Circum Spective

Are You More Like God Than a Dog Is Like God?
[I've been kind of hung up on the subject of dogs lately. Just bear with me, and I'll get through it. I think its just a phase.]

Is conscience anything more than a desire for approval and a fear of negative consequences?
Domesticated animals are also motivated by those two factors. Does that mean your dog has a conscience? ... or that you are no more like God than a dog?

What is it that differentiates us from animals, if not our conscience? [Hint: Be careful about choosing conscience as the distinguishing factor, because you may be eliminating many, many people (i.e. sociopaths, Barney Frank, used car dealers, infomercial pitch guys)].

I have answered this one to my own satisfaction. I just thought I would throw it out there for the rest of you to either ponder or ignore.

Is it nothing more than intellectual level? How is it that you have the capacity to "believe in God", but your dog does not? Can a chimpanzee or a pig or a horse "believe in" something? Are they capable of abstract thought? Is that what differentiates us?
[Hint: Don't choose intellect as the distinguishing feature, because you may be eliminating a whole bunch of people (i.e. the profoundly mentally retarded, brain injured people, George W. Bush)].

So, what is it? Are we spiritual, eternal beings and animals are not? Where is your proof of that? What evidence is there that we are spiritual beings and animals are not?
[Hint: Faith is the evidence of things not seen.]

So, does it boil down to faith? Wait. Isn't faith -- the intellectual capacity to "believe in" something or someone -- the product of intellect? So what happens to the profoundly retarded? ... and to George Bush?

By the way, where did this doctrine about an "age of accountability" come from. I like the doctrine. Its compassionate and seems to be consistent with my understanding of (or beliefs about) God. But what is the scriptural basis for it?

Look it up. Do some research. (Don't just ask someone else. Do some research of your own for a change.) And when you understand well enough to explain to someone else, please write a comment to this blog post explaining the scriptural basis for that doctrine to me. Thanks.