I have always been given to philosophic rumination, so the question of what is belief, as opposed to knowledge, and how do I know I believe something, given the nature of the sin of unbelief, has worried me for a long time.
But it now occurs to me that I will know that I believe something when it becomes to my mind simply the way things are, almost - but perhaps only almost - something to be taken for granted as regards it s propositional truth.
I hold this to be the case with any belief, this, I submit, by being the nature of belief, for I am not considering the TRUTH of any belief in this instance. Just the nature of it.
But as regards true christian belief, a different matter, I agree, it will be something that I no longer have to pick at, worry about, be quick to defend, or even talk about very often. Unless it fills me with joy, of course.
It will be my life but not my obsession, no longer driven by the guilt ridden awareness of my own deep seated unbelief.
I contend that I see this in many preachers and even apologists. It is a waste of both time and effort for if they are to grow in Christ they will have to acknowledge the unbelief and thus their wasted efforts to reach honest belief and the peace that comes from it
Of course as regards spiritual things I get there by being convicted of the sins of my own resistance to the thing in question and then by His grace as my counsellor, one on one, to repent of them.
I have found this a process over time, for it is a quarrel between God and me which I must engage in and indeed go through lest I hide my sin and perish.
In this instance it is a particular idol that has ruled my life so strongly that prefer it to the love of the Father.
As I repent as led by the Spirit my thinking will be changed, as I now suspect is the nature of belief itself as I have described it above.
Intellectual assent to a proposition, what so many Christians call faith, is nothing of the sort. it is the bare beginning.
But the goal is to be transformed by the renewal of the mind
But it now occurs to me that I will know that I believe something when it becomes to my mind simply the way things are, almost - but perhaps only almost - something to be taken for granted as regards it s propositional truth.
I hold this to be the case with any belief, this, I submit, by being the nature of belief, for I am not considering the TRUTH of any belief in this instance. Just the nature of it.
But as regards true christian belief, a different matter, I agree, it will be something that I no longer have to pick at, worry about, be quick to defend, or even talk about very often. Unless it fills me with joy, of course.
It will be my life but not my obsession, no longer driven by the guilt ridden awareness of my own deep seated unbelief.
I contend that I see this in many preachers and even apologists. It is a waste of both time and effort for if they are to grow in Christ they will have to acknowledge the unbelief and thus their wasted efforts to reach honest belief and the peace that comes from it
Of course as regards spiritual things I get there by being convicted of the sins of my own resistance to the thing in question and then by His grace as my counsellor, one on one, to repent of them.
I have found this a process over time, for it is a quarrel between God and me which I must engage in and indeed go through lest I hide my sin and perish.
In this instance it is a particular idol that has ruled my life so strongly that prefer it to the love of the Father.
As I repent as led by the Spirit my thinking will be changed, as I now suspect is the nature of belief itself as I have described it above.
Intellectual assent to a proposition, what so many Christians call faith, is nothing of the sort. it is the bare beginning.
But the goal is to be transformed by the renewal of the mind
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You can disagree with me, even spiritedly. But keep it civil as I am the one hurt by cruelty. I must protect myself from nastiness and will block or ban users if I must. And it would help if you offered reasons for your disagreements. If they are good I may respect you. If they are sound I may even change my mind