Religion II

[Light]

Originally Posted by boxcar

So, now answer the question: How do you get from Jesus is a martyr (yes, just another martyr out of very many) to his martyrdom was the greatest crime on earth?

I've already told you. Let me put it another way. God is Divine Love. Jesus is one with his Father who is God (Love). Therefore when they crucified Jesus, they crucified God who is Love.

Since we are creatures of God, we are creatures of Love. As creatures of Love we need love to survive and to thrive. That is no theory. Look into anyone's eyes and you will either see Love or the the lack of it in the forefront of their lives. So mankind created the greatest sin by cutting off their lifeline when they crucified Jesus.

Furthermore, the crucifixion was not about opening some external Gates of Heaven. It was about opening the internal hearts of men where Heaven exists.

You don't even know what Heaven is. It is experiencing the love of God in your heart. Even if there is an external Heaven as well, it will not compare to experiencing the Love of God in your heart whether you are alive or in spirit. I can testify to that from experience. And that is why Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven is within.

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by Light

I've already told you. Let me put it another way. God is Divine Love. Jesus is one with his Father who is God (Love). Therefore when they crucified Jesus, they crucified God who is Love.

Since we are creatures of God, we are creatures of Love. As creatures of Love we need love to survive and to thrive. That is no theory. Look into anyone's eyes and you will either see Love or the the lack of it in the forefront of their lives. So mankind created the greatest sin by cutting off their lifeline when they crucified Jesus.

Furthermore, the crucifixion was not about opening some external Gates of Heaven. It was about opening the internal hearts of men where Heaven exists.

You don't even know what Heaven is. It is experiencing the love of God in your heart. Even if there is an external Heaven as well, it will not compare to experiencing the Love of God in your heart whether you are alive or in spirit. I can testify to that from experience. And that is why Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven is within.

So God is a martyr? God died for God?

By definition a "martyr" is a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion. What religion did Jesus/God refuse to renounce?

Another definition of "martyr" is a person who sacrifices something of great value and especially life itself for a cause. For what cause did Jesus/God die for?

Snakes and cockroaches are creatures of God, too. Are they creatures of love, also?

How does the crucifixion open the "internal hearts of men where Heaven exists"? But even more importantly WHY? You have claimed that God loves everyone on the planet unconditionally, regardless of what they are, what they have done or what the condition of their heart is. Unconditional means under all circumstances -- NO CONDITIONS -- no strings attached. So...why would God have to endure the horrible death of the Cross?

Moreover, you have said that because "God is love", he cannot hate any person or anything. Therefore, God must love wickedness, sin, lawlessness, injustice, oppression, sexual immorality and all other sundry evils just as much as he loves righteousness, holiness, justice, goodness, kindness, patience and all other sundry virtues. So again...since you think that righteousness is no better than unrighteousness in God's eyes, why would God need to concern himself with the internal condition of the hearts of men?

However, for the record, I do agree with you that the essence of the crucifixion was not about opening the external gates of heaven.

And finally, if Jesus said the "kingdom is within", he said that specifically to Jewish Pharisees --to whom he also said later on during his ministry that that same kingdom would be taken away from them and given to a nation that would bear the fruit of the kingdom. Are you bearing the fruit of the kingdom? If so what fruit, specifically and how?

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by Actor

But I'm not trying to prove that. Just the opposite, if anything. I'm simply demonstrating that the Bible proves nothing. The claims of the three big Omni's are from believers like yourself. If they point to the Bible as justification for these claims then that justification simply is not there. Prove me wrong. Did I miss it?

I didn't try to prove the "three big Omni's" either. So, what's your point?

Further, you didn't ask me to prove anything until after I challenged your claim. Prove your claim and then I'll prove mine, since I challenged you out first. Prove to me that the "three big Omni's" are not in the bible.

And you have never demonstrated that the bible proves nothing.

[Actor]

Originally Posted by boxcar

I didn't try to prove the "three big Omni's" either. So, what's your point?

Go back to my original statement.

Originally Posted by Actor

None of the actions attributed to the character called God in the fiction known as the Bible require infinite power or infinite knowledge.

The only way to prove this is through the method of exhaustive search. Do you want me to do that? I'm up to it if you are.

[Actor]

Originally Posted by boxcar

And you have never demonstrated that the bible proves nothing.

