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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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K-in-C
Joined: 27 Mar 2003
Location: Heading somewhere
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 Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 11:20 am Post subject: Percent |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
If a person's purpose in life is to go to a country that's 98% Christian (Guatemala) and try to convert two-thirds of them from one brand (Catholic) to another (a brand of Protestant) while teaching English then who am I, a non-Christian, to point out that the purpose seems pretty petty in a world where there are billions (in Asian, African and Muslim countries) who don't even know anything about Jesus and the Christian message.
| K-in-C wrote: |
| The 'Purpose' is what God wants of us |
To try and get people who already believe in Jesus to go to your church rather than another Christian church?
*shrug*
I know, I know... your interpretation of the bible is right, another's is wrong... religious wars are endless and in many forms...
(It all seems very strange to me. Time to exit a religious thread. G'day.) |
VanIslander, ninety-eight percent of Guatemalans are not Christian or pure Catholics for that matter. Many of the Catholics there incorporate pagan rituals into their services. Regardless, the Bible, (the inspired words of God), says that "it is through our faith in Christ" that we are saved and that is rarely mentioned in both the Catholic churches in Guatemala and North America.
http://www.atitlan.com/catholic/
Best regards,
K |
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mole
Joined: 06 Feb 2003
Location: Act III
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| Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 11:45 am Post subject: |
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| Matthew 22:21 "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." |
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EH
Joined: 20 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 6:39 am Post subject: |
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Sorry. I somehow totally missed that you were in Guatemala.
Was there a reason you were posting on the Korea board while posting about Guatemala? |
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K-in-C
Joined: 27 Mar 2003
Location: Heading somewhere
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| Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 7:32 am Post subject: You Wondered |
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| EH wrote: |
Sorry. I somehow totally missed that you were in Guatemala.
Was there a reason you were posting on the Korea board while posting about Guatemala? |
I have taught in Korea before. I know many of the OPs on board. This is an ESL/EFL forum. The question is related to teaching ESL/EFL regardless of what country one is in.
And the final response... Just because...  |
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Lola
Joined: 17 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:03 am Post subject: |
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| I actually had a student give me this book. I read it when I'm feeling down or unmotivated and it always perks me up...it might be good for evangelization as it is relatively easy to understand, but if you want to get into more complicated discussions of faith, I would look elsewhere. |
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Omkara
Joined: 18 Feb 2006
Location: USA
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| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 2:34 pm Post subject: |
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I was given the English version by a co-teacher, who is Korean, and I agree that, at the level of language, it's an easy read.
But, before I'd finished even page one, I found several fundmental errors and lapses of reason. I found I could open the book to any page and list reasons to reject both the thought and the thinker as worth the time. |
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K-in-C
Joined: 27 Mar 2003
Location: Heading somewhere
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| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 9:17 pm Post subject: Specifics Please |
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| Omkara wrote: |
I was given the English version by a co-teacher, who is Korean, and I agree that, at the level of language, it's an easy read.
But, before I'd finished even page one, I found several fundmental errors and lapses of reason. I found I could open the book to any page and list reasons to reject both the thought and the thinker as worth the time. |
Omkara, do you still have the book? I would be interested in hearing some specific examples.
Best,
K |
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Omkara
Joined: 18 Feb 2006
Location: USA
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| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 9:42 pm Post subject: Re: Specifics Please |
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| K-in-C wrote: |
| Omkara wrote: |
I was given the English version by a co-teacher, who is Korean, and I agree that, at the level of language, it's an easy read.
But, before I'd finished even page one, I found several fundamental errors and lapses of reason. I found I could open the book to any page and list reasons to reject both the thought and the thinker as worth the time. |
Omkara, do you still have the book? I would be interested in hearing some specific examples.
Best,
K |
No, I haven't the book. But he would, for a simple example, misuse Einstein's famous quote about God not rolling dice as a kind of support both for his proposition of God's purpose for us and for his belief in a personal God.
This is wrong for two reasons. First, Einstein said explicitly that he did not believe in a personal god. Hence, Einstein's god has no intention. This brings us to the second error in this reasoning: there are different categories of causality. It is one thing to say that "everything happens for a reason," and it is another thing to say, "everything happens for a reason."
If, on one hand, the meaning of the statement is based on the principle of sufficient reason, this would not contradict Einstein's meaning of "god not rolling dice." Everything necessarily follows fixed and eternal laws, which are universal, non-personal and void of intention.
If, on the other hand, we mean by the statement that there is some intention and plan involved in the reasons for everything happening, then we have another order of causality which Einstein does not believe in. Hence, the use of Einstein fundamentally contradicts everything the book means.
A second issue I have is this, and for similar reasons. He explicitly states that the earth was created for us. God intended the world for our use. Therefore, a very different environmental ethics follows from this.
I think that if we think that there is some divine plan for us, that everything happens of providence, we misunderstand the heart of the issues of environmental destruction, climate change and global warming. There are different sets of imperatives involved in each world view. To think that everything happens for a purpose or reason, in the non-scientific sense, is very dangerous for the reason that it sets us to think about the issue in the wrong way.
This is not to say that there are not good christian environmentalists. I just think that the model implicit in this book has grave consequences, especially owing to its wide appeal and readership. |
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