First Thoughts

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”.