Domenic Marbaniang

‘The sense of the world must lie outside the world,’ said Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951). The human problem is seeking sense of the world within the world or within one’s own self. But can man go beyond himself by himself? Can someone lift himself up by pulling up his bootstraps? The epistemic predicament of man has been just that in several cases: when he started from himself or nature he returned to himself or nature, to the extent that ‘man is the measure of all things’ was reflected in all his cogitations on man, God, and the world. A glance at monism, polytheism, materialism, and pantheism will demonstrate all that man can do to limit ultimate meaning to this-worldly-reality. This has also been true of Christian theology several times. The rational entanglements of scholastic theology in attempts to rationalize revelation, and the empirical obsessions of liberal, process, existential, and charismatic theologies reflect the segregated pursuits of two different epistemic streams ...

The Sun Still Rises   ‘the sun rose upon him … ’ Gen. 32: 31 Itarsi, 10 July 2007 Domenic Marbaniang  Introduction             28: 11 – the sun was set             But God had not abandoned him. The first meeting 28: 13             Jacob’s response: 28: 20 – A very business-minded young utilitarian. 1.                   The Sun arose over his dark history of sin and selfishness. Pride and Lust: 28:20:   The great artist Michelangelo fastened a little lantern to his headpiece so that his shadow wouldn't fall on the marble on which he was working. When self becomes obtrusive, it casts a shadow on all we do. This is true even in prayer. Selfish attempts at Esau’s birthright and blessing. Securing Future Prospects The birthright ...

As eternal as the skies is your love t’wards me My failings disturb me, and I’m down But you lift me up as a father His child Should I ever recount my transgressions to myself My self would abhor me above my transgressions But you love me, despite my failings My heart feels pale at the thought of its weaknesses But then you call my name and it sounds sweet in my ears The highest hills aren’t high enough to scale your majesty Still you bend down to where I am 14 July 2007

Praise and slander are both fruits of magnification; The one focuses on virtue; the other, on vice. The one supplants the other or versa vice. Thus, bias judges by exaggeration What feelings are aroused by sympathy, And striking a note once, then twice, Then times a many, grows voluminous ever, Until revoked, stilled, transformed, removed. Then does feeling spur reason to find more reasons To back what it feels, and gets stronger thereby: This all to prove that man knows a little But speaks much more, And one only sees as much as one feels. 14 July 2007

Love is unpredictable Or at least, falling in love is. Call it blind, but then call it also deaf and senseless; For, the blind will also love if they can hear and sense. Then does love relate falsely, for the senseless can’t relate. But, as instant is love so is hatred. The dearest soon turns the sorest; The hero, the villain…. The flickering, then, can’t be true; For Truth flickers not. The unpredictable is the irrational, And the irrational breeds chaos, Which none’s will can conquer. Therefore, love is stronger than death and unquenchable. Unconquerable for it neither sees nor hears. And so is irrational. But love that’s true abides, tho’ the world passess by. And love that’s true loves truth above everything else; For anything connected to truth is infected by it. ‘For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.’ Rom. 8: 6 ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love.’ Gal. 5: 22 ‘The wisdom from above is…open to reason.’ Jas. 3: 17 10 July 2007

Service brings reward, And Vice is a good slave-master, For it always recompenses; So does Virtue. But Vice is a vain-master For at dusk the hand is empty, And all gathering, Good when at hand; But to the end, a venomous sting. Pleasure is a murderer; Pain, a saviour: For, Pleasure sticks to the Present, While Pain looks to the Future. The Present is time; The Future, eternal. Time kills Contentment; Eternity, Boredom. Time is surface; Eternity, depth. Time is a shadow; Eternity, the real. Time’s encaged by Boredom; Which Pleasure strikes, to kill, But makes it stronger again; And the harder does Pleasure strike With ever decreasing strength, The stronger does Vice get, Killing Contentment. True Pleasure is Eternal Bringing eternal contentment. The eternal is beyond this time-bound-body. Therefore, true pleasure is non-physical. The physical is transitory. Pleasure kills Pain. Pleasure kills Work (Strain). Pleasure kills Thought And revels in Imagination. This body is death; So is Plea...

