Wednesday, February 04, 2015

Theist or deist?

Too often we believe like theists (a personal God) and act like deists (a distant, impersonal, noninteractive, uninvolved god). We say we believe in God, trust in God, and are sustained by God; but in our actions we do everything for ourselves, trusting in ourselves and anxious about the providence of God, which unravels our theism. We believe that God not only gives life but is life itself, and that belief means that every breath we take and every moment of life we live comes from and is sustained by the creator God. Without venturing into pantheism (all is God) or a softer version in panentheism (God is in all), the Christian faith affirms that all of life in the entire cosmos is from God and is sustained by God. God, then, is actively at work in all of life.— Sermon on the Mount, pages 215-216

<idle musing>
Amen! Good preaching! Are we practicing atheists? or are we truly theistic in our actions and thoughts?

I fear that far to often we are atheists—or at best deists. Lord, deliver us!
</idle musing>

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