Afterthoughts are “fossilized first thoughts”.  Afterthoughts are additions, deletions, modifications, interpretations, or distortions of First Thoughts.  Afterthoughts invariably rest in what God has done or said in the past.  They seldom support the idea that God might have new revelations for us from His word.  Afterthoughts are the building blocks of dogmatism; whose foundation is often a pre-determined conclusion backed by carefully selected texts, related or not, and from inferences when no such texts can be found.  Afterthoughts lack the sense of the true authority of God and make up for it by dogmatic bluster, prescription against opposing views, and threat of punishment from the power and authority of Church or Book.

As you can see from the preceding discussion, the ideas of First Thoughts of God and the Afterthoughts of man do not lend themselves to precise analytical definitions.  I will leave that problem to theologians, philosophers, and the like.

For our purposes, I want you to use your intuitive sense of what is true and what is of God; of how it appeals to and sits in your conscience. Don’t worry, every human being in the world has this intuitive conscience. The Greeks call it nous [1].  The intuitive conscience I’m talking about is the positive part of the soul that tells you whether or not something is right and true and from God.  It’s not the negative part of consciousness that condemns you, makes you feel guilty, unworthy, defeated, and powerless every time you do something “wrong” (sin).  No, that’s the playground of Satan and “religion”.

First Thoughts appeal to our intuitive conscience and have the aire of genuine authority.  First Thoughts reveal Christ, have a sense of permanence, dispel and diminish our sense of unbelief, and sit well in and satisfy our conscience.  First Thoughts, as opposed to Afterthoughts, are relatively few in number and invariably address life and conduct from the standpoint of godliness.  First Thoughts do not address subjects which the human mind can figure out for itself.  First Thoughts break into our consciousness to teach us universal and timeless divine knowledge.  For example, this quote from Job 28 contains First Thoughts; “And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding”.  First Thoughts are best when there is one step between premise and conclusion.  First Thoughts reflect the profound yet simple nature of Jesus and His teaching. If a thought conforms to our intuitive sense that “God is love” and “God is good and doeth good”, it is likely a First Thought.

Excerpts from the book “First Thoughts“

I have been searching for the theology that animated the spirit-driven, miracle working primitive Christian Church for 40 years.  In that quest, I have read dozens of books ranging from early Christian writings, the New Testament itself, as well as associated commentaries, textual criticisms, and books on theology.  In the course of reading a rather obscure 19^th century book on theology[1], I came across the idea of the First Thoughts of God and the Afterthoughts of man from its author, 19^th century English cleric and theologian, John B. Heard.    While discussing the starkly contrasting paths of “the way of life” and the “way of death” contained in the early Church writing called the Didaché (Gr. didaxή, “teaching”), Heard observed:

“A lifetime has taught me the same sharp contrast between two theologies, the one setting out with the first thoughts of God, the other with man’s interpretation of these thoughts which I describe as second thoughts or afterthoughts.  The first thoughts, which are God’s thoughts, all address themselves to the conscience – they enter in, and they lodge there.”

His insight struck a chord of truth and intrigued me.  It made increasing sense to me the more I thought about it and tested his ideas mentally and spiritually.