The One & Only

June 21, 2011 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Welcome to Journey 2 – The One & Only

Continue your Omniallinfinitude™ Journey Here

The One & Only is the second of the twelve Omniallinfinitude™ Journeys.  Each Journey is presented through 16 blog posts. Even though we are now pausing or blogging a different Journey, we highly recommend completing the journeys in order at your own pace.

Each Journey is made up of Journey Elements – you can view this list in its entirety, like a Table of Contents, on the left sidebar.  You can also view or download the PDF version of this Journey by clicking the One & Only graphic at the top of the left sidebar.

Here’s how to participate:

  1. Read each blog post in the order they were posted.
  2. Complete the Journey Elements contained in each post. Each Journey covers one attribute group and one spiritual practice.  All of the Elements relate to these in some way.
  3. Return to the Blog Post – we encourage you to comment based on the specific assignment.  Read other’s comments and engage in an online conversation. These posts and comments are ongoing.
  4. For more information see How Does This Work on the Main Omni page.
  5. Then move on to the next post. You can access the individual post pages from the top menu bar under Journey Elements, or by clicking the Element name in the Table of Contents on the left sidebar.
  6. When you complete a Journey – move on to the next Journey.  The format and Element structure will be the same in all the Journeys.
  7. Each Journey will also have its own blog, and each post will have its own page, in addition to appearing in the complete blog.  This will make it easier to complete the blog at your own speed, as well as for others who start later.  We will eventually have 12 active blogs with people participating in all of them at the same time.

Complete the Blog Posts below in this order:

Click on the links to go to the individual blog posts with their respective comments. Once you click to the Journal pages, scroll up to get to the beginning of the blog post.  Each Journal post will also appear on the Journey Element Page that it follows. For example, Journal 2.1 will appear on the same page and directly under Remember and Read.

The One & Only: What comes to your mind?

The One & Only 1: Remember and Read

The One & Only 2: Journal 2.1 - Beyond Transcendence

The One & Only 3: Analyze - Chapter Titles and Key Words

The One & Only 4:  Journal 2.2 - Bagel Choices

The One & Only 5: Investigate – The One & Only and 10 Things

The One & Only 6: Journal 2.3 - Ultimate Q & A

The One & Only 7: Practice: Prayer and Fasting and Why?

The One & Only 8: Journal 2.4 - God Shopping

The One & Only 9: More Cool Stuff – Worldviews

The One & Only 10: Journal 2.5 - The Big Six

The One & Only 11: Inventory – Your Wants and Needs

The One & Only 12: Journal 2.6 – Simply Mindboggling

The One & Only 13: Adventuring – Prayerwalk

The One & Only 14: Journal 2.7 - Nitty Gritty

The One & Only 15: Lyrics

The One & Only 16: Closure

 

While we encourage you to leave Comments, we totally understand if you want to participate anonymously.  This format also works well for small groups meeting in person.  It’s ok to print out the PDF – just remember to keep a copy on your computer so you can use the links.

Credits for quotes, music, lyrics and videos appear in the Credits section in the back of the PDF. Omniallinfinitude™ material may be reproduced as long as credit is given. There is no fee for using this material.

Enjoy the Journey…..take your time….but take the Journey!

 

The One & Only 16: Closure

June 17, 2011 in Closure with 0 Comments

closure

Because it matters what we think about God

We have come to the end of The One & Only, the second of the 12 Omniallinfinitude™ Journeys.

This journey has caused us to Remember “God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14a) and Read Joshua 1 & 24 and Hebrews 11-12. We Analyzed with Chapter Titles and Key Words and Investigated the One & Only, as well as Practiced Prayer and Fasting. We also took Inventory of our Wants and Needs and went on an Adventuring Prayerwalk. We were challenged by the revelations in the More Cool Stuff Worldview chart, and then again by the definitions of so many flavors of Atheism. And finally, Lyrics spoke to our hearts and souls as we pondered the One & Only through music.

The Journal guided us through discovering how our actions and choices reveal what we put our faith in. We are constantly looking for answers to those basic questions placed deep in our souls to draw us to HIM. In order to survive, we create a framework to make sense of life and the world – our Worldview – which provides these answers. However, when we make ourselves the determiner of Truth instead of the One & Only, we create a myriad of isms, religions and worldviews.  But since there is nothing new under the sun, our God shopping results in one of 5 major Worldviews: Atheism/Naturalism, Post Modernism, Polytheism, Pantheism and Theism. By answering 6 basic questions we are able to determine what we currently believe about God.

