Thought Experiment: God Glass

[Scrawly]

Firstly, apologies for the verbosity! As I was trying to put this thought experiment together, I was trying to package it up in a way that addressed potential concerns (i.e. the "appearance factor" of Google Glass, which nevertheless still cropped up in the responses :-) ), but it did wind up getting wordier than I'd anticipated.

Anyway - I wasn't really going for any heavenly implications, or trying to make some subtle "gotcha" point of "AHA - if you said X about God-Glass, then you'd have to admit that Heaven would actually suck!" -no, was not going there.

Many times, I've encountered the sentiment from Christians that there's a certain comfort in the simplicity of a moral code which boils down to "just trust and obey God in all things". The popularity of the 10 Commandments seems to be their directness: "God gave a simple list of rules, and I just need to obey them. For instance, I'm not going to cheat on my wife, because hey, it's on the list."

My thought experiment was meant to dig into that sentiment a bit more. Life is far too complex and nuanced for there to even be such a thing as a single document which exactly gave the "right" thing to do in all circumstances/contexts. So Christians are frequently left with the task of digging into the deepest folds of the finite-in-length Scriptures they do have, and wrestling out a definitive answer to "Should I do X or Y given A, B, C, and D". What I'd been wondering is... if it were possible to have a "Commandments stream", e.g. access to the direct and explicit "right answer" of what God wants to all circumstances life throws your way, would Christians wish to receive that knowledge? And if given that stream, how would you apply it to your life? Christians often talk reverentially of their desire to use their lives in service to God... but if given the opportunity to really do so - with all the "right answers" spelled out for them in infinite detail - would they really consider that desirable?

Maybe a more tangible variation of "God-Glass", that gets to the same curiosity on my part, would be a "WWJD app": if it existed would you like and use an app whereby God always supplied a direct/immediate answer to that question - "What would Jesus do in this situation?"

I see, thanks for the clarification. Though I cannot agree that the bolded is a proper representation of new covenant teaching. You have essentially painted the picture of a God akin to a task-master, and Christian's who are simply checking off a to-do list. You expand the scope of the task-master to include literally every detail of life, and of course what Christian wouldn't want to please God in every single detail of their lives and live in ultimate submission to the task-master, right? Well, I wouldn't because a God who has a preference for what socks I wear or what cereal I eat in the morning would straight up annoy me after a while - a very, very short while. So I would reject the GodGlasses and all that noise in favor of a life lived out in the freedom that comes from genuine faith in the gospel.

[Country Sparrow]

Edit: whoops, left off quote:





Seems pragmatic. I guess this is pretty speculative, but, if the God-Glass proved to be a no-frills version of exactly what it was billed to be (so, for that entire year+day, every single guideline seemed sensible and in accordance with scripture, if not perhaps surprising from time to time), would you expect to enjoy and wish to continue living out your life with it turned on?

I'd have to see how it went wearing them for the short term year and a day.

[Country Sparrow]

As long as the glasses don't fry your brain with too much data at once.

I imagine they'd be synced with the individual and their life walk. While also not overloading them. Because God would know his knowledge is infinite and that would be detrimental to download that over much to our lesser evolved human psyche and consciousness. If the glasses come from perfect God they have to work perfectly.

[Teallaura]

1) Not a demon - in the hypothetical, this was an angel sent from God. No tricks (at least, none intended) up my sleeve here.
2) Not a puppet - you'd have freewill. Think of this as a "Personalized Commandments stream" - an opportunity for God to provide you guidelines just a little more refined/personalized than the original 10 recorded in Scripture.
3) "If God wants to talk to us, He is perfectly able. No where in Scripture does God use a medium to talk to His prophets (He did get Moses attention with a burning bush once)"
How does this statement not amount to "Nowhere in Scripture does God use a medium to talk to His prophets (except when he does)"? Not trying to be snarky here - I've just read that sentence 3 times now and I can't figure out what you're trying to say. "... so why would He need one to tell me what to do?" Mysterious ways, man, mysterious ways...
4) "In answer to the unspoken question, God doesn't seem to want us to be like three year olds needing constant input (no, honey, don't play in the litter box!) so such a 'gift' is inherently suspicious" Well, he did feel the need to point out the whole "Thou shalt not steal" and such. Coincidental with your statement, both of my sons had figured that one out by age 3. Using that precedence, I'm not sure the proposed product is really a categorical change in behavior here, just a matter of degree.

