By Drew Fendrich (March 5, 2008)
The burning pyre kept subdued deep within my pounding core, the stallion untamed is held down with ropes, yearning to run in the open fields. But no, I always wary hold it back, afraid that this mysterious force will carry me away down paths I care not to trod upon. Afraid that upon its release I should commit such sin as to be immediately cast into the pit of hell; I do not care much anymore, but for the feeling itself. To lose it is truly worse than eternal damnation. To reach in vain as it flies away is not within my being even to consider.
I, subjugated inside and without hint of emotion to the eye, slowly write each letter as if its presence holds individual sway over my very existence. Is each letter I write the better of the one before? It seems as though the note I strike at any moment will be my last, but always one follows. I am torn in two. The expanse of knowledge within my being, the rational state every man suffers to have, calmly whispers that the darkest hours of my life have meaning, and that reason to prolong the third part of my being surrounds my cerebral eye wherever it takes me.
But screaming at me from the very pit of life and death, screaming as it hammers away beneath my tired frame, is the voice of gloriously horrifying faith, which begs me to consider that reason is an aimless trifle, a path that ends the very moment the foot is set upon it.
With every letter I write I acknowledge the former’s logical sense as the acceptable way. I cannot do otherwise. I am weak and weary, shattered into a thousand fragments of hope and despair, clutching at the largest pieces with a passion that I cannot dissimilate from my existence.
So fortunate, doubting Thomas, who, though he could not bring himself to see the risen Lord, grasped true faith when at last he beheld the Ender of hesitation. A gift he was given that no one since could ever imagine. Were I like him, I wonder, the war raging confidential would henceforth be disbanded, and happy I could pass through this mortal coil.
Drew Fendrich 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Is there anything (or anyone) other than us?
No, I'm not questioning God's existence at all. I merely want to make an observation or two about something I'm not so sure I believe myself, even as wonderful a subject it is to think about.
C.S. Lewis says in Mere Christianity:
"There is one thing, and only one, in the whole universe which we know more about than we could learn from external observation. That one thing is Man. We do not merely observe men, we ARE men."
He continues later: "Anyone studying man from the outside as we study electricity or cabbages, not knowing our language and consequently not able to get any inside knowledge from us, but merely observing what we did, would never get the slightest evidence that we had [this] Moral Law."
This quote is in a context that has nothing to do with my subject today, but as I read this passage today for school (which I should be doing now) I couldn't help but to think about some possibilities Lewis' notion opens up.
There is only one thing we can know about other than through observation, and that is ourselves. For instance, we don't know what it is like to be, say, a tree, any more than a tree knows what it is like to be a human. All we know about trees is through external observation, not through personal experience as trees. Rather than scooting around the issue, I will simply put forth my thought directly and then consider the angles.
My thought is this: How can we, as humans, know absolutely if any given tree is not inhabited by a spirit, or an essence, since we have no personal experience knowledge of anything except ourselves?
We can observe a tree, we can study a tree, we can make educated guesses about the tree, but we can never ourselves BE TREES. From the Christian standpoint, what if God decided to give to trees - and I hope you understand that I am using "tree" as an example, not the exception - some sort of living being or essence, and He decided in His best judgement not to disclose that particular information to us humans?
One argument against this is that if it is true for the trees, then how can we say it is not true for anything, for instance the laptop I am typing on now? In answer to that, I say that this laptop was assembled in a manufacturing plant by a worker who presses buttons and flips switches. It, being man-made, is stuck within the realm of human possibility. When was the last time you saw a man create a tree, and I mean an actual living tree that has roots and a trunk and branches that draw water and grow? With God all things are possible, correct?
But still, if what I say is true for a tree, could it not be true for a boulder, or a diamond, or natural gas? Yes, of course it could. Since, I propose, we cannot know any being but ourselves, we cannot really be sure of any organism's essence other than our own.
I don't want to become a radical environmentalist who tries to stop the cutting down of a single tree, I'm merely making an observation based on the quote from Lewis that I read. And that opens up the door for so many possibilities. How much on this Earth has God chosen to hide from us? Every day we make advances in knowing our planet more, but what if there is something here that is more than physical?
