theology

The age old question

/ E Bishop Wooten / Leave a comment

It is the age old question.

Why does God, if there is one, allow so much evil in the world.

As one preacher put it, God is not in control. If “He” were, there would be no evil.

Even the Bible says God created evil. The Lord creates evil by allowing us to be free.

However most people don’t believe in freewill. If you don’t have freewill, then you are a slave or a robot.

Calvinistic types believe if God is sovereign then man can’t be free. So salvation must be predetermined. Atheists are educated enough to know man is a free agent, but they wrongfully assume there must not be a god.

How can God be sovereign and give man free will?

Maybe the Divine freely gives up part of His sovereignty so His beloved can be free, though free to choose a right relationship with the Divine over the carnal pleasures of the world.

God never technically killed anyone in the Bible days. He just allowed them to wipe each other out. But those that trust in the Divine are always protected.

If humans go extinct in the next 100 years, once again the righteous will be protected and left over to repopulate.

As in the days of Noah. . .or like Jesus prophesied regarding AD 70. The world ended a long time ago. We are just the leftovers.

What does eating the flesh and drinking the blood really mean if we don’t take it literally?

/ E Bishop Wooten / 1 Comment

John 6:53. . .”Jesus says, ‘Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you will not have life in you.'”

Today’s verse doesn’t sound too appealing, does it? Especially to someone who doesn’t understand it. This is an example of a verse that is taken too literally. Many of Jesus’s followers turned away because they felt the command was too harsh.

Fundamentalists are known for taking the Bible too literally. Just because it’s not meant to be taken literally doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be taken seriously. Writers tend to use symbolism when they write. So we would have to understand what was going on during that time period as well as the symbolism of the day.

If you take this verse literally you will think Jesus was calling His people to cannibalism. Remember in the book of Revelations where He invited His people to come in and sup with Him?

This statement about eating the flesh and drinking the blood was an invitation to communion with the living God. The only relationship that fills the spiritual void and gives life meaning.

Are you free?

/ E Bishop Wooten / Leave a comment

The biggest mystery in life is whether or not we have freewill? Most people assume we don’t. Life would often appear to the unenlightened to be predestined. This just means we have no control which means life just happens to us Talk about mental slavery. Your rulers and masters will have a field day with this because they will use it to control you. Until you develop enough spiritual discernment to break free and learn to rule yourself.

In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, self-reliance is really just a God-reliance.

We have freewill but our will is enslaved to our materialistic desires. Even Paul claimed to always do what he didn’t want to do and being unable to do what he wanted.

In the book of Genesis, God told Cain that if he did right God would bless him, but if did wrong then sin would lay in wait, crouching at his door. It was Cain’s choice.

We make our own choices in life, even if our motivations are buried in the subconcious mind.

If we are not free then we are a slave. Paul talks about being a slave to God. This just means a slave to righteousness since that is where righteousness comes from. A slave to doing the right thing, which is basically just trusting God for wisdom to make the best, common sense choice.

Yes, common sense is just intuitive divine wisdom No wonder in a godless world it is declining. You make your own choices and even if it’s the wrong one, if you are putting the Divine will first, then He brings something good out of it.