God's Relational Presence

Motar

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God is relational and desires to dwell among His people. This truth is revealed and supported throughout the biblical record. The locus of His presence in the Garden shifts to the tabernacle, the temple, the incarnation of Christ and the indwelling of the church by His Spirit.

Speaking to an ancient Hebrew king in regards to his banished son, a woman states rhetorically: “Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son? Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him" (2 Samuel 14:13-14, NIV).

God desires a relationship with you.
 
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Motar

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Somehow I don’t think he exists, if he did why hasn’t he made the world a better place??
This world has an expiration date, Durry.

“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4).

The better place is where God is present.
 

Dexter Sinister

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This world has an expiration date, Durry.
That's true, but not for the reasons you think, and it's not as soon as you think. And that's not an answer to Durry's question.
The better place is where God is present.
Neither is that. So god's not present in this world, but will show up only after all that apocalyptic stuff in Revelation has happened? That's the only logical conclusion I can see from your post #3.
 

Dexter Sinister

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On the evidence available, I'd strongly dispute that, and if he *is* present and active I'd have to conclude that he's a mean-minded, capricious, stupid, maniac and deserves no respect at all.
 
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taxslave

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God is relational and desires to dwell among His people. This truth is revealed and supported throughout the biblical record. The locus of His presence in the Garden shifts to the tabernacle, the temple, the incarnation of Christ and the indwelling of the church by His Spirit.

Speaking to an ancient Hebrew king in regards to his banished son, a woman states rhetorically: “Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son? Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him" (2 Samuel 14:13-14, NIV).

God desires a relationship with you.
That would make gawd a faggot.
 

Motar

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Jun 18, 2013
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On the evidence available, I'd strongly dispute that, and if he *is* present and active I'd have to conclude that he's a mean-minded, capricious, stupid, maniac and deserves no respect at all.
Where God is welcome, God is relationally present.
 

Motar

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And this statement can only make sense to a fairy tale believer.
“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:14, NIV)
 

Motar

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That's true ...
I‘m glad to find some common ground with you, my friend. I am between classes currently. Thank you for the Crossan quote above. I encountered some of his contemporaries in a recent apologetics class. Here’s a good read:

Habermas, G. R., & Licona, M. R. (2004). The case for the resurrection of Jesus. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.

There are quite a few extra-biblical historical proofs for the resurrection to examine. Opposing arguments are included.
 

Dexter Sinister

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The way you've put those two extracts from posts together makes it look like I'm agreeing with the ideas expressed in your citation from 1 Corinthians. That's not what I responded "That's true..." to, and I think it's just more of Paul's smug self-righteous nonsense.

I've also read a few things that try to make the case for the resurrection of Jesus, and found them to be nothing more than a series of false claims and bad logic. I doubt the one you refer to above is any different.
 
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Motar

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The way you've put those two extracts from posts together makes it look like I'm agreeing with the ideas expressed in your citation from 1 Corinthians. That's not what I responded "That's true..." to, and I think it's just more of Paul's smug self-righteous nonsense.
I am sorry you misunderstood my post, Dex. Digital text communication can be a problematic that way.

There was no smug self-righteousness intended. As Paul humbly penned:

“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord“ (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).

I have no righteousness before God, except what is conferred to me in Christ.
 

Dexter Sinister

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I don't think I misunderstood it, I was just telling you what your juxtaposition of extracts from one of your posts and one of mine looked like, and now you've edited your post #15 to remove the citation from 1 Corinthians I referred to so my post #16 doesn't appear to make sense. What is it you think I said "That's true..." in response to?

Righteous and self-righteous aren't the same thing. The self-righteousness is Paul's, not yours, and I think Paul was a long way from anything I'd describe as humble, thinking he knows what god does and why. He also plainly hated and feared women, and thus bears much responsibility for the Christian church's two thousand years of oppressing and denigrating them.
 

Motar

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Jun 18, 2013
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“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26-27, NIV).

God was intimately involved in creation, designing humankind for relationship with God and with one another.
 
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