I should add that an insane person believes inconsistent things or acts on or believes thoughts that are inconsistent with the way the world really is. So to say that one is negatively rational (or sane) is to say that one has (pretty) consistent beliefs or that one's beliefs and actions don't conflict with reality in a major way. It's another way of saying that one's rational faculties are operating "good enough" to where we don't say the agent has a defect at all. Insane people have a clear defect in their cognitive (reasoning) faculties.
So if we know we are sane -- or experts tell us that we are sane -- and we have a clear and distinct idea of something true, is this the Holy Spirit? Is the "aha" or luminosity or glowing or insight or intuition that accompanies the truth the work of the Holy Spirit for those who believe? Bobby On Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 9:16 PM, Robert Johnson < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dave, > > The passage in Hebrews cited above says that Abraham believed that God > would resurrect Issac if he (Abraham) killed him (Issac). So he knew that > no matter what he did, that promise -- the promise that Issac would be the > seed from which Abraham would be the father of many nations -- would come > true. So Abraham went ahead and did what God said to do. Abraham certainly > didn't know what God was up to, but he *didn't* think that there was no > possible rational explanation for what God was doing. In fact, Abraham had > one specific possibility in mind: that God would resurrect Issac. But he > was wrong. God didn't have him slay Issac at all. It was a test of faith, > the salient point being that God won't go back on his promises even though > it may seem that He is doing just that. > > I don't see how Abraham would think that God's request was unreasonable, > especially given the Hebrews gloss. Abraham thought that God was going to > resurrect Issac, so he never doubted that what he was doing was consistent > with God's promise that he would be the father of many nations. > > About clarity and distinctness of Jesus's teachings. Don't you think that > the people who "got" Jesus's teachings, had a clear and distinct idea of > what he taught? And again, this is before the Holy Spirit was given to us, > so considerations about Jesus's face-to-face teaching style really doesn't > apply to the accuracy of the idea that clarity and distinctness (and perhaps > negative rationality) are the markers of the Holy Spirit's teaching. > > Bobby > > On Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 9:00 PM, D C <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> >> At face value, I would agree "that what's not clearly true and >> eminently reasonable is not from God." However, the Binding of Isaac >> presents specific problems to this schema. As you point out, if God >> had promised that a nation would spring forth from Abraham and >> specifically through Isaac, then this request could not have seemed >> reasonable to Abraham. I have not only reread the scripture, but read >> the various takes on it and don't claim to be educated enough on the >> subject to side with any of them. Personally, however, I don't think >> that Abraham actually believed the whole time that either he wouldn't >> really have to go through with it or that God would simply resurrect >> Isaac. In spite of that, I would agree that whatever God states as >> truth is, in fact, truth. However, we may not always be able to see >> how it is such. >> Now, regarding Descartes' "clear and distinct idea," I'm not sure how >> I feel about that? Where the parables of Matthew always clear and >> distinct ideas? Did Jesus not have to explain half of them to his own >> disciples and do not those that avoided divine deconstruction remain >> at the center of many a theological debate to this day? Is that clear >> and distinct? Is their purpose even truly to be clear and distinct? >> >> >> > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Crosspointe Discuss" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/crosspointe-discuss?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
