God of Abraham and Simulation Theory

A few weeks back my views about reality have changed but I neglected to reflect this on my website...

I now no longer believe in Simulation Theory

And I now once more again believe in the God of Abraham! - a Theist's God, who has personal qualities and intervenes in his creation and who has a plan for humankind

I know that over the past few years my beliefs have been volatile, alternating between Christianity and Simulation Theory almost like a swinging pendulum

But that pendulum has now stopped, and settled on Christianity

In this life, we all get to choose what type of person to become: I have chosen to become a Christian. And I don't want to be a person who believes in Simulation Theory!

They are both the same person!

I have a theory...

So, this is how Jesus is often portrayed:

And this is how God "The Father" is often portrayed:

Both have long, straight hair

And both have beards

Here is my theory:

They are both the same person!

Only one is of the same person when he was young, and the other is the same person when he was elderly

When God manifested himself on Earth he did so as Jesus

Right now, Jesus is up in Heaven, but his appearance has aged (from the first pic to the second) so as to give him greater seniority and gravitas and to reflect the passage of time that has occurred since he walked the Earth

So... when people purport to have seen God when they see an old man in the sky they have in fact seen Jesus, who is the primary means through which God interacts with humankind, alongside the Holy Spirit

I don't think God "The Father" looks like anything and that neither does the Holy Spirit

So whenever people draw or paint God it is necessarily Jesus in particular that they actually draw/paint

Only sometimes he is depicted as he was when he walked the Earth and at other times he is depicted as he is right now, up in Heaven (although people mistake mature Jesus with God The Father - they think they are drawing God The Father but are in fact drawing mature Jesus)

I believe that when Jesus returns he will do so as an old man, not massively geriatric, but perhaps in his late 60s or early 70s

Basically, when he returns I believe he will look like how people imagine God "The Father" rather than looking like he is normally depicted. And that people have unknowingly been depicting God as an old man to prepare the people of Earth for the return of Jesus, in which Jesus will return as an old man

When he comes a second time, when people look at him they will see an avuncular and fatherly figure, which is I believe how God wants to present himself to humankind

He will look like he is normally portrayed, only aged about 30 or 40 years!

Edit: I know that those are not actual pictures of God and Jesus.

I believe that God is sensitive to the beliefs of humans

So that when presenting himself to us he does so in our terms, based on what we expect and imagine about him

So my theory is that when Jesus comes down he will be older than when he first walked the Earth and will look like how people imagine God, so that people think of him more as being God than being Jesus

Contact Me!

I have made a new contact page

Click here to go to it

I'm hoping that those who read this blog will choose to get in touch!

My analytics show me that people view this blog from all over the world

And I would like to know what draws people to my blog

As it seems to have acquired a modest following

communion service plan

On some Sundays I do zoom church with about five or six other Christinas

We always take communion together, with one of us leading - a different person each week so that the responsibility is shared

The following is the script I use for whenever it is my turn to lead Communion:

Let us now read from 1 Corinthians 11:23-34

23 For I received from the Lord the teaching that I passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a piece of bread, 24 gave thanks to God, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in memory of me.” 25 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup and said, “This cup is God's new covenant, sealed with my blood. Whenever you drink it, do so in memory of me.”

26 This means that every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 27 It follows that if one of you eats the Lord's bread or drinks from his cup in a way that dishonors him, you are guilty of sin against the Lord's body and blood. 28 So then, you should each examine yourself first, and then eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For if you do not recognize the meaning of the Lord's body when you eat the bread and drink from the cup, you bring judgment on yourself as you eat and drink. 30 That is why many of you are sick and weak, and several have died. 31 If we would examine ourselves first, we would not come under God's judgment. 32 But we are judged and punished by the Lord, so that we shall not be condemned together with the world.

33 So then, my friends, when you gather together to eat the Lord's Supper, wait for one another. 34 And if any of you are hungry, you should eat at home, so that you will not come under God's judgment as you meet together. As for the other matters, I will settle them when I come.

Let us now take our bread

(I hold my bread up so that everyone can see it)

Let this bread remind us of the battered and tortured body of our Lord

(I break the bread I am holding up into two pieces)

Who suffered on the cross in great agony so that our sins may be pardoned

(Pause, whilst we eat our bread)

Now let us now take our wine

(I hold my  wine up so that everyone can see it)

Let this wine remind us of the blood that poured out of our Lord, as he was so cruelly thrashed and then nailed to a cross

In a bloody, heroic, and loving act of sacrifice that annihilates our sin

(Pause, whilst we drink our wine)

Let us now say the Lord’s Prayer, in remembrance of our Lord…

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen.

(The communion ends!)

Jesus and Social Drinking

Have just read Chapter 2 of John...

I believe that according to Jesus social drinking is OK

He was involved with social drinking at a wedding reception and didn't rebuke anyone for doing so

Consider John 2:1-12

In this Jesus turns water into wine at a party

If he did this to convey some kind of teaching then I don't get it

It seems to me that he did so just for the hell of it

To keep the party going after the wine ran out

And perhaps to show off a bit too?

One thing we know about Jesus is that he was no hypocrite:

So social drinking must be OK by him as he participated in social drinking himself

John Chapter 1

I have decided to read the entire book of John and make notes of what it says

Today I have read John 1 - the first chapter of the book of John: 

John 1:1-18

Jesus = “The word became flesh”

 

John The Baptist was sent by God to foretell the coming of Jesus

 

Jesus was God’s light

 

John 1:19-28

 

John explicitly said he was not The Light

Said he was inferior to Jesus

 

John 1:29-34

 

God identified Jesus to John

 

John 1:35-42

 

John’s own followers followed Jesus – his first followers???

 

Andrew and his brother Simon were Jesus’s first followers

 

John 1:43-51

 

Jesus picked up more followers

 

Phillip and Nathaniel

The Elect

 

If God wants you as one of his elect then there is nothing you can do to escape this

His desire for you over-rides your free will, in that respect

He will constantly make things happen that will draw you to him - again and again

You cannot escape it

How can you tell if a person is elect? Well, all such people are religious or at least spiritual - but being religious is no guarantee of being one of the elect!

Going to church is a sign of being saved, not a cause of salvation!

In the end everything will be clear and we will see what'w what

As I said in a previous post on this blog, this is called "irresistible grace"

This was all Calvin's idea!

So I suppose that makes me a Calvinist????