It is our God-given ability to think and reason, together …

Comment on What does it take to be a true Seventh-day Adventist? by Sean Pitman.

It is our God-given ability to think and reason, together with an honest desire to know the truth, that brings honest hearts toward God. God does not act in a manner to trump our ability to think and reason. Rather, He acts in a manner calculated to appeal to our intelligent minds and our reasoning capabilities. Otherwise, He could simply overwhelm us and turn us into robots incapable of thinking or reasoning outside of His direct control.

The problem here is that God doesn’t want robots who follow the dictates of blind faith without the need for rational thought and understanding – without conscious intelligent consent to follow what is intellectually known to be true out of a love of truth. Those who act blindly or from emotion alone cannot truly love. Those who act without an intelligent rational basis in real knowledge cannot truly love. True love requires an intelligent understanding of the other shared between lovers and freedom to choose between options. True love is not based on empirically-blind faith, but exists in the light of the weight of empirical evidence.

In short, God does not expect us to love Him without first revealing Himself to us in the form of the weight of empirical evidences – evidences that demonstrate His love for us. Otherwise, it would be just as rational for us to place our ultimate faith and love in anyone and everyone who happened to come along… including Satan himself.

Why pick God over Satan? Because of the weight of evidence in God’s favor. That’s why. And, that’s what the “Great Controversy” is all about…

Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com

Sean Pitman Also Commented

What does it take to be a true Seventh-day Adventist?
I guess someone who accepts neo-Darwinism must have some problems with the reality of Biblical prophecy…


What does it take to be a true Seventh-day Adventist?
You didn’t answer my question as to what you would do if you happened to have been in a place like Sandy Hook Elementary School when a shooter entered the building. Or, what you would do if someone threatened the lives of your own family. Also, don’t tell me that Australia has no police force or that the police there don’t carry guns…


What does it take to be a true Seventh-day Adventist?
The Bible and Ellen White are very clear that Satan and his angels were forced to leave heaven just as Adam and Eve were forced to leave Eden after they fell to Satan’s charms. They are also very clear that the wicked will one day be excluded, by force, from the New Jerusalem and will, eventually, be completely destroyed from existence. I don’t think that’s how it worked with you and your family…


Recent Comments by Sean Pitman

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Thank you Ariel. Hope you are doing well these days. Miss seeing you down at Loma Linda. Hope you had a Great Thanksgiving!


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Thank you Colin. Just trying to save lives any way I can. Not everything that the government does or leaders do is “evil” BTW…


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Only someone who knows the future can make such decisions without being a monster…


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Where did I “gloss over it”?


Review of “The Naked Emperor” by Pastor Conrad Vine
I fail to see where you have convincingly supported your claim that the GC leadership contributed to the harm of anyone’s personal religious liberties? – given that the GC leadership does not and could not override personal religious liberties in this country, nor substantively change the outcome of those who lost their jobs over various vaccine mandates. That’s just not how it works here in this country. Religious liberties are personally derived. Again, they simply are not based on a corporate or church position, but rely solely upon individual convictions – regardless of what the church may or may not say or do.

Yet, you say, “Who cares if it is written into law”? You should care. Everyone should care. It’s a very important law in this country. The idea that the organized church could have changed vaccine mandates simply isn’t true – particularly given the nature of certain types of jobs dealing with the most vulnerable in society (such as health care workers for example).

Beyond this, the GC Leadership did, in fact, write in support of personal religious convictions on this topic – and there are GC lawyers who have and continue to write personal letters in support of personal religious convictions (even if these personal convictions are at odds with the position of the church on a given topic). Just because the GC leadership also supports the advances of modern medicine doesn’t mean that the GC leadership cannot support individual convictions at the same time. Both are possible. This is not an inconsistency.