I am referring specifically to faeries, though I would hope that your mind doesn't immediately think of Tinkerbell from the story of Peter Pan. If there really are such things as faeries on this Earth, then it is certainly a much more serious subject than a child's games. Though, admittedly, it is often the imagination of a child that conjours up such notions. But that is a completely different matter. I find that many lessons can be learned from children, such as their honesty and openness, as well as their willingness to accept some simple facts that adults cannot come to grips with. But I digress.
Suppose for a moment that there are such things as faeries; spirits that are invisible to the naked human eye. Why should God allow us to know about them, or experience what they are like from an observational viewpoint? We have made it thusfar in history without recognizing them. Is it so hard to believe that not everything that exists can be seen or heard or felt? It had better not be, from a Christian standpoint, because we say that God exists without physically seeing or hearing or feeling Him.
I am making to strong a case for something I said I do not necessarily believe in myself, so here is where I draw to a close. This post, like all my posts to come, is as the title of my blog suggests, "Just Some Thoughts."
Drew
C.S. Lewis says in Mere Christianity:
"There is one thing, and only one, in the whole universe which we know more about than we could learn from external observation. That one thing is Man. We do not merely observe men, we ARE men."
He continues later: "Anyone studying man from the outside as we study electricity or cabbages, not knowing our language and consequently not able to get any inside knowledge from us, but merely observing what we did, would never get the slightest evidence that we had [this] Moral Law."
This quote is in a context that has nothing to do with my subject today, but as I read this passage today for school (which I should be doing now) I couldn't help but to think about some possibilities Lewis' notion opens up.
There is only one thing we can know about other than through observation, and that is ourselves. For instance, we don't know what it is like to be, say, a tree, any more than a tree knows what it is like to be a human. All we know about trees is through external observation, not through personal experience as trees. Rather than scooting around the issue, I will simply put forth my thought directly and then consider the angles.
My thought is this: How can we, as humans, know absolutely if any given tree is not inhabited by a spirit, or an essence, since we have no personal experience knowledge of anything except ourselves?
We can observe a tree, we can study a tree, we can make educated guesses about the tree, but we can never ourselves BE TREES. From the Christian standpoint, what if God decided to give to trees - and I hope you understand that I am using "tree" as an example, not the exception - some sort of living being or essence, and He decided in His best judgement not to disclose that particular information to us humans?
One argument against this is that if it is true for the trees, then how can we say it is not true for anything, for instance the laptop I am typing on now? In answer to that, I say that this laptop was assembled in a manufacturing plant by a worker who presses buttons and flips switches. It, being man-made, is stuck within the realm of human possibility. When was the last time you saw a man create a tree, and I mean an actual living tree that has roots and a trunk and branches that draw water and grow? With God all things are possible, correct?
But still, if what I say is true for a tree, could it not be true for a boulder, or a diamond, or natural gas? Yes, of course it could. Since, I propose, we cannot know any being but ourselves, we cannot really be sure of any organism's essence other than our own.
I don't want to become a radical environmentalist who tries to stop the cutting down of a single tree, I'm merely making an observation based on the quote from Lewis that I read. And that opens up the door for so many possibilities. How much on this Earth has God chosen to hide from us? Every day we make advances in knowing our planet more, but what if there is something here that is more than physical?
I am referring specifically to faeries, though I would hope that your mind doesn't immediately think of Tinkerbell from the story of Peter Pan. If there really are such things as faeries on this Earth, then it is certainly a much more serious subject than a child's games. Though, admittedly, it is often the imagination of a child that conjours up such notions. But that is a completely different matter. I find that many lessons can be learned from children, such as their honesty and openness, as well as their willingness to accept some simple facts that adults cannot come to grips with. But I digress.
Suppose for a moment that there are such things as faeries; spirits that are invisible to the naked human eye. Why should God allow us to know about them, or experience what they are like from an observational viewpoint? We have made it thusfar in history without recognizing them. Is it so hard to believe that not everything that exists can be seen or heard or felt? It had better not be, from a Christian standpoint, because we say that God exists without physically seeing or hearing or feeling Him.