Name just one thing that the Bible proves.

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by Actor

Name just one thing that the Bible proves.

The utter sinfulness of man, especially his deceitfulness And Natural Revelation concurs with Special Revelation with the universal Law of Distrust.

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by Actor

Go back to my original statement.

The only way to prove this is through the method of exhaustive search. Do you want me to do that? I'm up to it if you are.

Do whatever you want to do, but don't expect me to get down in the sandbox with you to play your silly games. Don't ask me to prove something from a book that you have a priori considered to be a work of fiction.

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by Light

You don't even know what Heaven is. It is experiencing the love of God in your heart. Even if there is an external Heaven as well, it will not compare to experiencing the Love of God in your heart whether you are alive or in spirit. I can testify to that from experience. And that is why Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven is within.

Jesus never taught about an internal, invisible kingdom; for that doctrine was reserved for after the New Covenant was ratified by Jesus shedding his blood at the Cross and after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Church, as Jesus promised He would be during this New Covenant age. Jesus' ministry being only in the Old Covenant Dispensation taught often about the eternal, visible kingdom of heaven (hereafter EVK).

The fact that you don't even know if heaven exists speaks volumes about your "belief in" Jesus, for he spoke very often about Heaven. (Your faith is entirely spurious (more on this in a moment.) If there is no heaven, where is Jesus the kingdom's ruling King currently? Is he still in his grave? Or you don't believe he rose from the dead, where is his spirit? Is it anywhere? Or did his death at the Cross completely annihilate his body and soul? Jesus spoke of heaven quite often -- heaven where his Father dwells and to where he said he would depart to prepare a place for his disciples since there were many mansions in heaven (Jn 14:2). And not only this but he promised his disciples that he would return for them so that they could be in heaven with him (Jn 14:3,4). This is the great hope of all true disciples of Jesus Christ. I have never in my life met a born again Christian who did not have this hope burning in his/her bosom. And for good reason, but more on this later, too.

Since you believe virtually nothing in the bible, this does does not bode well for you. And the fact that you tell us, based on some subjective, personal feelings or experiences, that you "believe in" Jesus, yet hardly a word he has actually uttered betrays your hypocrisy. How is it possible to have genuine faith in someone, yet never trust what they say -- most espeicially when the supposed object of your faith held the OT scriptures in the highest esteem? And you don't trust Jesus because you consider his inspired Word be untrustworthy, by your own admission. You are so self-deceived that you're unable to detect your own hypocrisy in this matter -- the same hypocrisy as the Pharisees.

The scribes, Pharisees and lawyers of Jesus' day (i.e. the Jewish religious establishment) had very much in common with you, for they believed in Moses. There was hardly any self-respecting first century Jew who did not believe in Moses. In fact, the Jews frequently appealed to the Law of Moses to try to trap Jesus (Mat 19:7; 22:24; Lk 20:28; Jn 8:5, etc.). So...without question, they "believed in" Moses just like you "believe in" Jesus and just like the vast majority of people in the world "believe in" [a] God. Yet...the scriptures are quite clear that it is only a remnant of mankind being saved (Rom 9:27; 11:5).

But what did Jesus think about the Jews' "faith in" Moses? Read carefully:

John 5:45-47
45 "Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. 46 "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. 47 "But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"
NASB

Do you see now how you are no different than these self-righteous, self-deceived, hypocritical Jews? They, like you, would often selectively appeal to the Law of Moses (the one in which they put their hope) to try to make their case against Jesus and his teaching. Likewise, you selectively appeal to your pet passages to try to make your case against the scriptures -- that they're untrustworthy because they were written by a bunch of knuckle-dragging, unenlightened, low-info and even lower-IQ neanderthals.

Don't miss what Jesus is saying here: He had such high regard for the writings of Moses that he put them on par with his own words! Moses writings were just as inspired, just as authoritative, just as truthful as Jesus' own words.

And note again that they could not believe Jesus' teachings because they didn't actually believe Moses -- proving that the divinely inspired Word of God is truly one, homogeneous, consistent, organic body of literature -- and not full of contradictions and errors as you believe. This is why you also cannot believe Jesus, or his prophets or his apostles which the Spirit of Christ within them has inspired. You can no more believe Him than the Jewish religious establishement of his day could. This truth is so important that Jesus restated it in slightly different terms in another place.

