Commentary: Glenn Beck's Oval Office {Beck going all in for Mitt?]

Star-Telegram ^ | April 12, 2012 | Bud Kennedy

[greyfoxx39]

Glenn Beck has been in Texas only a few months, and he's already talking big.

Now, he wants to address America from his own Oval Office.

Lest anyone fear that something has suddenly gone drastically wrong in our country, Beck's Oval Office is a movie set in Irving.

-SNIP-

Saying he will "deliver the speeches the president should have delivered," Beck promised to "activate the sleeping giant" of Christian conservatives in America with speeches from his new set on the Studios' Stage A.

Mainly, of course, Beck's goal is to motivate subscribers to pay $9.95 a month for his show, broadcast daily to about 300,000 viewers via computer, iPad, iPhone or other household appliance.

-SNIP-

Beck said he hopes to hire 1,000 workers in Irving for an entrepreneurial project.

It's named American Dream Labs.

He's right about the dream part

[Elsie]

Just not convinced about its alleged infallibility.

Oh?

What parts are you having trouble believing?

[Elsie]

And because God would not wish me to throw Him into a pit of fire, I expect he will not do that to me.

Since you've dismissed how a god might communicate to men; thru a book; just how does your god communicate to you what his wishes are or are not?

[Elsie]

The only part I sort of followed there was your mention of the Golden Rule.

Sorry; I should have included the reference:

Isaiah 55:8
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.

---

Isaiah 29:16 You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"?

---

Isaiah 45:9 "Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'He has no hands'?

---

[Elsie]

The last point is that I would base my vote on a candidate’s belief in the principles of freedom, not on their beliefs about Jesus or hellfire or whatever.

And that is a worthy goal.

But, as you seem to know; there are those of us that think past this world into the next, and are DEFINITELY more worried about a person's ETERNAL destiny than whether they will live in relative freedom while breathing.

[Elsie]

The last point is that I would base my vote on a candidate’s belief in the principles of freedom, not on their beliefs about Jesus or hellfire or whatever.

And that is a worthy goal.

But, as you seem to know; there are those of us that think past this world into the next, and are DEFINITELY more worried about a person's ETERNAL destiny than whether they will live in relative freedom while breathing.

[Elsie]

I certainly don’t have any negative feeling toward those who disagree nor do I claim that my beliefs are “true” and that others are not.

I think one thing we can agree on is that BOTH sets of ideas cannot be true.

[Elsie]

It boils down to this: Any “god” that would condemn “non-Christians” to eternal hell fire must be considered “mad” and unworthy of worship.

Compartive RELIGION 101

Does the JEWISH 'god' condemn folks?

Does the MUSLIM 'god' condemn folks?

Does the HINDU 'gods' condemn folks?

---

Are there ANY 'gods' out there that do NOT zap folks for one reason or another?

[Elsie]

This is not a new idea or one that I came up with on my own.

I know...

---

It boils down to this:

"Did GOD really say..."

[Elsie]

I don’t think you are so invincible.

[Tunehead54]

Reference bump ...

[Invincibly Ignorant]

BTW, how old are you? About 14? You seem incredibly immature.

Just wanted to take it down to your level.

[Invincibly Ignorant]

"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do!"

I'd say the jury's still out. :-)

[Invincibly Ignorant]

I don’t think you are so invincible.

And I don't think you're really a cow. :-)

[sand lake bar]

It’s more than that. Remember, God gave us the power to reason.

[sand lake bar]

They would all be wrong to do so. Enlightened members of those faiths would reject the idea. And there’s a glaring flaw in the argument you just made; a paradox, really. I leave it as an exercise for you to spot.

[sand lake bar]

He might communicate through a book, but more likely he appeals to our reason, the gift He gave us.

[sand lake bar]

It’s interesting the way you feel you need to insist how “big” your god is.

[citizen]

“Beck going all in for Mitt?”

If he’s smart he will. Everyone loves a winner.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

"It’s interesting the way you feel you need to insist how “big” your god is."

Yes, I worship the FUll-SIZE God of the universe. On the outside chance you have never seen His attributes listed, I googled this up for you... He is truly amazing. Please read this list of His revealed attributes and then consider how small anything less is... how morally imperfect anything less is. He isn't big because He is the God I worship. He is amazing. I fall at His feet.

... my apologies that the formatting is not crisper and more readable. And as always, I wish you the best.

