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From: aeq@pucc-h (Jeff Sargent)
Newsgroups: net.flame,net.religion
Subject: Re: evidence for the non-existence of God
Message-ID: <614@pucc-h>
Date: Tue, 27-Mar-84 01:52:48 EST
Article-I.D.: pucc-h.614
Posted: Tue Mar 27 01:52:48 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 28-Mar-84 01:24:26 EST
References: <6354@uiucdcs.UUCP>, <390@dual.UUCP>
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Lines: 50

I'm crossing this topic into net.religion (note double group), and I also
switched the topic back from "Go" to "God", not being acquainted with the
game of "Go"....

I'll try (probably very clumsily) to respond to some of the comments from
the second-level agnostic, Erik E. Fair:

> What is the Christian reason for living?
> What is the point?
> What is the meaning of Life?
> (more to the point, "Whadda ya got, that I don' got?")

A very approximate quote from C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity":

        The whole purpose of being a Christian is to become a little Christ --
        nothing else.

That sums up the whole thing.  To become like Christ involves everything else:
becoming a loving and giving person, having confidence enabling you to be
vulnerable (psychologically and physically; Jesus did both), having the wisdom
to see people's needs and the desire to meet them.  (Note from that last that
the idea of Christianity is not to get you to obey a bunch of commands and
rules; rather, as your relationship with Christ becomes closer, fuller, and
more intimate, you will gradually grow into the sort of person who wants to
behave in a loving, Christlike manner--your whole nature changes.  I freely
admit that this change hasn't gone very far in me yet; but some change has
occurred.)  The point is that, wherever you are, you are Christ's ambassador;
or I've even heard it said, you may be the only Christ that someone sees.
God chooses to let us do this loving instead of doing it Himself because He
wants to give us that opportunity to become like Him.

(I will defuse one possible objection:  For all Christians to become like
Christ does NOT mean that they are all to become identical.  It is obvious to
any observer, Christian or not, that different people have different gifts and
talents.  The Bible also speaks along the same lines; it calls the whole
group of believers "the body of Christ", pointing out that a body wouldn't
be much good if it were all eyes, ears, hands, or anything else, but that
diversity is necessary and beneficial.)

What is the meaning of Life, eh?  No philosopher I, but a short summation
might be:  Life is equivalent to Love -- love in the sense of unselfish
giving and concern, love in the sense of I Corinthians 13.  (This idea was
actually inspired by a quote from a very loving non-Christian, Leo Buscaglia
[some of his quotes have popped up in net.philosophy recently], who said that
the only word big enough to contain LOVE would be LIFE.)

-- 
-- Jeff Sargent
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