We learned God is simply mindboggling – so simple, pure and indivisible. He is truly free and independent, needing nothing outside Himself – truly self sufficient. He is also self – existent – has always been and is currently in what we perceive as the past, present, and future, all at once. He needs nothing and no one, yet everything and everyone needs and is dependent on Him. He is One and the Only One. There are no other Gods.

Now it’s time to think back over this part of your journey and reflect on what you have discovered and learned.  The categories below may help jog your memory.  Describe the details of any areas that apply to you.

New Things I Learned

 

 

Old Things I was reminded of

 

 

Questions I have



Areas I was challenged in

 

 

First steps I took

 

 

Areas I would like to study more

 


“AHA!” moments

 

 

Dreams and visions

 

 

COMMENT: (In the PDF, your journal, or in the Comment section of this post)

Please share any personal reflections from the above closure categories.  This is the last post for Journey Two – The One & Only.  Please join us next at the Journey Three – Beyond Time and Space blog, for Beyond Time and Space 1: Remember and Read.


The One & Only 15: Lyrics

June 14, 2011 in Lyrics with 2 Comments

lyrics

You might wonder why lyrics are included in a study like this.

We believe lyrics,
or poetry put to music,
as well as the accompanying music,

have always been used by the Most High to impact our hearts and minds –

either by our part in its creative process –
or through our participation in its expression –
or through our pleasure, as a recipient of its sensory benefits.

 

Clicking on the song titles will take you to another page to listen and watch a music video of each song.  The lyrics and questions that appear below will also appear under each video.

The lyrics may not always be spiritual in their original context – but much can still be gained from applying them to how they describe and point to the The One & Only God.  Please return to this page to enter your Comments.

 

 

 

When you read these lyrics or listen to the song “The Best”, imagine you are singing it about you and your relationship with God.

The Best

Performed by Tina Turner
Lyrics and Music by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman

I call you when I need you, my heart’s on fire
You come to me, come to me wild and wired
When you come to me
Give me everything I need
Give me a lifetime of promises and a world of dreams
Speak a language of love like you know what it means
And it can’t be wrong
Take my heart and make it strong

You’re simply the best, better than all the rest
Better than anyone, anyone I’ve ever met
I’m stuck on your heart, and hang on every word you say
Tear us apart, I would rather be dead

In your heart I see the star of every night and every day
In your eyes I get lost, I get washed away
Just as long as I’m here in your arms
I could be in no better place

You’re simply the best, better than all the rest
Better than anyone, anyone I’ve ever met
I’m stuck on your heart, and hang on every word you say
Tear us apart, I would rather be dead

Each time you leave me I start losing control
You’re walking away with my heart and my soul
I can feel you even when I’m alone
Oh don’t let go

c. 1988 by Knighty Knight Music.

COMMENT: (In your journal, the PDF, or the Comments section of this post.)

List some ideas from this song that describe things that are true about God.

 

This song was written about a man remembering his first love and vowing to return to her once again. When you read these lyrics or listen to this song, imagine you are expressing it about your journey to find God and then to knowing God in a deeper way.

I Know You’re Out There Somewhere

Lyrics by Justin Hayward, performed by The Moody Blues

I know you’re out there somewhere
Somewhere, somewhere
I know I’ll find you somehow
And somehow I’ll return again to you

The mist is lifting slowly
I can see the way ahead
And I’ve left behind the empty streets
That once inspired my life
And the strength of the emotion
Is like thunder in the air
‘Cos the promise that we made each other
Haunts me to the end

I know you’re out there somewhere
Somewhere, somewhere
I know you’re out there somewhere
Somewhere you can hear my voice
I know I’ll find you somehow
Somehow, somehow
I know I’ll find you somehow
And somehow I’ll return again to you

The secret of your beauty
And the mystery of your soul
I’ve been searching for in everyone I meet
And the times I’ve been mistaken
It’s impossible to say
And the grass is growing
Underneath our feet

I know you’re out there somewhere
Somewhere, somewhere
I know you’re out there somewhere
Somewhere you can hear my voice
I know I’ll find you somehow
Somehow, somehow
I know I’ll find you somehow
And somehow I’ll return again to you

