{"id":3335,"date":"2012-06-03T12:23:01","date_gmt":"2012-06-03T16:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=3335"},"modified":"2013-01-11T23:53:50","modified_gmt":"2013-01-12T04:53:50","slug":"turing-2012-christian-answer-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/06\/turing-2012-christian-answer-2.html","title":{"rendered":"[Turing 2012] Christian Answer #2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the second entry in the Christian round of the 2012 Ideological Turing Test for Religion. In this round, the honest answers of Christians are mixed in with atheists\u2019 best efforts to talk like Christians. It\u2019s your job to see if you can spot the difference. The voting link appears at the end of the entry, and you can look at all entries in this round here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

When (if ever) have you deferred to your philosophical or theological system over your intuitions?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always found that the Moral Law given to us by God through Scripture has been largely intuitive. Most of the wisdom found in Scripture has lined up perfectly with my intuitions. However, one issue I have struggled with in my faith is the Biblical and religious stance on homosexuality. This issue has been a hot-button topic on this blog (especially recently), and I\u2019ve been following along anxiously. It\u2019s hard to be torn between your intuitions and a conclusion that you think to be justified but still find unsatisfying.<\/p>\n

I understand the arguments from my faith\u2019s perspective, and I accept that they are valid and sound in concordance with a consistent theology. But each time I discuss this issue, I have to shake my intuitions that homosexuality is not morally problematic. It\u2019s possible that my own feelings about this issue have been betrayed by growing up in a rather fundamentalist area, and have seen a more vile hatred for gays rather than a loving discontentment with their lifestyle choice. It\u2019s very difficult to shake your intuitions, and that\u2019s one reason I generally shy away from entering the fray on this issue.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Are there people whose opinions on morality you trust more than your own? How do you recognize them? How is trusting them different than trusting someone\u2019s opinion on physics?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I generally trust religious leaders and those trained in Scripture to have valuable opinions regarding\u00a0morality, often (although not always) more valuable than my own.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not convinced that how I discern who to trust with regard to physics is much different than\u00a0how I discern who to trust in moral matters. We trust someone\u2019s opinion on physics insofar as they\u00a0have relevant expertise, including but not limited to background knowledge and education, proper\u00a0methodology, and research relevant to their field. Since I see the Bible as a source of divine revelation,\u00a0those who have expertise pertaining to the Bible can be expected to have a more informed opinion.\u00a0More specifically, those who have studied the Bible, relevant history and archaeology, theology, and\u00a0philosophy will arguably have a better vantage point to make moral decisions.<\/p>\n

We can vet the physicist\u2019s opinion through empirical testing. We can see how it holds against the\u00a0backdrop of prior theoretical physics, and how it compares to the opinions of other experts. Likewise,\u00a0we can see how the religious leader\u2019s opinion stacks up against a coherent Scriptural exegesis, how it\u00a0manifests in a cohesive theology, and whether or not is buoyed by sound philosophical foundations.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Can you name any works of art (interpreted pretty broadly: books, music, plays, poetry, mathematical proofs, etc) which really capture the way you see life\/fill you with a sense of awe and wonder? You can give a short explanation or just list a few pieces.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Many works of art have had a profound and lasting impact on my life, so it\u2019s difficult to single out\u00a0just one. While I cherish much of what C.S. Lewis has written, what comes to mind here is the \u201cSpace\u00a0Trilogy.\u201d The trilogy covers the adventures of Dr. Elwin Ransom (who was modeled after Tolkien) and\u00a0the universal battle between good and evil over the course of three novels. It\u2019s heavily allegorical and\u00a0Lewis at his finest. There\u2019s one passage in the book titled Perelandra<\/em> that encapsulates my view of our\u00a0position in the universe so adequately I\u2019ll reproduce it in full here:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole distinction between things accidental and things designed, like the distinction\u00a0between fact and myth, was purely terrestrial. The pattern is so large that within the little frame of\u00a0earthly experience there appear pieces of it between which we can see no connection, and other pieces\u00a0between which we can. Hence we rightly, for our sue, distinguish the accidental from the essential.\u00a0But step outside that frame and the distinction drops down into the void, fluttering useless wings.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This passage serves as a powerful reminder of how limited a scope human beings actually have. Our\u00a0minute sufferings, our trivial worries and ever-limited understanding wither away when we think of the Almighty.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Click here to judge this entry<\/a><\/strong>, and, once you\u2019ve voted, feel free to speculate and trade theories in the comments or look at other entries in this round<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the second entry in the Christian round of the 2012 Ideological Turing Test for Religion. In this round, the honest answers of Christians are mixed in with atheists\u2019 best efforts to talk like Christians. It\u2019s your job to see if you can spot the difference. The voting link appears at the end of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[170,166],"class_list":["post-3335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ideologicalturingtest","tag-christian-turing-answers-2012","tag-turing-answers-2012"],"yoast_head":"\n[Turing 2012] Christian Answer #2<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is the second entry in the Christian round of the 2012 Ideological Turing Test for Religion. 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