The man upstairs.Everything You Always Wanted to Know A bout God (but were afraid to ask), by Eric ERIC Educational Research Information Clearinghouse ERIC Educational Resources Information Center ERIC ERISA Industry Committee ERIC Epidemiologic Research and Information Center (Durham, NC) Metaxas Metaxas may refer to two Greek politicians:
THE title of this book is amusing, but it encapsulates something of the utmost seriousness--that the reason many of us know very little about God is not because the evidence is not there but because we really don't want to know. We're afraid to ask, because we know that the answer will define how we should live, and we'd rather be free to decide that for ourselves. Christians call this phenomenon original sin original sin, in Christian theology, the sin of Adam, by which all humankind fell from divine grace. Saint Augustine was the fundamental theologian in the formulation of this doctrine, which states that the essentially graceless nature of humanity requires redemption , and it is the source of all the suffering in the world--as Eric Metaxas explains in this conversational but ultimately very serious book. Metaxas, a humorist hu·mor·ist n. 1. A person with a good sense of humor. 2. A performer or writer of humorous material. humorist Noun a person who speaks or writes in a humorous way who has written children's books as well as scripts for the Veggie Tales video series, notes that the evidence for God's existence is all around us. He organizes that evidence and presents it in an accessible question-and-answer format. The book sets out to level the playing field between theism theism (thē`ĭzəm), in theology and philosophy, the belief in a personal God. It is opposed to atheism and agnosticism and is to be distinguished from pantheism and deism (see deists). and materialism--a necessary task, because the standard of proof to which atheists hold claims about God is much higher than their standards for accepting their own belief in a purely material existence. Metaxas points out, correctly, that no one can prove that the material world is all there is. He further considers the meaning of the word proof usefully noting that we know God exists "the same way we know lots of things, such as whether someone loves us or whether electricity is real or just a crazy idea. We base our view of things, and our view of the world, on observation, including other people's observations." This is a crucial point in any argument about the existence and character of God: There are more ways of knowing things than simply through scientific proof, the testing af falsifiable propositions. In fact, the way we really know things is by perceiving them and experiencing them. We know gravity exists because we see things falling and weft, el its effects on us. The same is true for arguments about God. Just as we know that gravity exists because we perceive it and experience it, believers know that God exists because 1) they perceive and experience the presence of God, and 2) they understand what that experience means. Unbelievers do not deny God because they have scientifically tested the proposition of His existence and found it untrue un·true adj. un·tru·er, un·tru·est 1. Contrary to fact; false. 2. Deviating from a standard; not straight, even, level, or exact. 3. Disloyal; unfaithful. ; they deny God because they cut themselves off from that experience and refuse to understand it when they see it in others. They are able to do this, Metaxas writes, because God gives us freedom to choose whether to acknowledge and worship Him Worship Him is the first full LP from the Swiss metal group Samael, released in 1991. Track listing
God created us out of love, and He wants us to love Him back. But love can never be forced.... So God, in order to make it possible for us to love Him, gave us tree will. Which means we can also choose not to love Him. By giving us free will, God gave us the ability to reject Him and all that is good, and thereby bring evil into our world. And all of us suffer in this life because of the evil that exists." All the suffering in the world, Metaxas notes, is a result of our rebellion Rebellion Absalom conspires to overthrow father, David. [O.T.: II Samuel 15:10–18:33] Bastille Day celebration of day Paris mob stormed prison; first outbreak of French Revolution (1789). [Fr. Hist. against God. This, of course, is the theists' classic answer to the Problem of Evil, the doubters' claim that the existence of suffering proves that God is either not omnipotent, not omniscient om·nis·cient adj. Having total knowledge; knowing everything: an omniscient deity; the omniscient narrator. n. 1. One having total knowledge. 2. Omniscient God. , or not benevolent be·nev·o·lent adj. 1. Characterized by or suggestive of doing good. 2. Of, concerned with, or organized for the benefit of charity. , which they then offer as proof that God does not exist at all. The argument from tree will not only answers this question, it also explains why hell exists: "God can't force us to have a relationship with Him; ... [we] have the option of ignoring Him or rejecting His love. And the logical and eternal extension of that rejection is what we commonly call hell. Just as the logical and eternal extension of accepting God's love is what we call heaven, or paradise." The good news is, "God isn't trying to cast people into hell; He's trying to bring them into heaven." The better news is that we don't have to do anything to earn this reward, and in fact there is nothing we can do to earn it. This is the concept of grace, "an extraordinary and infinitely wonderful thing," and it is what makes the Christian conception of God unique. Metaxas writes that "grace is inescapably at the heart of the Christian faith." It is a gift, offered freely by God to each and every one of us, made possible because God's only son, Jesus Christ Jesus Christ: see Jesus. Jesus Christ 40 days after Resurrection, ascended into heaven. [N.T.: Acts 1:1–11] See : Ascension Jesus Christ kind to the poor, forgiving to the sinful. [N.T. , "paid the price for our sins. It's His grace toward us, demonstrated in that act, that allows us to be close to God, to have a relationship with God, and to go to heaven. It's based on what Jesus did for us out of love for us, not on anything we do." Metaxas outlines the two dramatically opposed claims to ultimate truth. On one hand, we have theism: "While God is our loving and intimate 'Papa,' He is also the infinitely powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe"--and He wants us to be with Him forever and enjoy the gifts He gives us. On the other hand is materialism materialism, in philosophy, a widely held system of thought that explains the nature of the world as entirely dependent on matter, the fundamental and final reality beyond which nothing need be sought. , from which "it follows very logically that lite (spelling) lite - (Misspelling of "light", when used to mean "lightweight") A suffix denoting a scaled-down or crippled product, often designed to be distributed without charge, e.g. on a magazine coverdisk. An example is pklite. has no meaning whatsoever." Metaxas writes that "in deciding for or against God, we have enough evidence on which to base a decision, if only we'll face up to it." Original sin ensures that none of us would make the right choice on our own, but God's grace gives us a chance to experience His presence--and embrace it. Mr. Karnick is as associate fellow of the Sagamore sag·a·more n. A subordinate chief among the Algonquians of North America. [Eastern Abenaki s  Institute for
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