Philosophy - Part 14 - Keep it plain and simple

Philosophy - Part 14 - Keep it plain and simple - by P.K.Odendaal - July 2012

Life is so complicated ... or is it ... or do we only make it so? I think we are the real complicators, not life. And we make it complicated in our effort to make it easy.

Let us say I have to carry water from a stream to my house. Now this is very easy and monotonous and tiresome. However, I can take this burden from me and install a pipeline with a pump set - and then I will have an almost unlimited supply of water to my house at no sweat. Who worries about the extra cost when there is a thing called debt? After some time the pump set breaks down or the electrical supply is stolen - the latter being standard practise in our country.

Adult Sunday School - Part 4 - Regeneration

Adult Sunday School - Part 4 - Regeneration and Replenishment of Earth. - by P.K.Odendaal - July 2012

And so we come to Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

We have seen in the previous part how the earth was laid waste, being void, and without form and without light. It was time for God to remake the vessel :

Jer. 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make.

If we read this story as the story of creation, we will see many anomalies and discrepancies. If we read it as the regeneration of earth, we will find it interesting. If we read between the lines or on a deeper level, we will find it vital and exciting - and I will try to bring all three to you.

A dialogue between Moses and Aristotle - Part 3

A dialogue between Moses (1392 - 1272 B.C.) and Aristotle (384 - 322 B.C.) - from Transcripts of their debate.
Written by P.K.Odendaal - 16 Feb. 2011

PART 3: Is there a proof for the existence of God ?

Moses:    Now that we know your logical system, can you help us to make a logical conclusion between free will and a knowledge of the existence of  God.

Aristotle: Yes, here it is (if I understand you correclty):

                A : God wanted to make man like himself to be friends with, and to converse with him and to appoint him to reign over the universe as a king and priest.

                B : If man had to be like God, he had to have free will.

                C : If man knew for sure, by scientific analysis, rational thought or deduction, that there was a God, who was righteous and who punished sin, then man would have been under duress and fear of punishment and eternal damnation, thereby inhibiting his free will.

                Z : QED - it easily follows that God cannot reveal himself in any scientific or rational way, if He wants people to exercise their Free Will unhindered

A Dialogue between Pope Leo X and Thomas Paine

A dialogue between Pope Leo X (1475 - 1521 A.D.) and Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809 A.D.) - from Transcripts of their debate.

Written by P.K.Odendaal - March 2011

Foreword for all my Dialogues

Note by the Scribe (writer) : This piece was compiled with the latest facts and interpretations of History and the Bible. It is, after all, an unfinished work as the dialogue will only be conducted after the rapture when everyone will know everything, but it is also conceivable that it has already taken place, because there is no clear scripture that says one first has to go to a place of detention before inheriting your prize - be that eternal life or eternal damnation.

In any case, chances are that this would be a very accurate transcription of that dialogue. Part of this is of course speculation.

Adult Sunday School – Part 3 – Disaster strikes

Adult Sunday School – Part 3 – Disaster strikes – by P.K.Odendaal – July 2012

We have seen that God has created the heavens and earth in Genesis 1:1 - and all was well.

But then … sin was found on earth ... and God destroyed almost everything on earth, with only a few souls remaining. Scripture says He shook the earth.

The aftermath of this tragedy is described in Genesis 1 verse 2 : And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. In Hebrew the word ‘hayah’ is used which means ‘it became’ and not as translated ‘it was’.

It is clear from this scripture that something terrible happened. If you read this as part of the original creation, you need to explain why God created such a chaotic thing. After Gen. 1:1 the earth was perfect, because God does not create chaos. But, in the meantime, something terrible has happened.

Philosophy - Part 13 - The Survival of the Weakest

Philosophy - Part 13 - The Survival of the Weakest - by P.K.Odendaal July 2012

This part is about three philosophies - Humanism, Darwinism and Christianity (partly).

I am not a Humanist. The fact that I cannot suffer fools gladly proofs it - and also the way in which I despise corrupt politicians and politicians who make idiots of themselves, seals the argument.

Darwinism is a philosophy, elevated by some misguided individuals like Dawkins and Gould to a status of science, 'stealing' the tenets of the Science of Evolution, to make their philosophy have a shade of truth. Every science has at least one or more axioms to build on. Darwinism has none.

Adult Sunday School – Part 2 – In the beginning

Sunday School for Adults – Part 2 – In the beginning - by P.K.Odendaal – July 2012.

The story of creation is very much misunderstood and abused and derided by atheists and agnostics, because they, and many of us, think that it is narrated in the first book of Genesis.

However, if you read that piece carefully, you will find that it is not the story of creation. There are at least eight serious anomalies, which cannot be explained away, and thus we were taught in Church that it is merely a myth covered in a cloak of religion, much like the religion of many Christians in the world is a myth covered with a 'form of godliness, but denying the power thereof' (2Ti 3:5). We are rather encouraged to 'refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise ourselves rather unto godliness' (1Ti 4:7).  And this I will try to do in this series. I will go into this supposed story of creation in more detail in a next part of this series. Today I am addressing the actual story of creation.

The Gift of Flight – Part 2 – Tripple Sevens (or fly me to the moon)

The Gift of Flight – Part 2 – Tripple Sevens (or fly me to the moon) – by P.K.Odendaal – July 2012.

My hair still stands on end when I think of it.

I had just finished my training and licenses for commercial pilot, instructor and instrument rating, and thought that I knew everything. And as always happens, I was then inspired to reach for a higher goal, not being satisfied with the conventional course or accomplishment of conventional pilots. No offence meant.

The game plan was this : The Air Force needed pilots having their own aircraft to assist them in moving the senior staff of the Defence Force around to meetings and field units and even reconnaissance. In turn the Air Force will pay for the hiring of the privately owned aircraft, provide fuel and training, and it would be a win-win situation for pilots and the Air Force. There would be no combat missions, so a pacifist like myself could participate. The training provided would be excellent and extracurricular with regard to commercial flying.

Adult Sunday School – Part 1 – Introduction

Sunday school for adults – Part 1 – Introduction – by P.K.Odendaal – July 2012

I was brought up in a strictly religious environment. Every week I had go to Church – about three times, attend Sunday School, 'Kinderkrans' (Children's religious ring), CSV ('Christian Student Association'), Hostel 'stiltetyd' (quiet time) – seven times a week, and many other. So when I left school, I had had enough of religion. But … it prepared me for the day I met God and Jesus Christ some twenty years later.

Today I am astounded to hear that all these things have been banned from the school program or curricula, and I mostly find people who have never been to Church and who do not even have a Bible. I am writing this series for them, to solve their BKDS, which, as everybody knows, is their Bible Knowledge Deficit Syndrome.

Philosophy – Part 12 – Giving meaning to it

Philosophy – Part 12 – Giving meaning to it – by P.K.Odendaal – July 2012

I had thought that Part 11 would be the end of this series, but something bothered me about the incomplete task, partly uncompleted due to the hopelessness of White's situation and his only tenable option, that of suicide staring him in the face - and the inability of Black to persuade him to the contrary. To me it seemed that White had to die, because, for him, there was no meaning left in life. He followed the advice and philosophies of the philosophers and writers of his time, and that of previous eras, and came to the conclusion that nothing means anything.

From the dialogue (The Sunset Limited by Cormac McCarthy) :

White :    It doesn't mean anything. Everything that happens doesn't mean anything else.