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Thought Experiment: God Glass

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  • #16
    Originally posted by Teallaura View Post
    What part of 'Lord' was it that you guys think we didn't understand?

    As Christians the object is to be remade in the image of God as was originally intended - to let that image be reborn in us. It's not to become puppets nor to become God (fat chance on that last one) but to become like Him. That's a long, sometimes painful process called sanctification and it doesn't come with constant commentary. IF God did that we couldn't gain real wisdom - we'd be forever reliant on His direct input like a child that never grows up. That interferes with, not improves, the process. Yes, we are to attend to what God says and to obey His commands - but God doesn't micromanage - He wants us to learn and to grow and for that we have to use His guidance, not His supervision.
    So in other words, you are not going to answer the OP's thou8ght experiment because he has misrepresented Christianity?

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    • #17
      Originally posted by Scrawly View Post
      So in other words, you are not going to answer the OP's thou8ght experiment because he has misrepresented Christianity?
      No, I answered it. Both as worded and as interpreted. In both cases rejection is the correct answer because the experiment does not lead to the type of growth and conformation that God desires. It's just an extended childhood - which is what makes it such a poor analogy to the real thing.
      "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

      "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

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      • #18
        Originally posted by Scrawly View Post
        So in other words, you are not going to answer the OP's thou8ght experiment because he has misrepresented Christianity?
        It fits with some Christians thinking that God does care what color socks they wear. Rather naive.
        If it weren't for the Resurrection of Jesus, we'd all be in DEEP TROUBLE!

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        • #19
          Hey! I do think God cares about socks - I don't think He micromanages them without cause, however....
          "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

          "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

          My Personal Blog

          My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

          Quill Sword

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          • #20
            Originally posted by Teallaura View Post
            Hey! I do think God cares about socks - I don't think He micromanages them without cause, however....
            They keep your feet warm and reduce blisters. I meant in a morality sense. Of course He knows what socks you wear.
            If it weren't for the Resurrection of Jesus, we'd all be in DEEP TROUBLE!

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            • #21
              Originally posted by Teallaura View Post
              Hey! I do think God cares about socks - I don't think He micromanages them without cause, however....
              Oh, please! If God cared about socks he'd have sent the dryer sock monster to Hell eons ago!

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              "Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one."
              Marcus Aurelius



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              • #22
                Edit: whoops, left off quote:

                Originally posted by Country Sparrow View Post
                I'd wear the glasses all the time for a year and a day just to see how it goes. Most people who've read the Bible cover to cover say it takes that long, so I'll give the glasses the same period of time.


                Seems pragmatic. I guess this is pretty speculative, but, if the God-Glass proved to be a no-frills version of exactly what it was billed to be (so, for that entire year+day, every single guideline seemed sensible and in accordance with scripture, if not perhaps surprising from time to time), would you expect to enjoy and wish to continue living out your life with it turned on?

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                • #23
                  Originally posted by Teallaura View Post
                  I avoid taking gifts from demons. If God wanted puppets, He'd have created us that way. If God wants to talk to us, He is perfectly able. No where in Scripture does God use a medium to talk to His prophets (He did get Moses attention with a burning bush once) so why would He need one to tell me what to do?

                  In answer to the unspoken question, God doesn't seem to want us to be like three year olds needing constant input (no, honey, don't play in the litter box!) so such a 'gift' is inherently suspicious. Angel Boy isn't any help - it's Scripture, not visions, that we are to use as a guide when in doubt. The whole concept is at odds with Scriptural teaching - why bother teaching us to seek wisdom if God is gonna spoon feed us the answers? So not only would I not take it because it doesn't really come from God, I wouldn't take it because it is an antithesis of what God wants me to be.
                  1) Not a demon - in the hypothetical, this was an angel sent from God. No tricks (at least, none intended) up my sleeve here.
                  2) Not a puppet - you'd have freewill. Think of this as a "Personalized Commandments stream" - an opportunity for God to provide you guidelines just a little more refined/personalized than the original 10 recorded in Scripture.
                  3) "If God wants to talk to us, He is perfectly able. No where in Scripture does God use a medium to talk to His prophets (He did get Moses attention with a burning bush once)"
                  How does this statement not amount to "Nowhere in Scripture does God use a medium to talk to His prophets (except when he does)"? Not trying to be snarky here - I've just read that sentence 3 times now and I can't figure out what you're trying to say. "... so why would He need one to tell me what to do?" Mysterious ways, man, mysterious ways...
                  4) "In answer to the unspoken question, God doesn't seem to want us to be like three year olds needing constant input (no, honey, don't play in the litter box!) so such a 'gift' is inherently suspicious" Well, he did feel the need to point out the whole "Thou shalt not steal" and such. Coincidental with your statement, both of my sons had figured that one out by age 3. Using that precedence, I'm not sure the proposed product is really a categorical change in behavior here, just a matter of degree.