I am making to strong a case for something I said I do not necessarily believe in myself, so here is where I draw to a close. This post, like all my posts to come, is as the title of my blog suggests, "Just Some Thoughts."
Drew
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Oh, Hell...
Is Hell a place of torment and physical pain?
Will the LORD be present there?
Will the souls of the damned have physical bodies, or are they just souls?
Well, in a way, to answer the first question is to answer the third, generally speaking. If one believes in the physical pain and agony of Hell - and I do - then there must be something that can indeed feel that pain. Pain is a feeling, and therefore it is feel-able. So in order to feel pain, the sense of feeling, a physical sense, must be present. And of course the sense of feeling is the signals that nerves send to a brain. Nerves, brain, feeling; these are all physical characteristics of a physical body. Therefore, if a man believes that there will be pain in Hell, then he must subsequently believe that the damned souls there actually do have physical bodies.
But how does one go about believing that there is indeed actual physical pain in Hell? Is Hell a place where souls with real bodies go to be tortured for all of eternity, or is Hell a place where one is forced to spend all of eternity facing the reality of his error?
My answer is yes to both. It is possible to be both in physical pain and mental agony at the same time. Many Christians believe that when Jesus makes mention of Hell in his talks He is speaking metaphorically, and does not really mean that it is a place of literal "weeping and gnashing of teeth." One man I talked to asked, "Does the phrase 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' always imply actual physical pain? No, not necessarily, but take into account the story of the rich man and Lazurus:
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "
Notice the first time the rich man calls from Hell. "I am in agony in this fire." He cries. Both in the Old and New Testaments Hell is associated with fire. To say that this passage here is a metaphor may be possible, but it is ridiculous to assume that every time the words 'Hell' and 'Fire' are mentioned together in the Bible, that person is speaking metaphorically. There is a convincing consistency in the phraseology of the Bible concerning Hell.
Will God be present in Hell? My answer - and it is only my answer; though I stand behind it I do not claim righteous superiority - is a resounding NO! Or, if He is, it is only to administer justice to the souls (I use the word 'souls' for lack of something else) there.
Consider this:
As Jesus hung upon the cross, he cried aloud, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?") Christ, at that moment, was experiencing the abandonment and despair that that resulted from the outpouring of divine wrath on Him as the sin-bearer.
Think about that. What does it mean to be "forsaken" by God? Surely you agree with me that what Jesus experienced on the cross and in the grave is what we all should have experienced, were it not for the Grace of God. So we deserve to be forsaken by God.
To be forsaken, according to a standard English dictionary, is to be completely deserted or abandoned. God turned His back on Jesus. And, if Jesus 'got what we deserved' on the cross, then it is only reasonable to assume that sinners who are unrepentant in their actions will suffer this same fate (if you will). God has, and will, turn His back on them and abandon them.
Now, that is not to say that God will have no part in the eternity of Hell. One man I discussed this with admirably pointed out that God is the One who sustains us, and therefore if He is not present, the souls in Hell will cease to exist. To that, I say that our belief in God's omnipresence requires our admittance that He is 'everywhere.' However, when I say that God is not 'in Hell' I am merely pointing out that His special care for people - even unrepentant hearts on this earth - will not be a factor in Hell. There will be something present there, yes: His holy wrath, constantly burning. If we believe in the omnipresence of God, then it is easy to see His ability to turn His figurative back on Hell and yet still bring justice to the souls there with His wrath.
To sum up:
Yes, I believe that the dying undying souls in Hell are/will be given physical bodies, and thus will be able to feel the excrutiating pain there.
No, I do not believe that God is present in Hell, save for the fact that He is carrying out His will in every place, and He is bringing justice to those who deserve it.
I hope my opinion on this matter is insightful.
Drew
Will the LORD be present there?
Will the souls of the damned have physical bodies, or are they just souls?
Well, in a way, to answer the first question is to answer the third, generally speaking. If one believes in the physical pain and agony of Hell - and I do - then there must be something that can indeed feel that pain. Pain is a feeling, and therefore it is feel-able. So in order to feel pain, the sense of feeling, a physical sense, must be present. And of course the sense of feeling is the signals that nerves send to a brain. Nerves, brain, feeling; these are all physical characteristics of a physical body. Therefore, if a man believes that there will be pain in Hell, then he must subsequently believe that the damned souls there actually do have physical bodies.