I'm only going to quote a portion of this long passage in Lk 16:14-31. Again, Jesus held the OT scriptures in such high esteem that he said that it would be "easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than one stroke of a letter pass away, i.e "to fail" from the Law, cf. v. 17). (Sometimes the OT scriputres were referred to as just the "Law", other times as "the Law and the Prophets" or at other times as "the Law, Prophets and the Psalms'.) But here's the very smilar text to the one above I wish to quote:

Luke 16:27-31
27 "And he said, 'Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father's house - 28 for I have five brothers - that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'29 "But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them,'30 "But he said, 'No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!"31 "But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.'"
NASB

Again...what Jesus is teaching here is that because the Rich Man's brothers do not believe (listen to) the OT prophets (including Moses), they would not be able to believe their own eyes if Lazarus or anyone else resurrected and appeared to them. One may wonder, how can this be? It's because God's Word is Life itself -- it's spiritual life. It transforms a person's mind and quickens a spiritually dead soul. Note these following passages:

Heb 4:12-13
12 For the word of God is LIVING and ACTIVE and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
NASB

And Jesus said about his words:

John 6:63
63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
NASB

And,

1 Peter 1:23-25
23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the LIVING and abiding word of God. 24 For,

"All flesh is like grass,
And all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
And the flower falls off,
25 But the word of the Lord abides forever. "
NASB

And how can you NOT be ashamed of Jesus and his words, since He, as the eternal, omnipotent, omniscience, omnipresent, all-wise Creator of the Universe and Redeemer of men's souls wasn't able to communicate his truth effectively to mankind? How could anyone like you not believe that he was an abject failure in this regard? He could he not be considered by you to be an Epic Failure?

Luke 9:26
26 "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
NASB

Finally, be warned that the Word of God of which you are so dismissive -- this Word will be your JUDGE on the last day!

John 12:47-50
47 "And if anyone hears My sayings, and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. 49 "For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak. 50 "And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me."
NASB

In my next post, we'll look at heaven and what this Jesus who you "believe in" believed about heaven.

[Actor]

Originally Posted by boxcar

The utter sinfulness of man, especially his deceitfulness And Natural Revelation concurs with Special Revelation with the universal Law of Distrust.

That's a claim, not a proof.

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by Actor

That's a claim, not a proof.

Special Revelation says all men are sinners, especially deceitful,

Natural Revelation = Reality as we all know it.

Law of Distrust permeates all Reality

Law of Distrust says all men (unknown to us) are presumed to be untrustworthy.

Therefore, Law of Distrust within Natural Revelation affirms Special Revelation.

[Actor]

Originally Posted by boxcar

Special Revelation says all men are sinners, especially deceitful,

Define "Special Revelation". What dictionary did you get it from? It's not in my M-W.

Originally Posted by boxcar

Natural Revelation = Reality as we all know it.

Meaning science?

Originally Posted by boxcar

Law of Distrust permeates all Reality

What is the "Law of Distrust"? Is it in the Bible? I don't think you ever defined it.

Originally Posted by boxcar

Law of Distrust says all men (unknown to us) are presumed to be untrustworthy.

Is that the definition of "Law of Distrust"?

Originally Posted by boxcar

Therefore, Law of Distrust within Natural Revelation affirms Special Revelation.

Non-sequitur! Or, at best, gibberish affirms gibberish.

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by Actor

Define "Special Revelation". What dictionary did you get it from? It's not in my M-W.

Meaning science?

What is the "Law of Distrust"? Is it in the Bible? I don't think you ever defined it.

Is that the definition of "Law of Distrust"?

Non-sequitur! Or, at best, gibberish affirms gibberish.

The Law (or Principle) of Distrust has been discussed often on this thread, originally on the Religious thread. In fact, the first time I broached this Law, I did so with you back on 11/07/11 in post 172 of that thread. Do a search. I think a 4th grader would understand my last post.

Have a nice night.

[Actor]

Originally Posted by boxcar

The Law (or Principle) of Distrust has been discussed often on this thread, originally on the Religious thread. In fact, the first time I broached this Law, I did so with you back on 11/07/11 in post 172 of that thread. Do a search.

I found it. So, it's your idea, not from the Bible. No surprise there.

Originally Posted by boxcar

I think a 4th grader would understand my last post.

I would not think of subjecting a 4th grader to it. That would be child abuse.