I must be interested in people, they say. I’m not. I’m interested in ideals. People come and go: ideals do not. …. Reality is now visible, after many years. Childhood fancies of fairies and friars gone. I searched for an ideal, but in vain. What I’ve found is truth so cold, That untrained youth can’t hold. Religion is a cloak. Virtue is intermittent; vice, perpetual. Virtue is pretention; vice, desire. Virtue is a feeling; vice, the current. Virtue is a fancy; vice, reality. Man, in ministry, is a self-centered animal. The Christian…doesn’t exist. Heart is witness. Only Christ exists. And the Christian will never exist until Only Christ exists. Religion is the temple; secularity, the market. The temple can’t survive without the market. The market pervades the temple. June 6, 2007

In answer to a query by a friend THERE is a confusion among Christians that believers should not use medicines. However, the Bible nowhere makes it statutory or law for the believer to refrain from medicines. In fact, the Bible is against humans making laws that God has not made. Matthew 15.9; Isaiah 29.13. There are only the Ten commandments and the Two Great Commandments of Jesus Christ. Matthew 22.37. The Bible never tells us that using medicines or any scientific invention (e.g. ovens, utensils, agricultural technology, weapons, etc) is sign of unbelief. In fact, God gives wisdom so that man through science and technology can improve his living. The only evil is when man begins to trust in science and technology above and beyond God like the kings of Israel who trusted in chariots and horsemen or physicians. Now, take the example of irrigation. It is very important for a farmer to believe in God for rains and production. However, this doesn't mean that he must refrain from irri...

Everyone’s great, or so one feels. If no such feeling, can anyone live? The desire to rule is not very bad, not at all. Only misdirected. To have dominion was man created. But he can’t even rule his own spirit. A slave to passion, a slave to the world, Unruled passion, kings of destiny – but still slaves, If one can will, but one can’t. I’m better than most, better than all. If none such feeling, won’t I continually fall? Vainful ego, vain contentions, Ego-contentions, Ego-war, Ego-affronts, Ego-masks, Ego-presumptions, Ego-affections, ‘I’ must prevail, ‘truth’ not. Downroad destruction. Imagination, warped reality, self’s own construction. Ego (I) spins a world of its own: Everyone has a world of his own. Where world’s agree, favors arise. Where world’s collide, wars arise. Worlds are egos, Egos wear masks. So are all agreements, masked. Behind the veil hides the unknown, which ego finds not. And falling forwards, Faces the world behind its mask, created by the world. And the world we...

Basically, there are two kinds of government or rules: the rule of people and the rule of law The rule of people is manifest in democracy (mobocracy) where majority rule or in dictatorship where the whim of a single man pilots the state. Obviously, the rule of law is preferred above the rule of the mob. However, the appropriateness of the laws is an important question to tackle. As far as best governance is concerned, the best government is considered to be that which has the least control. In other words, if you have to monitor every act of your subjects you are not a good administrator. For the goal of administration in a healthy setting is freedom, justice, fraternity, and equality. This also means that the laws of the state do not specifically interfere with every minute detail of the subject’s life so as to keep him in constant terror, insecurity, and uncertainty. As far as the nature of the laws is concerned, there are two opinions: one group argues that the best laws are those t...

If God foreknew that man was going to fall in sin , then why did He create the world? Answer # 1: The alternative positions to Christianity must be considered, first of all. Atheism. According to it God doesn’t exist; therefore, the problem of ‘why’ He created the world also doesn’t exist. However, the atheist must admit that ultimately ‘why’ the universe exists also is a meaningless question. Thus, lacking any eternal and absolute ground of existence, morality and justice are illusory concepts. In fact, the above question presupposes morality; for the question implies that God, by creating the world despite foreknowing its misery, appears to be evil rather than good. However, if an absolute such as morality doesn’t exist, then it would be meaningless to either convict or justify God. Thus, the question itself would be meaningless. In that sense, the atheist would have to rid himself absolutely of any moral obligation at all. Pantheism . According to it all is God and God is all;...