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Thought Experiment: God Glass

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  • Thought Experiment: God Glass

    A thought experiment for Christians:

    One day, God sends an angel to you with a unique gift - the opportunity to wear what the angel calls "God-Glass". The idea is similar to Google-Glass; it's a pair of glasses you can put on and wear around, and they'll present information (to your eyes only) based on what's happening around you. The difference is that God-Glasses will display messages directly from God, and those messages will spell out the exact actions that He feels are the best way for you to serve Him. Through a steady stream of messages, he'll feed you the exact manner in which you should conduct yourself so as to live a life that best serves Him.

    The angel explains, "This is a gift from God to you, for accepting Jesus' sacrifice. It is the removal of all doubt, in all situations, of what is *actually* the best way to serve God. It's a gift offered with no strings attached - you can take it, or not, and use it, or not. The device will in no way interfere with your thoughts or your heart, and will not infringe on your free will: you'll always be able to freely choose to do anything other than what God tells you is the best action to take."

    "Only you would be aware of the glasses. Nobody else would see them, and they'll integrate into your life seamlessly. For split-second decisions or complex instructions, God-Glass will actually freeze time, giving you all the time you need to contemplate the path He recommends and whether you'd like to follow that path. Once you've made your choice, time will unfreeze and to everyone around you, it will seem as though you've come to your decision in a very natural way."

    "The key to the glasses is that they'll give you direction for everything," the angel continues. "You see, at every single turn of your life, there are many options which may be varying degrees of "okay" with God, but there's always one option that God would deem as "the best" way to serve Him. It's kind of like in chess - you may have many good moves, but an infinitely wise chess engine would always be able to tell you which one is truly the best. And in life, there actually is a "best" choice for everything: what outfit to wear, what to have for breakfast, what to watch on T.V., where to go on vacation, what words to say to your spouse, etc. With God Glass, you can get it all, every minute of every day... it's literally a live-feed of the script of the best possible life you could lead in servitude to Him, and it'd be completely up to your freewill to choose to follow the script."

    "If you'd like to use it," the angel tells you, "there's also an autopilot mode that you can turn on/off whenever you'd like. With autopilot on, you'll still see and have time to consider the actions God wants, but unless you switch autopilot off, your body will automatically carry out those actions for you (you'll be able to just "go along for the ride"). In short, with autopilot turned on, you won't even need to lift a finger; if a finger needs to be lifted to serve His divine will, God-Glass will lift it for you."

    The angel continues: "You've already accepted Jesus's sacrifice, and so long as you don't rescind that, your eternal destiny in God's Kingdom is sealed. All that remains is living out the rest of your life here on Earth however you see fit. God-Glass is simply an opportunity for you to know EXACTLY the best way to use that life to serve Him, every step of the way."

    You spot a red button on the glasses, and ask what it's for. "That" says the angel, "is autopilot lock." "You can press it of your own free will, but doing so is effectively choosing to give up your freewill for the rest of your life. If you press it, autopilot will turn on and stay on for the rest of your life - all that will be left is to keep your faith in Jesus, and enjoy the ride that is your life being lived out exactly as best serves God." The angel pauses again. "Well, there is one way to undo autopilot lock: at any point from now until the day you die, you may choose to reject Jesus's sacrifice and accept eternal separation from God... with that choice, you would lose your God Glass, autopilot and all."

    ------------

    So, the thought experiment: would you accept the gift? Would you wear it occasionally? Always? Would you ever use the auto-pilot mode? Would you be willing to dedicate your life, once and for all, to serving God - and just press the red button?

    If you answer "no" to any of these, under what circumstances you would not want to know the best way to serve God? Under what circumstances would you want to be able to override autopilot, and do something other than serve God as best you could? If you wouldn't press the red button, why not? What alternative fate would you prefer to living your life in God's service?

  • #2
    I'd wear the glasses all the time for a year and a day just to see how it goes. Most people who've read the Bible cover to cover say it takes that long, so I'll give the glasses the same period of time.

    Now I keep hearing the Looney Tunes Marvin the Martian line playing in my head. "Don't push this red one!"

    sigpic
    "Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one."
    Marcus Aurelius



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    • #3
      I avoid taking gifts from demons. If God wanted puppets, He'd have created us that way. 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) so why would He need one to tell me what to do?

      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. Angel Boy isn't any help - it's Scripture, not visions, that we are to use as a guide when in doubt. The whole concept is at odds with Scriptural teaching - why bother teaching us to seek wisdom if God is gonna spoon feed us the answers? So not only would I not take it because it doesn't really come from God, I wouldn't take it because it is an antithesis of what God wants me to be.
      "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

      "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

      My Personal Blog

      My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Teallaura View Post
        I avoid taking gifts from demons. If God wanted puppets, He'd have created us that way. 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) so why would He need one to tell me what to do?

        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. Angel Boy isn't any help - it's Scripture, not visions, that we are to use as a guide when in doubt. The whole concept is at odds with Scriptural teaching - why bother teaching us to seek wisdom if God is gonna spoon feed us the answers? So not only would I not take it because it doesn't really come from God, I wouldn't take it because it is an antithesis of what God wants me to be.
        Yep! God is not a micro-manager. He gave us a prefrontal cortex and expects us to use it!
        If it weren't for the Resurrection of Jesus, we'd all be in DEEP TROUBLE!