You see I know you’re out there somewhere
O yes I know you’re out there somewhere

Yes I know it’s going to happen
I can feel you getting near
And soon we’ll be returning
To the fountain of our youth
And if you wake up wondering
In the darkness I’ll be there
My arms will close around you
And protect you with the truth

I know you’re out there somewhere
Somewhere, somewhere
I know you’re out there somewhere
Somewhere you can hear my voice
I know I’ll find you somehow
Somehow, somehow
I know I’ll find you somehow
And somehow I’ll return again to you

c. 1988 by Nightswood, LTD

 

COMMENT: (In your journal, the PDF, or the Comments section of this post.)

What are some things you are searching for? Where are you searching?

 

Click each artist’s name to listen to two versions of this famous song.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Music by Harold Arlen, Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

Performed by Judy Garland

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high,
There’s a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.

Someday I’ll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far
Behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That’s where you’ll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why then, oh why can’t I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can’t I?

c. 1939 Rhino Entertainment and EMI Music Publishing

 

Performed by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow
Blue birds fly
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Dreams really do come true
Someday I’ll wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney tops thats where you’ll find me oh
Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly
And the dream that you dare to,why, oh why can’t I?

Well I see trees of green and
Red roses too,
I’ll watch them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

Well I see skies of blue and I see clouds of white
And the brightness of day
I like the dark and I think to myself
What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people passing by
I see friends shaking hands
Saying, “How do you do?”
They’re really saying, I…I love you
I hear babies cry and I watch them grow,
They’ll learn much more
Than we’ll know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

Someday I’ll wish upon a star,
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney top that’s where you’ll find me
Oh, Somewhere over the rainbow way up high
And the dream that you dare to, why, oh why can’t I?

c. 1939 Rhino Entertainment and EMI Music Publishing

 

The song was originally written for the movie, The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland, eventually becoming her signature song. In 1939, the year of its release, it won the Academy Award for Best Song.  It was also selected number one on the “Songs of the Century” list compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. The American Film Institute also ranked “Over the Rainbow” the greatest movie song of all time on the list of “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs”.

Besides Judy Garland and Israel Kamakawiwo’ole who has surged to the top of the charts with an updated lyrical ukulele version, this timeless song has been sung and arranged for and by every generation since, including arrangements by the Cast of Glee, Frank Sinatra, Eva Cassidy, Jason Castro and Katharine McPhee of American Idol fame, little Connie Talbot on Britain’s Got Talent, Jewel, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Rufus Wainright and Barbra Streisand to name a few.

 

COMMENT: (In your journal, the PDF, or the Comments section of this post.)

Do you have any dreams so amazing you are almost afraid to share them?

Where can you go and not get into trouble?

Share your thoughts on why this song has such universal appeal.

Our next post will be The One & Only 16: Closure.

 

The One & Only 14: Journal 2.7 – Nitty Gritty

June 10, 2011 in Adventuring, Journal with 1 Comment

The term Nitty Gritty means to get to the heart of the matter, the basic essentials or realities of something. The concepts below are the main points or the Nitty Gritty of the The One & Only journey you have almost completed.  Take some time to review them.

1. We are all looking for answers.

2. God has planted questions in our hearts to draw us back to Him, questions only He can answer.

3. How we answer these questions will determine our Worldview, the framework from which we make sense of life and the world.

4. When we make ourselves the determiner of Truth instead of God, we transfer God’s Transcendence to ourselves, and the results are a myriad of “isms”, religions, and worldviews based on faulty foundations.

5. We want God to be everything else but God. Holding an incorrect view of God is a choice. It will determine our actions and our future.

6. There is only One God – more than one God would require limits on all of them.

7. Truth by definition will exclude.

8. Extra credit reading recommendation: Choosing Your Faith In A World of Spiritual Options, by Mark Mittelberg

9. Please watch the CRAVE Short Film “Nameless Moment” by clicking the link. As you watch think about the following questions.

What is one of the most meaningful experiences you’ve ever had and what made it meaningful?

Have you ever given meaning to something meaningless?

Have you ever been betrayed by someone you trusted? How is truth related to trust?

Have you or someone you know ever given up on life? If so, how did you or they make it through that time? Why is meaning important in life?

Do you believe God can be trusted?

 

COMMENT: (In your journal, the PDF, or the Comments section of this post.)

