ISTM that the CofC's mindset on God is very dissimilar from whatever God was before the time of Christ....which is quite unusual considering the fact that God never changes.....But when you read the OT, at least I myself, anyway, get the more Judaic idea that God is so far above us, He generally does whatever the heck He wants to do....He is a completely unrestricted being (except just very singular things like lying, etc.)....if he wants to change his mind, he can even do that...period. He is so far above us, in other words, just give it up....give up trying to put Him in a box and telling people what He can and can't do....
Anyway, my IMO the CofC spends its time constructing a very small box for God, decorating it, adoring it....never understood that....His nature suddently changed....he can't do miracles, he can't speak directly to the hearts and minds of anyone anymore.....He is not permitted by the CofC to have a direct relationship with anyone (only through the NT , hopefully you're literate....He is not permitted by the CofC to intervene directly in anyone's life, hence you can't pray for His intervention)....on the bottom line, establishing impermissives that essentially strip Him of His Sovereignty.
Imposed Impermissiveness on God
Re: Imposed Impermissiveness on God
Yes, people's theology can definitely set limits and impose a false sense of how things work.
But on this topic...perhaps it is a spectrum or sequence....and that it repeats...and is by choice of God.
In the garden God was walking and talking with man continually.
After the garden, God talked occasionally with man, didn't walk with man, and intervened miraculously now and then...but tapering in magnitude and frequency.
With Jesus, God again walked, talked, and performed wondrous works.
After Jesus, God no longer walked with Man and only occasionally was there talking...and again...tapering magnitude and frequency of miracles.
There is a long period of time after the return from captivity...miracles and interaction with God was pretty rare (if at all). Who put God in a box then? Can any man really put God in a box and limit God? And Jesus did not heal everyone like in Luke 5:15-17. It seems he withdrew from people and also that on some days the power to heal was with him (does that imply it was not always the will of the Father to have him doing healings?) Was Jesus in a box when he withdrew from the sick who were in need of healing? Or was it the will of the Father (Sovereignty)?
These days, I have not seen the dead being raised or the lame walking or the blind receiving their sight by some manifestation of the Spirit. I don't count things like clouds moving in a circle or a statue bleeding or a face on a tortilla as manifestation of God's glory and power...maybe that is on me, maybe I should not have such a high threshold.
But on this topic...perhaps it is a spectrum or sequence....and that it repeats...and is by choice of God.
In the garden God was walking and talking with man continually.
After the garden, God talked occasionally with man, didn't walk with man, and intervened miraculously now and then...but tapering in magnitude and frequency.
With Jesus, God again walked, talked, and performed wondrous works.
After Jesus, God no longer walked with Man and only occasionally was there talking...and again...tapering magnitude and frequency of miracles.
There is a long period of time after the return from captivity...miracles and interaction with God was pretty rare (if at all). Who put God in a box then? Can any man really put God in a box and limit God? And Jesus did not heal everyone like in Luke 5:15-17. It seems he withdrew from people and also that on some days the power to heal was with him (does that imply it was not always the will of the Father to have him doing healings?) Was Jesus in a box when he withdrew from the sick who were in need of healing? Or was it the will of the Father (Sovereignty)?
These days, I have not seen the dead being raised or the lame walking or the blind receiving their sight by some manifestation of the Spirit. I don't count things like clouds moving in a circle or a statue bleeding or a face on a tortilla as manifestation of God's glory and power...maybe that is on me, maybe I should not have such a high threshold.
Isn't the world wonderful...I am all for rational optimism and I am staying positive.