Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Class in the Chapel

When we were talking about the ideas of free will and if god really does have a set plan for all of us i realized that that is one of my fundamental issues with christianity. I have found myself slowly becoming more and more interested in christianity but i keep wondering about the whole role of god. I mean so many people believe that either god has plans for everyone or than he doesnt and that we have free will but god watches over us. I sorta like both those ideas but i want something more concrete almost. I just want to know what really is the deal with god? Does he have a plan for us all or is it more a rough draft and we are the ones the edit it to make the final version and when we die and supposedly go to heaven is it then that god gives us a grade on our final life draft? Just some things i have been pondering.

3 comments:

Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus said...

Obviously, all three of the scriptural traditions we studied say in their own ways that God has a plan for us. The big question that you pose seems to be "How do we know that these claims refer specifically to me?" What in our repertoire of experiences would make them convincing to us? See the questions I put to Alice, and how she answers them when she does.

Jackie said...

Ask JBK said, all three traditions we studied say in some way that God has a plan for us. I'm wondering how this is viewed in Judaism? Is it "easier" somehow because Jews are seen as the chosen people? Is this in itself God's plan for the Jews?

Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus said...

Jackie,
It's not really easier. Even though the various plans spelled out for the Jewish people in the Bible and rabbinic literature are pretty clear, including that Jews are "Chosen" - the issue I keep raising still seems to be at play. Is this story really about me? The founder of my branch of Judaism, Reconstructionism, Mordechai Kaplan, argued in all his books and in his revision of the Jewish prayerbook that the story that the Jews were chosen which all generations subsequent to him believed, was no longer something he could believe.