Schaeffer: relating to whom or what?

Thursday, June 1, 2017
    Feast of Justin, Martyr at Rome, c.165
    Commemoration of Angela de Merici, Founder of the Institute of St. Ursula, 1540
Meditation:
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you and watch over you.
    —Psalm 32:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In saying God is there, we are saying God exists, and not just talking about the word god, or the idea god. We are speaking of the proper relationship to the living God who exists. In order to understand the problems of our generation, we should be very alive to this distinction.
    Semantics (linguistic analysis) makes up the heart of modern philosophical study in the Anglo-Saxon world. Though the Christian cannot accept this study as a total philosophy, there is no reason why he should not be glad for the concept that words need to be defined before they can be used in communication. As Christians, we must understand that there is no word so meaningless as the word god until it is defined. No word has been used to reach absolutely opposite concepts as much as the word god. Consequently, let us not be confused. There is much “spirituality” about us today that would relate itself to the word god or to the idea god; but this is not what we are talking about. Biblical truth and spirituality is not a relationship to the word god, or to the idea god. It is a relationship to the One who is there. This is an entirely different concept.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), The God Who is There [1968], in The Francis A. Schaeffer Trilogy, Good News Publishers, 1990, p. 158 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 32:8; 73:23; 139:7-10; Isa. 41:13; Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, teach me the way. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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