25 Questions
What is the primary idea behind Canon Holmes' statement about the average man's faith in God?
God is an inference.
According to the passage, Christians have a personal acquaintance with God.
False
What do many people consider God to be, according to the passage?
an ideal, or goodness, or beauty, or truth; or He is law, or life, or the creative impulse
The Bible portrays God as a _______________________ dominating the scenes of the Bible.
loving Personality
Match the descriptions of God with the corresponding groups of people:
Inference = Non-Christians Ideal = Many people Loving Personality = Biblical doctrine Principle = Some Christians
The passage suggests that knowing God is only a theoretical concept for Christians.
True
According to the passage, what is necessary for people to receive the manifestation of God?
Receptivity
The Bible assumes that men can know God with a lesser degree of immediacy than they know physical things.
False
What must happen to the spiritual faculties of the unregenerate man before they can be used to know God?
They must be quickened to active life again by the operation of the Holy Spirit in regeneration.
Faith enables our spiritual sense to function, but a lack of faith results in inward _______________ and numbness toward spiritual things.
insensibility
What is meant by 'reality' in the passage?
That which has existence apart from any idea any mind may have of it
Match the following Bible verses with their corresponding meanings:
Ps 34:8 = Taste and see that the Lord is good Ps 45:8 = All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces Jn 10:27 = My sheep hear my voice Mt 5:8 = Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God
What do idealists and relativists do with their ideas?
Repudiate them
A Christian is insincere in their beliefs.
False
What is the difference between imagination and faith?
Imagination projects unreal images out of the mind, while faith reckons upon that which is already there.
The world of sense intrudes upon our attention day and night for the whole of our ____________________.
lifetime
Match the following words with their meanings:
Reckon = To visualize or imagine Faith = To believe in something without seeing it Imagination = To estimate or calculate
God is not real.
False
What is the curse inherited by every member of Adam's tragic race?
The clouded lenses of our hearts
The spiritual is not real.
False
What is the object of the Christian's faith?
unseen reality
The great unseen Reality is _____________.
God
Match the following concepts with their corresponding descriptions:
Material = Temporal Spiritual = Real Eternal = Invisible Real = Visible
What is the result of obedience to the word of Christ?
An inward revelation of the Godhead
The "other world" is only in the future.
False
Study Notes
The Average Person's Faith in God
- The average person's faith in God is often based on inference, not personal experience
- God is seen as a deduction from evidence, but not a personal reality
- Many people have never thought about God for themselves, but rather believe in Him based on hearsay
Different Notions of God
- Some people see God as an ideal, such as goodness, beauty, or truth
- Others see God as a law, life, or the creative impulse behind existence
- These notions of God are varied, but they all lack personal experience of God
The Christian View of God
- Christians believe in the personality of God and are taught to pray to Him as "Our Father"
- However, for many Christians, God is not a real, personal experience, but rather an ideal or principle
- The Bible teaches that God can be known in personal experience, with the same immediacy as we know physical things
The Bible's Description of God
- The Bible describes God as a loving Personality who is present and active in the world
- God is described as speaking, pleading, loving, and working, and manifesting Himself to those who are receptive
- The Bible assumes that people can know God with the same degree of immediacy as they know physical things
Spiritual Faculties
- The Bible teaches that we have spiritual faculties that allow us to know God and the spiritual world
- These faculties are not active in the unregenerate person, but can be quickened to life by the Holy Spirit in regeneration
- However, even for Christians, faith is often defective, leading to inward insensibility and numbness toward spiritual things
The Reality of God
- The Christian believes that God is real, with objective existence independent of our thoughts or ideas
- God is the Author of the created world, and all other reality is contingent upon His existence
- The worshipping heart does not create its Object, but finds God waiting to be discovered
The Word "Reckon"
- The word "reckon" means to believe in the reality of something, not just to imagine or visualize it
- Faith is not imagination, but rather believing in the reality of God and the spiritual world
- We must shift our interest from the seen to the unseen, and believe in the reality of God and the spiritual world
The Importance of Faith
- The object of the Christian's faith is unseen reality
- We must break the habit of ignoring the spiritual and focus on the reality of God
- Faith is basic in the life of the Christian, and allows us to rise into the region of light and power offered in the Scriptures
Understanding faith in God, exploring the idea that for many, God is an inference rather than a reality, and how people form their beliefs. This passage discusses how people perceive God's existence.
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