1) Let me introduce quote tags - they make life much easier! Seriously, you can use the highlight icon (highlight the selection and click on quote) or type them out [ quote]stuff in the middle [ /quote] without the spaces and it looks like this:

stuff in the middle

1a) I didn't think you were trying to be deceptive - you just have a hypothetical that doesn't make sense any other way. An angel inviting you to visit a brothel is a fake - so to an angel making offers inconsistent with the teaching of Scripture.

2) Yeah, a puppet - the pressure to comply would be enormous and lack of compliance would be stupid (you really think you can come up with a better answer than an omniscient God? ) so choosing to disregard is so foolish as to be unthinkable. I can freely choose to jump off a bridge - but doing so is incredibly stupid and has really nasty consequences - so is it a real choice?

3) Your hypothetical glasses function as a medium - another telltale sign it isn't of God. The burning bush isn't a medium - God doesn't need it to make Moses hear Him - but could be mistaken for one so I answered the obvious objection.

4) There's a difference between guidance and supervision. Providing the framework isn't the same thing as providing every answer. It's the same for your three year old - you teach him the rules but you don't hold his hand 24/7 making his decisions effectively for him (you wanna wear the pretty red shirt or the ugly blue shirt?). Even very small children are granted some leeway as they begin to learn how to behave for themselves - but your glasses strip that leeway from God's children - who then have little to no opportunity to learn or grow. The framework (rules, morals, laws, ethics, et al) is necessary - you need the fences to keep inside the boundaries - but are not at all the same thing as constant input.

[Jedidiah]

Firstly, apologies for the verbosity! As I was trying to put this thought experiment together, I was trying to package it up in a way that addressed potential concerns (i.e. the "appearance factor" of Google Glass, which nevertheless still cropped up in the responses :-) ), but it did wind up getting wordier than I'd anticipated.

Anyway - I wasn't really going for any heavenly implications, or trying to make some subtle "gotcha" point of "AHA - if you said X about God-Glass, then you'd have to admit that Heaven would actually suck!" -no, was not going there.

Many times, I've encountered the sentiment from Christians that there's a certain comfort in the simplicity of a moral code which boils down to "just trust and obey God in all things". The popularity of the 10 Commandments seems to be their directness: "God gave a simple list of rules, and I just need to obey them. For instance, I'm not going to cheat on my wife, because hey, it's on the list."

My thought experiment was meant to dig into that sentiment a bit more. Life is far too complex and nuanced for there to even be such a thing as a single document which exactly gave the "right" thing to do in all circumstances/contexts. So Christians are frequently left with the task of digging into the deepest folds of the finite-in-length Scriptures they do have, and wrestling out a definitive answer to "Should I do X or Y given A, B, C, and D". What I'd been wondering is... if it were possible to have a "Commandments stream", e.g. access to the direct and explicit "right answer" of what God wants to all circumstances life throws your way, would Christians wish to receive that knowledge? And if given that stream, how would you apply it to your life? Christians often talk reverentially of their desire to use their lives in service to God... but if given the opportunity to really do so - with all the "right answers" spelled out for them in infinite detail - would they really consider that desirable?

Maybe a more tangible variation of "God-Glass", that gets to the same curiosity on my part, would be a "WWJD app": if it existed would you like and use an app whereby God always supplied a direct/immediate answer to that question - "What would Jesus do in this situation?"

The problem with this thought experiment is that it is not consistent with what God has revealed about himself and his desires for mankind. You are effectively positing a different god than the Christian God.

[Teallaura]

The problem with this thought experiment is that it is not consistent with what God has revealed about himself and his desires for mankind. You are effectively positing a different god than the Christian God.