1.             SELF-EXISTENT: God has no cause; He does not depend on anything for his continued existence.

a.        I AM WHO I AM (Ex. 3:14; see John 8:58)

b.        Life in Himself (John 5:26)

c.        First and Last, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End; as the Beginning,  God has no cause (Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12; Rev. 1:8, 17; 2:8; 3:14; 21:6; 22:13)

d.       No God before or after Yahweh (Isa. 43:10)

 

2.             TRANSCENDENT: God is entirely distinct from the universe, as the carpenter is distinct from the bench; excluding pantheism (God in all) and animism (everything is a god).

a.        Separate from the world (Isa. 66:1-2; Acts 17:24)

b.        Contrasted with the world (Psa. 102:25-27; I John 2:15-17)

c.        Implied by doctrine of creation (Gen. 1:1; Isa. 42:5)

 

3.             IMMANENT: Though transcendent, God is present with and in the world; excluding deism (God is out there but not here).

a.        God is near, so He can be known (Deut. 4:7; Jer. 23:23; Acts 17:27)

b.        Bound up with God's omnipresence (Psa. 139:7-10; Jer. 23:24; Acts 17:28)

 

4.             IMMUTABLE: God is perfect in that He never changes nor can He change with respect to His being, attributes, purpose, or promises; excluding process theology, Mormon doctrine of eternal progression.

a.        Unchangeable (Psa. 102:26-27; Isa. 51:6; Mal. 3:6; Rom. 1:23; Heb. 1:11-12; James 1:17;  Heb. 13:8)

b.        God's relations with changing men spoken of as God changing (Ex. 32:9-14; Psa. 18:25-27)

 

5.             ETERNAL: God is perfect in that He transcends all time and temporal limitations, and is thus infinite with respect to  time.

a.        Duration through endless ages (Ps. 90:2; 93:2; 102:12; Eph. 3:21)

b.        Unlimited by time (Psa. 90:4; 2 Pet. 3:8)

c.        Creator of the ages ( i.e., of time itself; Heb. 1:2; 11:3)

d.       Implied by doctrines of transcendence, self-existence, and immutability

 

6.             OMNIPRESENT: God is perfect in that He transcends all space and spatial limitations, and is thus infinite with respect to space, with His whole Being filling every part of the universe and being present everywhere (not diffused through the universe, but present at each point in His fullness).

a.        The universe cannot contain God (1 Kings 8:27; Isa. 66:1; Acts 7:48-49)

b.        Present everywhere (Psa. 139:7-10; Acts 17:28; of Christ, Matt. 18:20; 28:20)

c.        Fills all things (Jer. 23:23-24; of Christ, Eph. 1:23; 4:10; Col. 3:11)

d.       Implied by doctrine of transcendence

 

7.             OMNIPOTENT: God is perfect in that He can do all things consistent with the perfection of His being.  God cannot do the self-contradictory (e.g., make a rock He cannot lift), nor can He do that which is contrary to His perfect nature (e.g., He cannot change, He cannot lie, etc.).

a.        Nothing too difficult (Gen. 18:14; Jer. 32:17, 27; Zech. 8:6; Matt. 3:9)

b.        All things possible (Job 42:2; Psa. 115:3; Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37; 18:27; Eph. 1:11)

c.        God cannot lie, be tempted, deny Himself, etc. (2 Tim. 2:13; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18; James 1:13)

 

8.             OMNISCIENT: God is perfect in that He knows all things, including events before they happen.

a.        Perfect in knowledge, Job 37:16

b.        Knows the heart (1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Chr. 28:9, 17; Psa. 139:1-4; Jer. 17:10a)

c.        Knows all events to come (Isa. 41:22-23; 42:9; 44:7)

 

9.             INCORPOREAL: God has no body or parts, and is immaterial, being a simple and infinite being of spirit; excluding the Mormon doctrine of God as an exalted man.

a.        God is spirit (John 4:24)

b.        God is not a man  (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29)

c.        Implied by doctrines of self-existence, transcendence, omnipresence, and creation.

