The Predestination of Monkeys

This blog is predestined for an "Oh yeah, that blog we tried" comment five months from now. But I'm not going to give up on it yet. Oh-ho no I'm not. If you think I proffer China Star a lot, you have no idea what Chris-Cook-A-Lot is . . . hmm. That reads differently than I intended . . .

I really think there's some merit to attempting to insert some of the main discussion points from each Sunday into the online forum. For example, I'm going to be gone this Sunday when Kelly is going to be talking about Biblical interpretation. I would love to be able to be there for this topic in particular, but I'll be out of town so that's that, and that happens. If a short blog post were made and a few comments posted then there would be a decent chance of catching up people who might miss a week here and there.

TONY DANZA cuts in line.

But catching people up is only half of it in my mind. If we're able to actually make this blog into an ongoing discussion then it becomes one more tool to help us keep our faith on our minds throughout the week. One of the things that I personally struggle with is turning spiritual conversations into nothing more than academic discussions. If all we do is talk for an hour and then don't think about it again until the next Sunday when Louis asks, "So who can sum up what we talked about last week?" then we might as well just start going to lunch right at 11.


That being said, I think there were some good discussion points this last Sunday (Nov. 8th) when Louis led us in a discussion about Predestination. I don't remember them. Here are my thoughts.

THE QUESTION: PREDESTINATION?

I don't believe in predestination as it's commonly defined. I do not believe that there are souls brought into existence - to experience the slim shadow of God's love and presence which we call life - simply so that those souls can be subjected to eternal separation from God. I DO believe that there are souls brought into existence, to experience the shadow of God, specifically so that those souls can go on to experience the fullness of God in eternity; I believe all souls are intended to share eternity with God. But I also believe that all souls are required to make that decision themselves, and that many of them choose to focus in on themselves rather than God. I believe that God knows the outcome of each of those decisions because He doesn't progress in Time but exists throughout and at the end and beginning of Time simultaneously. And it's that knowing-aspect that is the basis for the idea behind the common definition of predestination.

Except monkeys. Monkeys go to hell. Unless less you comment differently it means you agree.

Jesus Links

Was Jesus Divine?

Did Jesus Have to Die?

John Calvin's Heresy: Jesus Suffered in Hell

C.S. Lewis on God Begetting (Yea! Google book preview...it's in the first part of the hopefully-directly-linked-to "Good Infection")

I would also recommend C.S. Lewis's book The Great Divorce to anyone who hasn't read it. The reason being that portrays a very different-and to me, agreeable-portrait of Hell; the Valley of Death, and the ways in which we separate ourselves from God/God's Love.