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        • #5
          And yet the communications people receive can be confusing and just as easily be from demons or God, if we're left to our own devices to figure out which.


          An angel sent from God can't deliver a demonic gift to humankind. Unless God consorts with demons and seeks to trick us.

          sigpic
          "Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one."
          Marcus Aurelius



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          • #6
            Originally posted by Country Sparrow View Post
            And yet the communications people receive can be confusing and just as easily be from demons or God, if we're left to our own devices to figure out which.


            An angel sent from God can't deliver a demonic gift to humankind. Unless God consorts with demons and seeks to trick us.
            But a demon can take the guise of an angel.

            We aren't left to our own devices - that's what Scripture is for!
            "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

            "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

            My Personal Blog

            My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

            Quill Sword

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            • #7
              Ever heard of lying? How would you know that the angel was legitimately from God or a demon falsely claiming to be such?
              If it weren't for the Resurrection of Jesus, we'd all be in DEEP TROUBLE!

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              • #8
                An angel won't conflict with Scripture - and 'God' suddenly offering to give us all the answers most definitely conflicts!

                This is also why we are told to leave the spirit world alone - we get confused enough on this one, thanks.
                "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

                "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

                My Personal Blog

                My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

                Quill Sword

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                • #9
                  If it looks anything like wearing Google glass, I'd punch the angel for trying to make me look like a ponce.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Manwë Súlimo View Post
                    If it looks anything like wearing Google glass, I'd punch the angel for trying to make me look like a ponce.
                    Angel with black eye flaps in crazy circles back to Heaven.

                    God: "George! What happened to you son?"

                    Black Eyed George: "I ran into a Yahoo fan!"

                    sigpic
                    "Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one."
                    Marcus Aurelius



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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Christianbookworm View Post
                      Ever heard of lying? How would you know that the angel was legitimately from God or a demon falsely claiming to be such?
                      I was taking the OP narrative to be an absolute. As in God did send....

                      The point of the exercise being, would you accept God's word and literally live according to the guidance of the holy spirit with the help of God directly and uniquely communicating to you personally at all times?
                      Or would your ego doubt God, even that God would communicate now in such a way, and elect to continue life on your own?

                      Satanic deception never entered my mind.

                      sigpic
                      "Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one."
                      Marcus Aurelius



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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Country Sparrow View Post
                        I was taking the OP narrative to be an absolute. As in God did send....

                        The point of the exercise being, would you accept God's word and literally live according to the guidance of the holy spirit with the help of God directly and uniquely communicating to you personally at all times?
                        Or would your ego doubt God, even that God would communicate now in such a way, and elect to continue life on your own?

                        Satanic deception never entered my mind.
                        To resolve said paranoia(which may be justified) said entity shall be asked a series of questions to ascertain the true nature of said entity. If they say something heretical is true or say that I shouldn't ask questions... well I sure ain't accepting the deal. For it may be a deal with the Devil.
                        If it weren't for the Resurrection of Jesus, we'd all be in DEEP TROUBLE!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Country Sparrow View Post
                          I was taking the OP narrative to be an absolute. As in God did send....

                          The point of the exercise being, would you accept God's word and literally live according to the guidance of the holy spirit with the help of God directly and uniquely communicating to you personally at all times?
                          Or would your ego doubt God, even that God would communicate now in such a way, and elect to continue life on your own?

                          Satanic deception never entered my mind.
                          Despite the fact that the OP is unnecessarily verbose and somewhat convoluted, I think you correctly ascertained the point of the thought experiment. I think it is a volitional issue, and at its core, the thought experiment might be attempting to convey the message that if we forsake the God-glasses, then we will likewise find heaven a rather hellish experience (this fails to take into consideration our "flesh", of course), though I could be way in left field here as a result of sleep deprivation.

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                          • #14
                            Still seems micromanagey. We have the Holy Spirit for matters of right and wrong already. We don't need to be told what to wear and eat.
                            If it weren't for the Resurrection of Jesus, we'd all be in DEEP TROUBLE!

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Scrawly View Post
                              Despite the fact that the OP is unnecessarily verbose and somewhat convoluted, I think you correctly ascertained the point of the thought experiment. I think it is a volitional issue, and at its core, the thought experiment might be attempting to convey the message that if we forsake the God-glasses, then we will likewise find heaven a rather hellish experience (this fails to take into consideration our "flesh", of course), though I could be way in left field here as a result of sleep deprivation.
                              What part of 'Lord' was it that you guys think we didn't understand?

                              As Christians the object is to be remade in the image of God as was originally intended - to let that image be reborn in us. It's not to become puppets nor to become God (fat chance on that last one) but to become like Him. That's a long, sometimes painful process called sanctification and it doesn't come with constant commentary. IF God did that we couldn't gain real wisdom - we'd be forever reliant on His direct input like a child that never grows up. That interferes with, not improves, the process. Yes, we are to attend to what God says and to obey His commands - but God doesn't micromanage - He wants us to learn and to grow and for that we have to use His guidance, not His supervision.
                              "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

                              "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

                              My Personal Blog

                              My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

                              Quill Sword

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