Please share which concepts presented above were new to you, challenged your current thoughts about the One & Only, or refocused you on areas from which you may have wandered.  Please share any other concepts from this second journey that have impacted your concept of the One & Only. Make sure you can Remember the verse.  Also make sure you have completed all the Journey Elements and Journal readings so far. Our next post will be The One and Only 15: Lyrics.

The One & Only 13: Adventuring – Prayerwalk

June 7, 2011 in Adventuring with 1 Comment

adventuring

Prayerwalk

This week plan about thirty minutes to walk around your neighborhood or place of business during daylight. If walking isn’t safe, or you are unable to walk, driving will suffice.

As you walk, pray about what you see, and what you don’t see. Pray for the people you see on the street. Pray for the families that live in the homes you walk by. Pray for the children and teenagers, the schools, the marriages, the jobs, the conflicts, for all the needs of the neighborhood.

 

Pray for spiritual health and protection from evil, for a hunger for God, for connection to community, for belonging, for peace, for comfort, for God’s abundant blessings.

 

Pray on behalf of your neighbors. Let all your senses make you aware of the realities and needs of your neighbors.

 

Pay attention to what God points out to you. Look through His eyes at the things you might not have noticed otherwise.

 

When you return, reflect on your experience below.

What did you see, and hear?

 

Did you become aware of something new?

 

Will you pray any differently for your neighborhood now?

 

 

COMMENT: (In your journal, the PDF, or in the Comments section of this post.)

Share your reflections on your prayerwalk experience as mentioned above.

Our next blog post will be The One & Only 14: Journal 2.7 – Nitty Gritty.

The One & Only 12: Journal 2.6 – Simply Mindboggling

June 3, 2011 in Inventory, Journal with 3 Comments

God is a simple Being – the simplest of all. How can that be? Because He is pure being, without any potential, existing in the eternal present, nothing about Him needs to be actualized or effected by someone else. (Explain that in your own words.) God is being, everything else has being. He does not become, He is.

Or you could say, God is self existent. He was not made and had no origin. The I AM who I AM exists in the past, present, and future – all at the same time.

Self Sufficient is another word that comes to mind. God needs nothing outside Himself. Only God can fully trust in His own self, all others must trust in God. He has life in Himself. He does not need our help, support, or defense.

This allows Him to be independent and free, unlimited by anything. His creation cannot affect Him in any way. This is the quality man seeks to gain when we put ourselves ahead of God. He is free from the effects of matter, space, time, and motion.

He is the only truly necessary being. All others are dependant on God for life or existence. God is dependent on nothing.

There are no parts to God. He is indivisible, not a composition. He can’t be torn apart. We on the other hand are made up of body, soul, spirit, intelligence, mind, imagination, and memory.

God is One. He is unique and perfect. There is only One God – more than one God would require limits on all of them. To have more than one God would mean there were no Gods at all.

One of the most passionate areas of belief throughout time has to do with exclusivity -

? Is there only One God and if there is, is there only one way to Him?

? Can’t I just be sincere about what I believe?

? Perhaps there are different names for the same God?

? Perhaps there are different ways to the same God?

Every major religion in the world today asks its followers for sincerity and exclusivity. Their way is the only way. All others are to be excluded or converted. It is only when we get to the Post Modern mindset of pluralism and tolerance that the ruckus escalates.

Truth by definition will exclude. Choices abound……choose carefully.

Mindboggling….

 

COMMENT: (In your own journal, the PDF, or in the Comments section of this post.)

How do you struggle with the issue of exclusivity? (The idea that there can be only one God)

How does understanding the attributes above help you better accept the truth of The One and Only God?

How would the existence of more than one god make them not gods at all?

Our next blog post will be The One & Only 13: Adventuring – Prayerwalk.

The One & Only 11: Inventory – Your Wants and Needs

May 31, 2011 in Inventory with 3 Comments

inventory

Your Wants and Needs

Take some time to answer the following questions about your own life journey at the present time.  Be honest – and don’t over think or over spiritualize your answers.

 

What do you need?

 

What do you need to do?

 

What do you need to let go of?

 

What are the first things you do when you get up in the morning?

 

What are the last things you do before you go to bed at night?

 

What do you want?

 

What do you want to do?

 

What do you want to do before you die?

 

What do you want to let go of?

 

What are you missing?

