1. In the preface to The Knowledge of the Holy, Tozer identifies the problem as "A low view of God." I believe this is very true because so many times in our lives we make the wrong choices because we think what we are doing is better for us, like we are bigger than God. We feel like we can go against what God teaches us without any consequence, and that leads into an abyss of sin.
2. I think what Tozer means about "The majesty of God" is the realization of the awesomeness (in the truest sense of the word) of God, and the ability that that has to touch us spiritually.
3. The further losses that Tozer identifies are a loss of religious awe, a loss of consciousness of the divine spirit, a loss of religious spirit, and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence. All of these have to do with our being in touch with the holy spirit.
4. I think that with time, our society has gotten less and less in touch with God. A huge factor in this is technology, and how much it is spreading, and how fast our lives are moving, so that we can easily forget, or be distracted from God. Our education however, shows us how to be aware of God, and stay in touch with him, even whilst we live in a society moving at breakneck speed. We can teach others how to slow down their lives, and how to stay in touch with God.
Thank you, Jonny, for your thoughts. I am particularly interested in what you've said re: #4. I would like to have us explore the role that technology is playing in our society today - esp. social media. As I think more about how we can explore that together as a class - what ideas might you have?
ReplyDeleteI think you words are very good re: "how fast our lives are moving, so that we can easily forget, or be distracted from God. Our education however, shows us how to be aware of God, and stay in touch with him, even whilst we live in a society moving at breakneck speed. We can teach others how to slow down their lives, and how to stay in touch with God."
It is my desire that we can engage in a sort of vaccination to these negative effects of our culture's unhealthy commitment to frenzied, distracted living. Thank you.