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                  • #24
                    Originally posted by Christianbookworm View Post
                    Yep! God is not a micro-manager. He gave us a prefrontal cortex and expects us to use it!
                    Again, I'll refer to "Thou shalt not steal." AKA "Don't take something away from someone else if it's theirs, not yours". Established precedence would seem to indicate that while God may well have given that prefrontal cortext, he's not exactly setting a high bar on how adept we are at using it.

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                    • #25
                      Originally posted by Manwë Súlimo View Post
                      If it looks anything like wearing Google glass, I'd punch the angel for trying to make me look like a ponce.


                      Okay, for the record, this thread is *totally* open for this or any other variations of mockery of Google glass. I guess my hypothetical, in addition to saying other people couldn't see the GodGlass, should've made it a clear option for the device itself (beyond its output) could be hidden from the wearer's visibility as well.

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                      • #26
                        Originally posted by Scrawly View Post
                        Despite the fact that the OP is unnecessarily verbose and somewhat convoluted, I think you correctly ascertained the point of the thought experiment. I think it is a volitional issue, and at its core, the thought experiment might be attempting to convey the message that if we forsake the God-glasses, then we will likewise find heaven a rather hellish experience (this fails to take into consideration our "flesh", of course), though I could be way in left field here as a result of sleep deprivation.
                        Firstly, apologies for the verbosity! As I was trying to put this thought experiment together, I was trying to package it up in a way that addressed potential concerns (i.e. the "appearance factor" of Google Glass, which nevertheless still cropped up in the responses :-) ), but it did wind up getting wordier than I'd anticipated.

                        Anyway - I wasn't really going for any heavenly implications, or trying to make some subtle "gotcha" point of "AHA - if you said X about God-Glass, then you'd have to admit that Heaven would actually suck!" -no, was not going there.

                        Many times, I've encountered the sentiment from Christians that there's a certain comfort in the simplicity of a moral code which boils down to "just trust and obey God in all things". The popularity of the 10 Commandments seems to be their directness: "God gave a simple list of rules, and I just need to obey them. For instance, I'm not going to cheat on my wife, because hey, it's on the list."

                        My thought experiment was meant to dig into that sentiment a bit more. Life is far too complex and nuanced for there to even be such a thing as a single document which exactly gave the "right" thing to do in all circumstances/contexts. So Christians are frequently left with the task of digging into the deepest folds of the finite-in-length Scriptures they do have, and wrestling out a definitive answer to "Should I do X or Y given A, B, C, and D". What I'd been wondering is... if it were possible to have a "Commandments stream", e.g. access to the direct and explicit "right answer" of what God wants to all circumstances life throws your way, would Christians wish to receive that knowledge? And if given that stream, how would you apply it to your life? Christians often talk reverentially of their desire to use their lives in service to God... but if given the opportunity to really do so - with all the "right answers" spelled out for them in infinite detail - would they really consider that desirable?

                        Maybe a more tangible variation of "God-Glass", that gets to the same curiosity on my part, would be a "WWJD app": if it existed would you like and use an app whereby God always supplied a direct/immediate answer to that question - "What would Jesus do in this situation?"

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                        • #27
                          And then I could snark that we can't always do what Jesus would do in a situation. He's incarnate Deity, He could just do a miracle to solve a problem. Or know all the variables in a situation, which might be too much for the app to process.
                          If it weren't for the Resurrection of Jesus, we'd all be in DEEP TROUBLE!

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                          • #28
                            I emailed jpholding and he said that he didn't think our brains could handle all the information.
                            So, it's a hardware/software problem.
                            If it weren't for the Resurrection of Jesus, we'd all be in DEEP TROUBLE!

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                            • #29
                              Originally posted by Manwë Súlimo View Post
                              If it looks anything like wearing Google glass, I'd punch the angel for trying to make me look like a ponce.
                              I wish we could get some cool augmented reality glasses for gaming, instead of boring old Google Glass.
                              "It's evolution; every time you invent something fool-proof, the world invents a better fool."
                              -Unknown

                              "Preach the gospel, and if necessary use words." - Most likely St.Francis


                              I find that evolution is the best proof of God.
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                              • #30
                                Originally posted by Irate Canadian View Post
                                I wish we could get some cool augmented reality glasses for gaming, instead of boring old Google Glass.
                                As long as the glasses don't fry your brain with too much data at once.
                                If it weren't for the Resurrection of Jesus, we'd all be in DEEP TROUBLE!

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