 

If you had three wishes, what would they be?

 

COMMENT: (In your journal, the PDF, or the Comment section of this post)

Share the answers to the questions that impacted you the most.

Were some questions harder to answer than others?

Were any of these questions new to you – ones you’d never even thought about before?

Were any of these questions ones you would rather not answer?

Our next blog post will be The One & Only 12 – Journal 2.6: Simply Mindboggling.

The One & Only 10: Journal 2.5 – The Big Six

May 27, 2011 in Journal, More Cool Stuff with 4 Comments

Based on our own choices, our own worldviews, and our own responses to the Proof of Life we have each experienced and observed, we can almost logically think ourselves all the way to the One and Only.

There is a progression of questions, a simple decision tree, which reveals insight into the thought process we go through in forming our Worldview.

The 6 Questions below form the roots of the underlying framework when it comes to belief……Interestingly enough, most of us don’t even realize we have answered these questions, many of us don’t even know the questions exist.

Start at Question 1 – and see how far you go…..

 

Question 1:

Is it possible to know whether God exists or not?

No – stop here, you are an Agnostic (you either don’t know, or believe you can’t know)

Yes – Please continue

 

Question 2:

Do you believe in God?

No – stop here, you are an Atheist (A Skeptic would doubt God exists)

Yes – Please continue

 

Question 3:

Do you believe in One God or many gods?

Many – Stop here, you are a Polytheist (Animism, Spiritism, Wicca, etc.)

One – You are a Monotheist, please continue

 

Question 4:

Is the One God you believe in Transcendent (Greater than and Beyond Creation) or Immanent (within or equal to creation)?

Immanent – Stop here, you are Pantheist (Hinduism, Taoism, Zen Buddhism, etc.)

Transcendent – Continue

 

Question 5:

Does the One and Only Transcendent God interact with His creation?

No - Stop Here, You are a Deist

Yes – You are a Theist – Please continue

 

 

 

Question 6:

Does the Theist God exist as one person or three persons in One?

One – You are a Unitarian (Judaism, Islam, etc.)

Three Persons in One – You believe in the Trinity of the Christian God

 

It is possible to answer the first 5 questions based on the many ways God has revealed Himself to us. This general revelation has been available from the beginning of time. But God knew it could only begin our journey to Him.

We will discover in upcoming journeys additional ways He interacted specifically with us, revealing even more about who He is………Then we can answer Question 6.

 

COMMENT: (In your journal, the PDF, or in the Comment section of this post)

Work through and answer the six questions above. Where did you end up?

If you are stuck on a question, what is keeping you from making a choice?  What would help you make the best choice?

What were some of the things that influenced your answers at each step?

Our next blog post will be The One & Only 11: Inventory – Your Wants and Needs.

The One & Only 9: More Cool Stuff – Worldviews

May 24, 2011 in More Cool Stuff with 3 Comments

more cool stuff

Worldviews

The chart hopefully allows you to see the differences between these major worldviews. Since it is a broad, general overview you are encouraged to do further in depth study if you desire more specific information. The different religions, philosophies, and belief systems represented in each area differ in their specific beliefs within each Worldview.

Believing in God is oftentimes considered something for the uneducated and uninformed when it is actually the other way around. As societies advance they begin to depend more on themselves, seeing no need for God, pointing to their own accomplishments as proof of their abilities.

But since the Proof of God is all around us, as we advance, we actually acquire better tools for discovering that proof. We have no excuse. The battle between who will rule, God or man, is a hard fought one, at least from our worldly perspective.  God, however, is not worried.

As we became more confident in our own minds and abilities, Mankind, in its denial of the existence of God, has developed many flavors of Atheism, some of which are listed below. See if you recognize any of these in our society today. Most likely they appear with a much more marketable name, books and dvd’s, pretty spokespeople, and promises of a wonderful life.

