hi i just wanted to now y alot of people say that wen we ask to much questions about god, we are doubting him. arent we supposed to ask questions to understand more. all the saints asked questions didnt they????hmmmm. plzz reply. thx[coptic]
pray for me [/coptic]
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So ask away curious one
GBU
sandra
but sometimes we ask questions that it is not the level of our age :(, because if you ask questions that you will not understand you will get confused and want to know more about it. :-\ and you just wouldn't get it because your brain wouldn't take it.
i think it a bad think to look for something you wouldn't be able to understand
it happened to me when i was little i was asking abouna about the Trinity and he told me that this is not your age and you should be asking that kind of question because i don't want you to be confused.
do you understand my point? ???
God's level of intelligence far surpasses ours as human beings. So how can we really UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING about him? We cant! To ask and to try to understand EVERYTHING is trying to match your intelligence with God's. It is good to want to know, but simply, we cannot know everything. This is why many people turn away from religion because they want concrete answers but cannot find them. Unfortunately, not everything can be understood in a concrete manner. What we need to get past doubts we may have is faith in what our Lord teaches us.
hi i just wanted to now y alot of people say that wen we ask to much questions about god, we are doubting him. arent we supposed to ask questions to understand more. all the saints asked questions didnt they????hmmmm. plzz reply. thx[coptic]
pray for me [/coptic]
Just read this verse:
Matthew 18:3And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Children don't ask much questions and just do what you say. They just trust you to lead them. This should be with us and Christ. It's very hard, no one said it's easy. But as much as possible.
Here is a verse that I think is pertinent here and reflects the importance of asking questions:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
-- Hosea 4:6
I guess I should elaborate a bit more. Children are very curious by nature and do in fact ask a lot of questions. However, if they are told something by someone who is older than they are, they do not often question it. This can be a good thing and a bad thing. We are intelligent creatures, created by God with a mind, and we are curious by nature. So, I think it is safe to say that we should feel free to question things. One thing we should realize though, is that we will not know or ever find out all the answers to all our questions. That is just something we have to accept, and discern. The finite can comprehend the infinite only to a certain extent and no more. Thus, we may have questions about God and the faith, but we will never have the complete answers.
I strongly agree with Cephas, and do strongly agree still with minagir. I don't see a contradiction between what minagir said on the verse he quoted and what cephas said on the one he quoted too, especially in cephas's last post. However, I would like to tell mehraeel that if you think your questions follow one or some of these criteria, then it is fine:
1- if you want to know more about God
2- if you have been pondering about something in the Bible
3- if a friend is in conflict with you about something (that you are not hesitant about; but would just like to know the reasons behind or the words to use to face this friend)
4- if it is something you don't understand because of the language, or translation, ... etc
5- or of course if it is something in the liturgy, or the rituals, that you want to know the origin for.
But please don't ask questions if they are of these types, or follow these criteria:
1- if you think too sophisticatedly about an issue (especially related to the nature of God, or incarnation for example), or that you are faced with one of these issues by friends
2- if it is something that you can practise by faith, but you question the validity of it, rather than practising in the first instance (like praying with agbeya "if you know what I am talking about")
3- if you think the question doesn't come from your inner self (rather the evil one sometimes can put in some questions that are really irrelevant): just ignore the question. And for such a criterion, I will dwell a bit more: like when satan started a good, seemingly easy conversation with Eve, and felled her into the sin that cost our God's body and blood. She obviously didn't consult with anyone; I mean Eve; nor do I think you need to consult with anyone or attempt to draw out on that kind of conversation.
I know I made it look more complex, but believe me if you follow these, you will be a bit safer than worried.
God bless you all and please mention my name in your prayers
[coptic]+ Pi`<rictoc aftonf>[/coptic]
I guess I should elaborate a bit more. Children are very curious by nature and do in fact ask a lot of questions. However, if they are told something by someone who is older than they are, they do not often question it. This can be a good thing and a bad thing. We are intelligent creatures, created by God with a mind, and we are curious by nature. So, I think it is safe to say that we should feel free to question things.
i also agree with you here.
maybe another way to look at the verse is how knowledge can be hard to handle. don't forget, we'll be judged on what we know and what we acted upon that.
I am so sorry. I should have pointed out that I quoted what Fr. Daoud Lamey has said before, so that I don't take credit for what I didn't say. In any case, it is a good exercise for all of us to follow.
God bless you all and pray for me a lot
There are also certain things that we simply CANT understand, and have to believe in it by faith.
God's level of intelligence far surpasses ours as human beings. So how can we really UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING about him? We cant! To ask and to try to understand EVERYTHING is trying to match your intelligence with God's. It is good to want to know, but simply, we cannot know everything. This is why many people turn away from religion because they want concrete answers but cannot find them. Unfortunately, not everything can be understood in a concrete manner. What we need to get past doubts we may have is faith in what our Lord teaches us.
Yes,
"Sometimes, the only way to truly understand, is to understand, that we cannot truly understand"
Sometimes people argue things in order to prove other people wrong. This is wrong, and sometimes we mistake simple misunderstandings for this attitude..
Hope that helped [or at least made sence :P]
+God Bless.
p4m and all mi weaknesses
The Coptic Orthodox Church provides us with a wonderful range of sources from which to become more informed about out Faith - from the Liturgy and Icons, to the homilies from our priests, to the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, and their modern successors. There sources are like armour which we can wear to ward off the assaults of the enemy, and no warrior of Christ's should neglect their armour; we know the Evil One is always on the look-out to devour us.
HH Pope Shenouda III has not written dozens of books just because he likes writing, he has done it as a holy duty to us, his flock; we should read what he writes. There are no aspects of our faith where he, or the Church, leave us in doubt. It is our duty as good Christians to know more about our Faith and our God.
Of course His wisdom is beyond all understanding, and that is why we come to the Father through the Son, who is the Incarnate Word. Κηφᾶς is quite correct in stating that we should use all our God-given faculties, including our intelligence, to come closer to Him.
Guided aright by the Holy Mother Church, none of her children need come to grief. But let us ask humbly, and be willing to work at being better informed; like all spiritual exercises, reading more about the Faith requires effort on our behalf. Our priests are always a first resource, but behind him stands the 2000 year old wisdom of our Church - and to think, people say there's a lot on Google!
In the Risen Christ,
John