But how does one go about believing that there is indeed actual physical pain in Hell? Is Hell a place where souls with real bodies go to be tortured for all of eternity, or is Hell a place where one is forced to spend all of eternity facing the reality of his error?
My answer is yes to both. It is possible to be both in physical pain and mental agony at the same time. Many Christians believe that when Jesus makes mention of Hell in his talks He is speaking metaphorically, and does not really mean that it is a place of literal "weeping and gnashing of teeth." One man I talked to asked, "Does the phrase 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' always imply actual physical pain? No, not necessarily, but take into account the story of the rich man and Lazurus:
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "
Notice the first time the rich man calls from Hell. "I am in agony in this fire." He cries. Both in the Old and New Testaments Hell is associated with fire. To say that this passage here is a metaphor may be possible, but it is ridiculous to assume that every time the words 'Hell' and 'Fire' are mentioned together in the Bible, that person is speaking metaphorically. There is a convincing consistency in the phraseology of the Bible concerning Hell.
Will God be present in Hell? My answer - and it is only my answer; though I stand behind it I do not claim righteous superiority - is a resounding NO! Or, if He is, it is only to administer justice to the souls (I use the word 'souls' for lack of something else) there.
Consider this:
As Jesus hung upon the cross, he cried aloud, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?") Christ, at that moment, was experiencing the abandonment and despair that that resulted from the outpouring of divine wrath on Him as the sin-bearer.
Think about that. What does it mean to be "forsaken" by God? Surely you agree with me that what Jesus experienced on the cross and in the grave is what we all should have experienced, were it not for the Grace of God. So we deserve to be forsaken by God.
To be forsaken, according to a standard English dictionary, is to be completely deserted or abandoned. God turned His back on Jesus. And, if Jesus 'got what we deserved' on the cross, then it is only reasonable to assume that sinners who are unrepentant in their actions will suffer this same fate (if you will). God has, and will, turn His back on them and abandon them.
Now, that is not to say that God will have no part in the eternity of Hell. One man I discussed this with admirably pointed out that God is the One who sustains us, and therefore if He is not present, the souls in Hell will cease to exist. To that, I say that our belief in God's omnipresence requires our admittance that He is 'everywhere.' However, when I say that God is not 'in Hell' I am merely pointing out that His special care for people - even unrepentant hearts on this earth - will not be a factor in Hell. There will be something present there, yes: His holy wrath, constantly burning. If we believe in the omnipresence of God, then it is easy to see His ability to turn His figurative back on Hell and yet still bring justice to the souls there with His wrath.
To sum up:
Yes, I believe that the dying undying souls in Hell are/will be given physical bodies, and thus will be able to feel the excrutiating pain there.
No, I do not believe that God is present in Hell, save for the fact that He is carrying out His will in every place, and He is bringing justice to those who deserve it.
I hope my opinion on this matter is insightful.
Drew
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Hello again!
Hey again, everyone.
I had a blogspot here some time ago that I posted my writing on, but I removed it because it proved to be a hinderance rather than beneficial. But since I try to remain light-hearted on my Xanga site, I felt like creating a slightly more serious blog for some deeper thoughts.
Don't worry, all the ranting I've done about expressing your feelings online still applies. I'm (hopefully) not going to be a drama-queen on here; I just thought it would be nice to come here every once in a while to get down to the basics of life.
So, anyway, I will think of a good first topic. I'm sure not many people will read this, but that's okay!
Take care,
drew
I had a blogspot here some time ago that I posted my writing on, but I removed it because it proved to be a hinderance rather than beneficial. But since I try to remain light-hearted on my Xanga site, I felt like creating a slightly more serious blog for some deeper thoughts.
Don't worry, all the ranting I've done about expressing your feelings online still applies. I'm (hopefully) not going to be a drama-queen on here; I just thought it would be nice to come here every once in a while to get down to the basics of life.
So, anyway, I will think of a good first topic. I'm sure not many people will read this, but that's okay!
Take care,
drew
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