 

Flavors of Atheism:

  • Secular Humanism – Man is the measure of all things, we are self sufficient and will figure it out, we will solve all our problems.
  • Rationalism – If I can’t understand it – it doesn’t exist.
  • Naturalism – Nature is all there is – there is no supernatural intervention in the world, only believe what can be felt with 5 senses or proved scientifically.
  • Materialism – Existence is explainable solely in material terms, with no accounting of spirit or consciousness. The universe is a huge device held together by pieces of matter functioning in subjection to naturalistic laws. Denies all concepts of Special Creation, it relies on the Theory of Evolution to explain itself.
  • Nihilism – There is no meaning or purpose in existence, no absolute value or truth – we create our own value.
  • Marxism/Communism – Utopia can be obtained if everyone works for the good purpose of the whole. “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
  • Pragmatism – Something is true if it works – ends justify the means.
  • Secularism – No faith, no soul, religious skepticism or indifference. This is the view that religious considerations should be excluded from civil affairs or public education – separation of church and state.
  • Rationalism – Everything we know by faith can also be proved by reason but not vice a versa. Deny creation out of nothing and divinity of Christ.
  • Scientism – Scientific method and proof is the only way to discover truth.
  • Post Modernism – This is a modern day Worldview skeptical of absolute truths or universal principles in favor of relativity and individual experience. By acknowledging that anything goes, if you think its true – it’s true, it fluctuates between atheistic tenets and at best polytheistic ideas.
    • Post Modern reality is subject to individual interpretation, which can change by the minute. All meaning is relative to a cultural situation.
    • Buzzwords include tolerance, inclusion, freedom of expression, and a refusal to claim to ever have all the answers or absolute truth.
    • No single answer will suffice for all cultures or individuals.
  • Multiculturalism – No truth transcends culture, no idea or moral concept might be true for every cultural group or every human being. All cultures, from that of a spirits-worshiping tribe to that of an advanced industrial civilization, are equal in value.
  • Pluralism – Every religion is true.
  • Relativism – No criteria by which one can determine which religion is true or best.
  • Universalism – Everyone will eventually be saved and go to heaven through good’s eventual triumph over evil.
  • Inclusivism – One religion is explicitly true while all others are implicitly true.
  • Syncretism – Adoption of parts of one religious belief into another. The Romans were masters at this.

If the belief in no God is on one end of the spectrum – the other end is the belief in one and only one God…..or Monotheism.  Yet even within Monotheism, some people claim to be Deists and some Theists.

What’s the difference between a Deist and a Theist?

This is another issue that gets a lot of press and can be very confusing. Consider the “Cliff Notes” presentation below…………….

Let’s start out with what they agree on:

  • Both Believe in One, Infinite, Personal god – so both are Monotheistic
  • Both Believe that God created the world
  • Both Believe there are absolute moral values

Here’s where they differ:

  • A Deist believes God does not interact (miracles) with His creation and the universe. After He created it, He left it to itself and does not intervene. A Theist believes God exists and interacts within and beyond His creation and that miracles happen.
  • A Deist does not believe in original sin while a Theist does.
  • A Deist believes evil can be defeated (by man or God), while a Theist believes evil is a result of free choice and will ultimately be defeated by God.
  • A Deist believes God’s only revelation is through creation, not through any additional special revelation, such as prophets or Holy Books, as the Theist believes.
  • A Deist places a high value on reason and the results of reasoning instead of faith.

Its important to remember that even within Monotheism – there are different systems of belief or specific worldviews, including different practices, rituals, codes, and writings. The monotheistic belief systems are very different when you begin to investigate under the covers.

 

COMMENT: (In your journal, the PDF, or the Comments section for this post)

What are some of the ideas described above that you have noticed are prevalent in your sphere of influence?

Which ones do you recognize often in movies, songs, in the news, on talk shows, in books, in the classroom, and even at church?

Our next blog post will be The One & Only 10 – Journal 2.5: The Big 6 .

The One & Only 8: Journal 2.4 – God Shopping

May 20, 2011 in Journal, Practice and Why? with 3 Comments

Below are the five major Worldviews that exist in societies around the world. These have been with human culture over time and often are repackaged in modern wrappings. There really is nothing new under the sun. We will review these in more depth in the More Cool Stuff element of this journey.

 

Every ism, philosophy, religion, worldview, or personal outlook is some flavor or variation or combination of these five. There are some basic similarities to all of these – they all strive to answer the basic questions of our heart.

COMMENT: (In the PDF, your journal or the comment section for this post)

At this point in your spiritual journey, which box above would describe your basic Worldview?

How have you come to these beliefs? What kinds of things have impacted the formation of your Worldview?

What do you base your beliefs on?  Is proof that your Worldview is correct important to you?

The next post is The One & Only 9: More Cool Stuff – Worldviews.

 

 

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