This is a topic that really resonates for me. The value of my personal experiences of God in my personal life is beyond measure, because I do not really believe I would be a Christian today without experiencing God’s providence first hand. My practical analytical side being so strong, I still have moments of doubt, even in the face of the undeniable “encounters” I have experienced. Sadly, there is often no concrete evidence we can convincingly present to others so that they will believe our accounts. This is inability to communicate the reality of God’s personal action in our lives, is the link we need most, but cannot use, when attempting to explain to say, an atheist militant, who wonders why I believe. The “missing link” so to speak.
@Mincaesar
Hi Marlene
I know exactly what you mean. Devout Christians will not question that God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush which spoke to him, because that was ages ago and Moses was destined to play an important role in His divine plan. But of course (they say) God has more important things to do than communicate with insignificant nobodies like you and me. I don’t know if you read my earlier post to Kathryn Applegate describing "The Miracle of the Panel Truck". For anyone who ‘likes to do the math’, I can show that this had less than one chance in 50 million of happening–but it did, and it was witnessed by three other skeptical scientists besides myself. An interesting postscript to this event: Several years ago, in an informal gathering of eight professors of the associated colleges in a discussion group we called ‘GAS’ (God & Science) the subject of Miracles came up and I related my Truck experience. I had barely finished when Prof. Jerry Irish, head of the Pomona College Dept. of Religious Studies, burst out: “I HATE it when people think that God goes around doing things like ‘driving trucks’ just to encourage belief in Him.” My immediate thought (I now regret keeping to myself) was: “This is a guy hired to reinforce the belief in college students that there is a God who loves and cares for us???”
It’s sad when it appears that most people are so distracted by their TVs and IPhones that they do not hear the gentle knock at the door of their minds, and so they leave Christ waiting outside their daily lives–waiting for an invitation. As Einstein said: “The Lord God is subtle.” He doesn’t bowl us over with His presence; we must make some effort to get to Know Him. God bless.
Al Leo
Hello Al,
Yes I did read “The Miracle of the Panel Truck” Thank-you for sharing this experience, an awesome testimony to God’s personal love for us. What is so unique about this too, is that it was witnessed by others, validation!
How frustrating, this reaction from the Prof at the discussion group, and hurtful!
It is with much trepidation that I relate to others God’s personal interventions in my life, and no wonder, as even our fellow believers will harden their hearts.
God Bless
Min
@jahiddle @Mincaesar
Where can I read that?
[/quote]
I presume you mean the Einstein quotation. I’m sure I got it from Max Jammer’s book (Princeton U.P. 1999) but I loaned this out & never got it back. But you can find it in Wikipedia (and others, both validated and doubtful).
"Raffiniert ist der Herrgott, aber boshaft ist er nicht."
Subtle is the Lord, but malicious He is not.
Remark made during Einstein’s first visit to Princeton University. (April 1921)] as quoted in Einstein (1973) by R.W. Clark, Ch. 14
I admire Einstein’s mind, considering it the epitome of what God ‘programmed’ into the Homo sapiens brain some 40K years ago in the Great Leap Forward. I consider him Spiritual, rather than Religious–a Deist, perhaps. This quote is pertinent: “Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious.” [emphasis mine]
Al Leo
Hi Al,
In fact I did not write the question: "Where can I read that"
However, I am most happy to know!!
Thank-you!
Lately I have been gathering wee interesting quotes such as this, not sure why.
I am in awe of Einstein, his intelligence just boggles my little mind.
Min
I just wanted to say that your story is great! And to add to the thought of, “It’s easy to think of wonderful, inexplicable, things happening to the greats in the Bible, like Moses, but a nobody like me? Unlikely!”
While I see your point, my impression of the Bible is that the chosen people were just that. Nobodies! Moses himself states that he was a stuterer, not eloquent of speech, and was thinking of backing away from it all… Nonetheless God chose him to lead His people out of slavery. In Deuteronomy it says that God did not choose the Israelites, nor set his affection upon them, because they were many, for they were the fewest of all peoples. He chose them because He loved them, and because He would keep his oath (Deuteronomy 7:7,8). God also chose Paul to be Christianity’s biggest advocate and supporter (despite the fact, he… Eh… Killed dozens of Christians prior to His calling). Hardly the moral role model!
In any case … All of this to say that the greats only became that way because God called them and their in the Bible … But before that they weren’t anyone special.
This message in itself, I find very encouraging. There’s nothing stopping Him from inspiring us “nobodies”, even today!
Sorry, James. I’m not familiar with this Discourse program and misread the questioner.
The Panel Truck story appears in my response to Kathryn Applegate’s first post on ‘God’s Providence in Texas’. If you didn’t actually witness this event it would be natural to think it was just coincidence, but the odds of it happening are minuscule: > 50,000,000 against. It made firm believers of Eric and me, for sure.
Al Leo