English blog by Gertim Alberda
Nowadays most miracles in the Bible are not believed any more by many people, even within the church, mainly due to the influence of the Enlightenment era and evolution (, I think). As a result, the general conviction is that everything we cannot understand rationally, according to todays accepted human standards (science), or do not experience nowadays anymore, should basically be considered nonsense.
Many people today believe in conspiracy theories. Are they blessed with deeper insight? Or, are conspiracy thinkers maybe missing or ignoring something? Who is right? What are the consequences of it, or why would it even be dangerous, as I claim? I’ll explain.
We live in times where people have exchanged the truth for the lie. Conspiracy theories are widely believed, not in the least place because the mightiest man in the West is spreading them, unprecedented, like never seen before and without any proof. Yet people believe them anyway. But not only just people, also Christians and therein lies a problem.
These turbulent times (Covid19 and large and widely spread protests after the killing of George Floyd) raise questions about civilian obedience, whether disobedience is justified or not. I saw someone, an American Christian, who, for other reasons, I have in very high esteem, quote Romans 13, to make a point. I question if that is very wise under the given circumstances of largely peaceful protests worldwide, about the death of George Floyd, the brutal killing by a police officer. I don’t think so. Why? Because it implicitly calls upon protesters to stop and be submissive to the government. In other words, to stop protesting and quietly go home. It is very questionable if the signal that goes out from it is sensible or wise, to put it mildly. I don't think so. Also, it doesn't do right to the historical 'straw that broke the camels back', for what the protesters keep going on the streets. One could even ask if, when quoting Romans 13, one does right to the seriousness of the matter and if the problem is acknowledged at all. It gives the impression to use a Bible part, to make people shut up, who have a right to protest and who just want change and to finally be treated unequally. Does that help? Or does that make the need for protesters to finally be heard and really taken seriously even more urgent and necessary? Anything that is said and done or being published to bully and downplay the problem is very unwise, because recent history proves there is a big problem. It would be an ever greater injustice to deny that or keep running away from it, or even denying that there is a problem at all. That is not true. There is a serious and deeply embedded problem. To make them shut up with Bible verses is inappropriate and does the protesters no right. One may even very well be very wrong. Let me explain.
In this article I make clear why I think that there is primarily no ‘individual predestination’, as we learned to know it, but that one can only consider oneself predestined, individually, because one belongs to the whole group of believers, that, as a group is predestined and therefore also the individual who belongs to it.
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Email: gertim . alberda @ gmail.com (without spaces) |