Eagle's Adam Part II

I woke up this morning and re-read my post from last night. I hope that I didn't sound flippant. I meant what I said in the totally opposite direction. My thinking was that Eagle's questions are serious and should be taken seriously. So, for me to give the textbook answer, the ones we all (including Eagle) knows, then I wouldn't be taking his question seriously. Some people ask questions for reason other than wanting to know the answer (part of a social game). Eagle wants to know answers so I had to take it very seriously and give honest, not the standard, expected answer.

So, within the Christian narrative, there are many things that do not have explanations. Eagle raised the one of original sin. You could continue that path in what (sorry Eagle to bring this up) Campus Crusade would call the "Spiritual Laws." Sin through one goes to everyone. Jesus had to die to take away that sin and we had to accept his death for ourselves to be saved. So at any one of those points, or a thousand others, you can ask why? Isn't God above the law . . . literally?

But I've concluded that these must be lumped under the mystery of God category. This doesn't mean that they have no answers, but simply we don't have the answers and maybe as mortals our brains can't get around the answers. But we often fall into the temptation of trying to give answers anyway. Those answers inevitable appear as from the Mother Goose genre. To give one of those answers is like the well-intended grandmother telling her four year old grand daughter (whose parents are divorcing), "You see, your mommy and daddy love you sooooo much that their love can't fit into one house anymore. So they are going to move into two different houses so they can love you much more."

The non Christians, at this point, would be stroking their beards and smiling. They would think, "Poor fools. So the Christian can't give good answers so they sweep it under the 'mystery of god' rug. Ha!"

But my other point that there is no system of answers that doesn't inevitable run into the same problem. If you were standing at the bottom of a great crater and you decided that you wanted to honestly search for the way out (in other words finding the truth about the meaning of life) each path up the steep bank will run into mystery at some point. The atheists claim to be the only logical ones, but they too must play the same shell game. They can throw in time and chance ad nauseum. But still the origins of the universe makes no logical sense in pure naturalistic framework. Something from nothing. Nothingness, instantaneously splitting into matter and antimatter without an outside force initiating it . . . but honestly spontaneously. But there are other great mysteries of the purely naturalistic approach that I won't mention.

But I'm not saying, as some charismatic friends would say, that the Christian narrative is anti-logical or counterintuitive. I'm just saying that we don't understand now . . . but when it is revealed to us, it will make perfectly logical sense.

I hope if I try to give my views on your other questions that the answers will be less ambiguous.

Footnote: I've been so busy lately trying to get a new medical practice off the ground. I have the bulk of the work done so tomorrow night I leave for a long anticipated vacation. My youngest son, Ramsey, and I are going to Florence, Italy (thank you frequent flyer miles) for 10 days. I became obsessed with the Renaissance as I was writing my manuscript Butterflies in the Belfry. Now I get to go and totally immerse myself into the minds of the Medicis. I will "see you" in two weeks. Mike