 

10.           ONE: God is a perfectly unique and simple being, existing as one infinite Being called God.  There is therefore only one God, who is called Yahweh in the Old Testament, and who reveals Himself in the persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the New Testament; thus excluding polytheism, tritheism (belief in three gods), and subordinationism (in which Christ is a lesser god subordinate to the Almighty God).

a.        Only one God (Deut. 6:4; Isa. 43:10; 44:6, 8; 45:5-7, 21-22; Zech. 14:9; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; Gal. 3:20; Eph. 4:5-6; 1 Tim. 2:5; James 2:19)

b.        All other "gods" are only "so-called," (1 Cor. 8:4-6; 2 Thess. 2:4)

c.        Moses was "as God," not God or divine (Ex. 4:16; 7:1)

d.       Satan, idols, and the belly are all false gods (Psa. 96:4-5; 1 Cor. 10:20; 2 Cor. 4:4; Phil. 3:19)

e.        Wicked judges called "gods" in irony, not to describe nature (Psa. 82:1, 6; John 10:34-36)

f.         Yahweh is Elohim (Gen. 2:4; Deut. 4:35, 39; Psa. 100:3 [thus excluding the view of Mormonism that Jehovah and Elohim are distinct beings])

g.        Implied by the doctrines of self-existence, transcendence, and omnipotence

 

11.           CREATOR: God is the One through whom all things have come into existence; by His unbounded power and knowledge He created finite existence ex nihilo and formed the universe as it now is.

a.        Created all things (Gen. 1:1; Psa. 33:6; 102:25; John 1:3; Rom. 11:36; Heb. 1:2; 11:3)

b.        Made all things by Himself (Isa. 44:24)

c.        Implied by doctrine of self-existence

 

12.           PERSONAL:  God, as the author of personhood in the created universe, cannot be less than personal Himself; thus He experiences relationships with other persons, or self-conscious beings.  Note that God may be more than personal, indeed, His infinite nature suggests that He must be.

a.        Scripture everywhere assumes the personhood of God in the use of personal pronouns, in recording Him  

                                speaking and acting willfully, etc. (e.g., Gen. 1:3, 26; Heb. 1:1-2; etc.)

b.        God gives Himself a name (Yahweh), and says "I am" (Exod. 3:14)

c.        Implied by doctrine of creation

 

13.           INCOMPREHENSIBLE: God is incomprehensible, not in the sense that the concept of God is unintelligible, but in the sense that God cannot be fully and directly known by finite creatures, because of His uniqueness and His infinitude.

a.        None like God (Ex. 8:10; 9:14; 15:11; 2 Sam. 7:22; 1 Chr. 17:20; Psa. 86:8; 1 Kgs. 8:23; Isa. 40:18, 25; 44:7;

                                56:5, 9; Jer. 10:6-7; Micah 7:18)

b.        Analogical language necessary to describe God (Ezek. 1:26-28; Rev. 1:13-16)

c.        God cannot be comprehended as He really is (1 Cor. 8:2-3)

d.       God can only be known as the Son reveals Him (John 1:18; Matt. 11:25-27)

 

14.           MORALLY PERFECT: The following are the moral attributes of God; they are listed here together because God's moral nature is perfectly unified, with no tension between His wrath and His love, for example.

a.        GOOD: God is morally excellent, and does only good (Gen. 1:31; Deut. 8:16; Psa. 107:8; 118:1; Nahum 1:7; Mark 10:18; Rom. 8:28)

b.        HOLY: God is morally transcendent, utterly separated from all evil, and perfectly pure (Ex. 3:5; Lev. 19:2; Psa. 5:4-6; 99:5; Isa. 6:3; 8:13; Hab. 1:12-13; 1 Pet. 1:14-19)

c.        RIGHTEOUS: God is perfectly moral in all that He does, doing everything right ( Isa. 45:21; Zeph. 3:5; Rom. 3:26)

d.       TRUE: God is perfectly truthful, and cannot lie (John 17:17; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18)

e.        LOVING: God's moral character is pure love, sacrificial giving for the true benefit of another (Deut. 7:7-8; Jer. 31:3; John 3:16; Heb. 12:6)

f.         WRATHFUL: God's moral perfection requires Him to show displeasure against anything which seeks to act contrary to its moral purpose, to judge that which rebels against His authority as Creator and Lord  (Psa. 103:8-9; Rom. 2:5; 11:22; Heb. 10:31)

[sand lake bar]

See, it’s that rathful vengeful stuff that I reject. I think it was made up by men to frighten people. But a true God would not strive to frighten people. If His purpose is for people to live a moral life, then he would take pleasure in the moral lives of all His children whether they were Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, etc.—including non-believers.

But this has nothing to do with size. It has everything to do with wisdom and reason.