No fair saying it better than me!

[Truthseeker]

The problem with this thought experiment is that it is not consistent with what God has revealed about himself and his desires for mankind. You are effectively positing a different god than the Christian God.

I think that is correct. At least, you, Bald Ape, have to show this is what God would do in the future.

[Country Sparrow]

Um, you all do realize this is pretend right? God tells us in scripture that he speaks to us in many different ways. Not just through the Bible. So these glasses and God's appointing them to the willing can't be said to be impossible. (Can be said to be a pretend scenario in a thread at TW though. That's the fun.)

[Teallaura]

Um, you all do realize this is pretend right? God tells us in scripture that he speaks to us in many different ways. Not just through the Bible. So these glasses and God's appointing them to the willing can't be said to be impossible. (Can be said to be a pretend scenario in a thread at TW though. That's the fun.)

Sure but he wanted a serious answer and as presented, it has major issues.

[Christianbookworm]

So,,, anyone want to snark about WWJD? Hint: Jesus can do miracles, we can't. But, what would a righteous person do didn't have the same ring to it.

[Scrawly]

Um, you all do realize this is pretend right?

Yeah, and then we'd have to give pretend answers as well. Seems like it'd be a nice exercise in futility, or fun, as you call it.

God tells us in scripture that he speaks to us in many different ways. Not just through the Bible.

Where's that verse again?

[Country Sparrow]

Yeah, and then we'd have to give pretend answers as well. Seems like it'd be a nice exercise in futility, or fun, as you call it.

Must be. Here you are right along with us. And since these glasses don't exist everyone here knows the rules of pretend. And apparently enjoy it. Well, maybe not you....

Where's that verse again?

A verse? Oh, no. Many a verse. (Besides those verses that say he speaks through his word.)

God speaks through the Holy Spirit: Acts 11:12, Acts 13:2, Acts 16:6-7, 1 Kings 19:12, Isaiah 30:19-21
Through Angels: Luke 1: 26-38
Visions: Acts 10:9-18
Audibly: Acts 9:4-5
Dreams: Matthew 1:20-21
Through wise counsel via women and men of God: Prov 12:15

[Scrawly]

A verse? Oh, no. Many a verse: God speaks through the Holy Spirit: Acts 11:12, Acts 13:2, Acts 16:6-7, 1 Kings 19:12, Isaiah 30:19-21
Through Angels: Luke 1: 26-38
Visions: Acts 10:9-18
Audibly: Acts 9:4-5
Dreams: Matthew 1:20-21
Through wise counsel via women and men of God: Prov 12:15

Not too sure your examples are normative for Christian experience - "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe (Heb. 1:1-2). Now that God has spoken in these last days through His Son, and we possess the written word - those other modes of communication seem to be obsolete, but thanks for the verses anyhow; although proverbs 12:15 is not the verse you intended to make your point with.

[Country Sparrow]

Not too sure your examples are normative for Christian experience - "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe (Heb. 1:1-2). Now that God has spoken in these last days through His Son, and we possess the written word - those other modes of communication seem to be obsolete, but thanks for the verses anyhow; although proverbs 12:15 is not the verse you intended to make your point with.

Yes, proverbs 12:15 was the verse I intended. And those verses pertain to Christians today. We can't rightly say God hasn't spoken to us, (the church), in such ways.
There are new testament verses that refer to how he speaks to us even after Jesus returned to the Father.

[Scrawly]

Yes, proverbs 12:15 was the verse I intended.

Proverbs 12:15: "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel." How exactly does that support your position?

And those verses pertain to Christians today.

We will have to agree to disagree here.

We can't rightly say God hasn't spoken to us, (the church), in such ways. There are new testament verses that refer to how he speaks to us even after Jesus returned to the Father.

I think now that we have God having spoken to us in these last days through His Son, and we possess the written word, such former modes of communication are no longer operative - Hebrews 1:1-2 says as much. The church having its foundation built on the apostle's and prophets has likewise made such offices obsolete as well - now that we have God's work in His Son accomplished and the written word.