[boxcar]

Originally Posted by Actor

I found it. So, it's your idea, not from the Bible. No surprise there.

If it were from the bible, you wouldn't be surprised either. However, just to give you another opportunity to criticize, my idea finds its ground in biblical theology. So...swing away.

quote]I would not think of subjecting a 4th grader to it. That would be child abuse.[/QUOTE]

Why not? Would you burn out his circuitry? Or would you be threatened by his ability to understand it?

[boxcar]

No Christian I have ever known takes sin lightly. No one dismisses the gravity of sin or tries to diminish sin's offensiveness to God's holy character. You, Mr. Light, have accused me of being "obsessed" with sin, which is not an accurate characterization of my mind. Rather, like the apostle Paul, my conscience is very sensitive to sin, thanks to God's grace and the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit. And this is how it should be, since a believer's conscience has been quickened (made alive) by God's Word and God's Spirit.

To a born again Christian, sin could be likened to a potentially fatal disease that God has put into a state of remission, and now the Christian must spend the rest of his life on this earth battling the lingering effects of that disease to keep it in check and to actually grow in spiritual health. This is so, because God hasn't cured any saint's sin nature per se; rather to battle sin, God makes his adopted child to partake of his divine nature (2Pet 1:4) by the indwelling Holy Spirit ( -- and it's these two natures within the child of God that are constantly at war with one another. Paul poignantly describes his battle with remaining sin within him in Romans 7. Every true believer experiences the same kind of battle.

One may naturally wonder why God doesn't perfect his saints, practically speaking, immediately upon their new birth. The answer is: The New Birth itself! It's called the new birth or being "born again" for a reason: A saint's spiritual birth is analogous to everyone's physical birth. God, in his infinite wisdom, has patterned a saint's spiritual birth to parallel his physical birth. Humans have a very long child-rearing, nurturing curve, unlike the animals in the animal kingdom. There are several reasons for this, but time and space will not permit an elaboration on this topic. Suffice it to say, that just as parents nurture and teach their child so that he/she can eventually grow to maturity and become a productive adult, a saint's heavenly Father does the same thing day by day in helping a saint to grow and mature in the Faith. This pattern helps to keep the child utterly dependent on God (as opposed to on ourselves or on others or on government, etc.). It helps to increase a saint's faith. This nurturing period, which goes on for a saint's entire life, keeps him trusting God, and this pleases God very much. He very much wants his children to trust him and to depend on him every moment of every day. And the more a child of God does this and avails himself of all the means of His grace, the more he'll be conformed to the image of Christ.

So...how does this tie into heaven or even more specifically to the eternal, visible Kingdom of Heaven (EVK)? Let's try to run through this quickly. First, there are three aspects to Christ's salvation: Justification (the legal aspect), Sanctification (the process of perfecting in holiness in this life) and Glorification, which occurs at the end of this age at the Resurrection of the saints when all saints receive the same glorified bodies as Christ's, and perfection in holiness is ultimately realized because the sin nature of all saints will have been destroyed forever. This is the ultimate goal of salvation because it is at this time that all sin will be abolished in the entire universe -- immediately after the resurrection of the unjust and they are condemned to hell for all eternity. Another huge reason this is the goal of God's great salvation is because flesh and blood cannot inherit the EVK (1 Cor 15:50).

This aspect of Glorification, then, is eschatological in a nature since it will happen in the future -- at the end of this age and the beginning of the EVK. See Rom 8:17, 30, etc. And this eschatological aspect to salvation goes by other names, as well, such as "[b]the redemption of our bodies[b]", which is a large NT theme -- that nonetheless also finds its basis in the OT theology. See such passages as 1 Corinthians 15, Rom 8:22-25; Lk 21:28; Eph 1:14; 4:30, etc.

Additionally, the eschatological view of salvation is often spoken of in scripture as the saints' inheritance. The great paradox here is that the saints won't receive the inheritance until they die, at which time they will be ushered immediately into God's presence in heaven. However, only those who are spiritually alive to God will receive the inheritance. This is another huge theme in the NT, cf. Mat 5:5; 19:29; 25:34; Lk 18:18; 1Cor 6:9,10; 1Cor 15:50; Rev 21:7l; Act 26:18; Gal 3:18; Eph 1:11,14,18; Col 1:12; 1 Pet 1:4, etc.

