In the industry of rock, Alice Cooper has been quoted in the book "Life on Plant Rock" by Lonn Friend. I would love to hear your thoughts...
"I was pretty much convinced all my life that there was just one God, and there was Jesus Christ, and there was the devil. You couldn't believe in God without believing in the devil. I always tell bands that the most dangerous thing you can do is to believe in the concept of the devil or the concept of God, because you aren't giving them full credit.
When you believe in God, you've got to believe in the all-powerful God. He's not just God, he's the all-powerful God, and he has total control over everyone's life. The devil on the other hand, is a real character that's trying his hardest to tear your life apart. If you believe that this is just mythology, you're a prime target, because you know that's exactly what Satan wants: to be a myth. But he's not a myth, of this I'm totally convinced of that.
So here we are. We have God pulling us one way and the devil pulling us another, and we're in the middle. We have to make a choice. And everyone, at some point in their life, has to make that choice. When people say, "How do you believe this? Why do you believe this?" I just say nothing else speaks to my heart. This doesn't speak to my intellect, it doesn't speak to my logic-it speaks right to my heart and right to my soul, deeper than anything I've ever thought of. And I totally believe it. That being said, I'm not a very good Christian. I mean, none of us are ever good Christians. That's not the point. When you're a Christian, it doesn't mean you're gonna be good, it means you've got a harder road to pull."
Thoughts?
5 comments:
That's a great quote. I identify with that, since I run on emotion rather than logic anyway. I'm not a very good Christian either; there's an awful lot of stumbles on this narrow road.
AMEN!
amazing! and from alice cooper its even better!
Hey Jerry! long time no see!
Shantala
I love Alice Cooper, but this quote bugs me. Although I appreciate that he is "Coming Out" in a way and making his beliefs more public, which could be risky considering his fan base.
But here's the thing - there is nothing really intellectual or cerebral about his statement. He admittedly couldn't answer the "Why" question - which I have to admit for me is important.
Emotion and Passion are important parts of who we are as God's creatures, but equally important are logic and reason.
My belief is our thinking controls our emotions, not the other way around. We think and make a choice, and then based on that thought \ choice process we feel.
Change what you think, change how you feel. Now - I'm a very emotional & passionate person, so please don't hear me saying that emotions are secondary or not as important as intellect and thinking. I'm Irish - we feel EVERYTHING!!
But statements like this - however well meaning - when they are void of reason and come across primarly as an expression of the heart only - don't really represent us very well to those outside our belief system looking in.
patrick, some additional thoughts from a different perspective:
"He admittedly couldn't answer the "Why" question"
-the way i read it the how and the why were answered in the same way
how-it speaks to my heart
why-nothing else speaks to my heart like this
i wonder if much of the answers to questions asked of our faith could be answered by logic and reason since the very nature of faith is believing in something we cannot see or explain, which is neither logical or reasonable.
while i am not denying that there is a logical and rational aspect of christianity and explainations within it, much of my belief is based on personal experiences and
i may not do a better job of explaining my faith that becasue i just know and have felt something so deeply within my heart that there is no other way to explain it.
i would also argue that emotions can often cloud thinking. i know i have often done stupid things in the heat of the moment and acted soley on emotion without thinking first. or that i think with my heart over my head more often than not. which is not to say this is necessarily a good thing just that this passage can speak to someone who thinks emotionally more than logically.
however i agree with
"Change what you think, change how you feel."
i think this quote makes many valid points and brings up a lot of topics such as spiritual warfare
"The devil on the other hand, is a real character that's trying his hardest to tear your life apart. If you believe that this is just mythology, you're a prime target, because you know that's exactly what Satan wants: to be a myth"
the imperfect human nature of christians
"I'm not a very good Christian. I mean, none of us are ever good Christians. That's not the point. When you're a Christian, it doesn't mean you're gonna be good, it means you've got a harder road to pull."
and also the very nature of God
"When you believe in God, you've got to believe in the all-powerful God. He's not just God, he's the all-powerful God, and he has total control over everyone's life."
and also the fact that it is a choice that we each have to make.
these are all very important aspects of the christian faith, and while there may not be theological doctrine and concrete facts within that it is a personal statement of faith tht may bring about additional discussion, and would likely appeal to the "heart thinkers" out there.
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