Faith in Jesus #432Z, with pen & ink drawing, and pencil portrait, by artist Stephen F. Condren, SAIC, BFA, of Condren Galleries.
Posted on Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, and Tumblr.
Faith In Jesus
Belief
A most difficult, and vague thing, is faith in Jesus, because it is ambiguous. Throughout the New Testament we are told to have faith, because this is required for adherence. However, we are never told what about Jesus to have faith in, because it is not stipulated. Do I believe that Jesus lived, was a man, was God, was a Jew, and the list goes on.
Delineation
There is no clear cut rendering on faith in Jesus, because no account is delineated.
Mental State
Faith is a mental state not a physical one, because it is cerebral. Mental states can affect your physical movements, because they stem from thoughts. If I decide to turn right at the corner, it is a mental process. By turning the corner I did something concrete, because I moved my car. The decision to turn right is not the same as to physically turn right, because they are not of the same substance.
Concrete & Abstract
The decision to turn my car is abstract, whereas the turning of my car is concrete. In my abstract thoughts I am able to harness the concrete movement of the car, because I am provided material facts about the car. Thus my image of the car in the abstract state is the same as the actual car, because they are of the same substance. The same substance, not physically but cognitively, because both are based on concrete mental images of the car. I have to know what the car looks like, in order for me to be able to think about it.
Club Membership & Concrete Objects
Membership in a club is abstract but very concrete, because it has theoretical guidelines. Concrete objects are material, yet very abstract, because on the microscopic scale it is nuclear energy.
Incongruent Substance
However to have faith in Jesus fails on the spot, because no cognitive image of faith in Him is provided. Further, my cognitive image of Jesus is incongruent with the act of faith, because they are not of the same substance. Faith is not based on some Renaissance image of Jesus, but rather on the belief in Him, which is abstract, thus impossible.
Faith In Jesus Is Impossible
It is impossible to have faith in Jesus, because our mentality of Him, is incongruent to the abstraction of faith in Him. To have faith in anything requires concrete knowledge of the topic, because that gives it meaning. Faith is Jesus will never be able to work, because it has no meaning. However, it is possible to have faith in the Roman Catholic Church, because it has meaning. Thus, I can have faith in the Church, but never in Jesus.
Faith
You can only have faith in that which you know, because it gives the object of faith meaning.
Pen & Ink Drawing Of Faith In Jesus #432Z
Above is my pen & ink drawing of Jesus and the Holy Spirit with a bottle of Clorox, because It is bleaching out the myth of faith in Jesus.
Alt Image Tag
Faith in Jesus #432Z with pen & ink drawing by artist Stephen F. Condren.
Related Links
Jesus Christ And The Bogus Atonement #430Z