The Great Hope, therefore, of all born again Christians resides in the future when we will be with God and see him face-to-face and enjoy his blessed company for all eternity. And this is not take away from the spiritual or temporal blessings in this age, but they pale by comparison to what awaits every saint in heaven. Even the psalmist expressed the excellency of spending but a day in the courts of God:

Ps 84:10-12
10 For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God,
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in Thee!
NASB

(Note carefully, by the way, how v. 11 is qualified.)

Paul, during his life on earth, pressed on to the upward call of God.

Phil 3:14
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
NASB

The "prize" is God himself. Although many saints will receive crowns (rewards) for their faithful service to the Lord in this life, those crowns, too, will pale by comparison to being in God's company for all eternity (cf. Rev 4:10).

A few sentences later, he went on to say:

Phil 3:20-21
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
NASB

This is how Jesus could say that his disciples are in the world but not OF this world. His saints are not citizens of this world (cf. Jn 15:19; 17:14, 16)!

Paul had no doubt as to the superiority of his upward calling in God. He also told the Philippians:

Phil 1:22-24
22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; 24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.
NASB

Jesus also talked of the saints' great reward in heaven!

Luke 6:20-23
20 And turning His gaze on His disciples, He began to say, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 "Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22 "Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and cast insults at you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. 23 "Be glad in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven...
NASB

Paul speaks of and longs for the day when he shall see God face to face and to "know fully" which will happen only in heaven.

1 Cor 13:12-13
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
NASB

And the reason why love is the "greatest" and "never fails" (1Cor 13:8) is because the virtues of faith and hope have an expiration date, for they will no longer be necessary in the EVK; but God's infinite love for his adopted children and their love for Him will continue for all eternity. Faith and Hope are only necessary in this age where the saints "see dimly" and "know in part" through the eyes of faith.

Rev 21:1
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
NASB

See also Rev 21:5; 2Pet 3:13, etc. And these promises find their basis in the OT, also (cf. Isa:17-19; 66:22-24)

In the eternal, visible kingdom, all things will be made new; the old things will totally pass away. The saints will literally live in Paradise Restored and unlike the First Adam who was driven out of the Garden to deny him from eating from the Tree of Life, the saints in the eternal paradise will partake freely of the Tree of Life due to the Last Adam's perfect obedience to the Father -- even unto death on the Cross on behalf of all those whom the Father has given to Him.

Rev 2:7
7 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.'
NASB

It's no accident that in the last book of the bible, the writer alludes to the Creation Account in the first book. Such references as the "tree of life" and "paradise" are designed to draw our minds back the pristine Garden of Eden prior to the Fall. The writer, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wants to remind us that God always intended that mankind live blissfully in the Garden with Him, so that both God and man would enjoy each other's presence forever. The Second Creation will make God's eternal intention become an eternal reality. This reality is spoken of earlier in chapter 21 -- one of the most glorious and hopeful chapters in all the bible.

Rev 21:2-6
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, 4 and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." 5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."
NASB

And then John once again draws his readers' minds back to the Creation account with this text:

Rev 22:3a
3 And there shall no longer be any curse...
NASB

The three-fold curse due to Adam's sin will be lifted forever! No more pain. No more death. No more sorrow. No more misery. No more hardships. No more tears. And God has so much love for his people that He himself will wipe away every tear from His every child.

But what God has actually planned for us in his Paradise cannot even enter our minds or hearts!

1 Cor 2:9
9 [i]but just as it is written,

"Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him."[i]
NASB

Again, note the qualified statement at the end!

Also, there will be no more wars.

Isa 2:4
4 And He will judge between the nations,
And will render decisions for many peoples;
And they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.
NASB

And finally, all God's saints will be free from the presence of all sin from both within and without.

Rev 21:8
8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
NASB

And,

Rev 22:14-15
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
NASB

Mr. Light, the consummation of the saints' great salvation (at the Second Coming) is their exceedingly great hope. And their hope is well placed because Christ is faithful and true. How can your worldly idea of love in this fallen, broken, sick temporal reality be all there is? This is what everyone has to look forward to: Meditation in a dark closet on a prayer rug with prayer beads, constantly falling in love with the idea of love and then...death? Your internalized, invisible kingdom, that's it? That's your great hope? Your great expectation? Your great reward for worshiping your idol Love?