Thread by @owenbroadcast

[warning i have 3 brain cells rn after not sleeping last night, typos etc]. a long time ago i made this thread about some “simple” questions i had about christianity, denominations, things therein. its interesting looking back on it bc now i would never ask these questions [..]

https://twitter.com/owenbroadcast/status/1140059724391571456

as ive gone deeper (or tried to) into figuring things out, i have a whole new stack of questions that i think generally fall into “sounds dumb but is actually somewhat essential”. as my thing is art making and figuring things out, i dont need to pretend to know anything [...]

so im happy to be the one to ask the questions that may make one seem unlearned, as im sure many other people want to know, or other people who actually know can tell us, or we can spark some interesting discussion. so, just gonna post them in this thread. lets go. theologica.

1. the fall was a bad thing... right? so, im not really supposed to be here, in this place, in this situation. its bad that im here. (right?). doesnt that kind of put us close to a demiurge-y gnostic situation where im stuck here in this glitch world where im not supposed to be?

2. obviously god knew the fall was going to happen, right. so, then this is all part of God’s plan, right? i guess im having some difficulty seeing the fall at this heinous tragedy but also something that God knew would happen and has prepared this whole unfolding plan for.

3. that brings us to free will. i get that free will exists, and i actually think it does, but if God is all powerful and set all the conditions for everything in creating everything ex nihilo, isnt he also then logically responsible for the fall, because he set those conditions?

(as in, doesnt it seem like if God didnt want the fall to happen and for us to be set on this journey then he could have just tweaked some starter conditions and made it not happen. this seems qualitatively unique as it set basically the entire human condition up).

(thats all kind of one question but whatever.)

4. what was Jesus before the incarnation. like, literally, in the most simple terms. the theophanies in the old testament make him sound like a man. so hes a man from the start, and then took man form again when he was born?

[extension] or is he “the Logos” initially (whatever that means exactly) and then he took on human form at the incarnation, and then kept it. that would seem to go against the idea of God fundamentals not changing over time then. that also makes the theophanies difficult, right?

5. i feel like this is a dumb question but im just gonna go for it. is the “old testament god = the father” on the ground view correct? thats a less dumb way of asking, is Jesus the God of the old testament? is the answer to this the trinity. but, how, specifically. [...]

is there an “explain it like im 5” to “when i read the old testament, is that God Jesus?”. because i think most on the ground people think its “God, the father”. thats not really theologically sound tho, right. and then Moses sees God’s back, the father doesnt have that (right?)

6. what do we actually do in Heaven. specifically. then theres a sub question here of, if we are in a state that is basically, in a way, kind of like anything the angels are doing (“just” worshipping God), couldnt he have just made us angels from the start? why do it this way?

7. in your christian system, what are we doing right now. like, why am i here right now. what is the purpose of this time and it apparently stretching forth. Jesus came, did the atonement, so... what are we waiting for? (got this question from the 7th day adventists).

8. whats the deal with theosis. because going deeper into some theology i have some people that really seem like they know what theyre talking about saying its the “whole point” and other people saying its literally the most heretical thing possible. so, whats the deal with that

9. this is kind of a sub addition to the heaven question. sometimes people talk about our resurrection and how its theologically important to note XYZ specifics, but then what would i actually DO with this body post resurrection? chill with my wife (not kidding, i mean im down)?

10. what, in your view, in the most plain language possible, is this. what is this referring to (“the kingdom”)

11. in your thought system, what specifically does it mean that im made in God’s image. get a lot of different answers here. sub question: also obviously the “our” here is interesting which likewise has many explanations.

12. when you pray “to God” are you praying “to Jesus”?. this sounds like an idiot question with a simple answer but its really not because Jesus is one person in the trinity. so the answer is, “kind of, in a way, but not exactly” (right?)