terrible misfortune comes at stake. Yet does not Love in a certain sense, even in the most blissful way, produce the same confusion? But Love is the greatest of all, yet also the happiest. Love is a change, the most remarkable of all. Someone who is gripped by Love is changed or becomes changed. Love is the most blessed of all!"
Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (May 5, 1813-November 11, 1855) was a Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic and religious author who is widely consider to be the first existentialist philosopher, though he did not use the term existentialism. He proposed that each individual -not society or religion- is solely responsible for giving meaning to life and living it passionately and sincerely, or authentically.
Existentialism is a term applied to the work that despite profound doctrinal differences, shares the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject -the acting, feeling, and living. Freedom is the predominant value, and authenticity its primary virtue. The individual starting point is characterized by a sense of disorientation, confusion, or dread in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. The trend became popular in the years following World War II, and strongly influenced many disciplines besides philosophy, including theology, drama, art, literature, and psychology.
One of Kierkegaard's recurrent themes is the importance of subjectivity, which has to do with the way people relate themselves to (objective) truths. While objective facts are important, there is a second and more crucial element of truth, which involves how one relates oneself to those matters of fact. Since how one acts is more important than any matter of fact, truth is to be found in subjectivity rather than objectivity.
Kierkegaard recognizes and accepts the notion of alienation (feeling of separation from, discontent with, society; feeling of a moral breakdown in society; feeling of powerlessness in the face of the solidity of social institutions; impersonal, dehumanized nature of large-scale and bureaucratic social organizations), although he phrases it and understand it in his own distinctly original terms. For him, the present age is a reflective age -one that values objectivity and thought over action, lip-service to ideals rather than action, discussion over action, publicity and advertising over reality, and fantasy over the real world. The meaning of values has been removed from life by lack of finding any true and legitimate authority. Self-aware humans must confront an existential uncertainty. Humanity has lost meaning because the accepted criterion of reality and truth is ambiguous and subjective thought -that which cannot be proven with logic, historical research, or scientific analysis. Humans are not motivated and do not find meaning in life through pure objectivity. Instead, they find it through passion, desire, and moral commitment, something that come about through a direct relationship (rather than analysis) between one and the external world. This relationship is a way of looking at one's life that evades objective scrutiny. Individuals need to gain their souls from the world because it actually belongs to God. Kierkegaard concern is about the inner fight for faith.
He said, "Abraham had to leave his ancestral home and emigrate to an alien nation, where nothing reminded him of what he loved -indeed, sometimes it is no doubt a consolation that nothing calls to mind what one wishes to forget, but it is a bitter consolation for the person who is full of longing."
Kierkegard was discussing about the Christian who wants to be a Christian living in a world that has abandoned Christianity. A world where all individuals are forced to take an "image" of the positive part in Christian Democracy and in a non-Christian Democracy where none are allowed to take an active part in Christianity.
Kierkegard put it this way, "Getting the majority vote on one's side transforming one's God-relationship into a speculative enterprise on the basis of probability and partnership and fellow share-holders is the first step toward becoming objective." "The love which covers multitude of sins is never deceived. When the heart is filled with love, the eye has the power to foster the good in the unclean and is never deceived; for love when it gives, does not scrutinize the gift, and this eye does not see the evil but the pure and encourages the pureness of heart by loving it, this eye is fixed on the Lord. But when one gives with one eye and with seven eyes looks to see what one will get in return, then that heart is filled with envy, and the eye has power to call forth uncleanness even in the pure. Certainly there is a power in this world which by its words turns good into evil, and there is also a power above which turns the evil into good; that power is Love which covers a multitude of sins."
He continued, "Love does not seek its own, for there are no mine and yours in Love. The individual has the right to do so as he pleases with this contentious and yet legally entitled mine; and if he seeks his own in no other way than that which Justice allows, Justice has nothing with which to reproach him and has no right to upbraid him for anything. When Hate dwells in the heart, then sin lies at man's door, and its manifold desires exist in him; but when Love dwells in the heart, then sin flees away, and he sees it no more. Then, when disputes, malice, wrath, quarrels, dissensions, factions fill the heart, one then need to go far in order to discover the multitudinousness of sin. But when joy, long-suffering, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance dwell in the heart, a man, even if he were surrounded by a multitude of sins, remains an alien, a stranger, who understand only a very little about the customs of the country, even if these were explained to him. Justice is identified by its giving each his own, just as it also in turn claims its own. This means that justice pleads the cause of its own, divides and assigns, determines what each can lawfully call its own, judges and punishes if anyone refuses to make any distinction between mine and yours. As soon as someone is defrauded of his own, or as soon as someone defrauds another of his own, Justice intervenes, because it safeguards the common security in which everyone has his own. If the distinction between mine and yours is not achieve by its own, then confusion intrudes and a change is produced. Justice tries in vain to secure for each person his own; it cannot keep the balance and a revolution, war, earthquake, or so much terrible misfortune comes at stake. Yet does not Love in a certain sense, even in the most blissful way, produce the same confusion? But Love is the greatest of all, yet also the happiest. Love is a change, the most remarkable of all. Someone who is gripped by Love is changed or becomes changed. Love is the most blessed of all!"
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