Does God Answer ALL prayers?

[George-ananda]

Does God Answer ALL prayers?

Of course not. If He did nobody would ever be sick, learn from mistakes, suffer repercussions for selfishness, etc..

God was not incompetent when He created the universe the way it is.

Occasionally physical intercessions by higher beings do occur under certain conditions and some of these conditions like karma are impossible for us to see from our physical perspective.

 

[metis]

How does one decide what is “morally sound” ? Where would one search for the answer? Witches still get burned at the stake in the 21 century. Gays still can’t get married in many states in the United States.

Gandhi believed that God was both Truth and Love, and the reason why I capitalized both was because he sometimes used these as substitute names for God. To him, if we intentionally harm another person, that is not Love, thus his commitment to non-violence.

One of the things he struggled with personally was the issue of sex roles, and it was relatively later in his life whereas he settled on the idea that the sexes should be treated equally. As far as I have ever read, the issue of gay marriage he didn't deal with, probably because it wasn't really a hot topic back then.

If God is Truth, then we need to look at and accept reality as Truth. Unfortunately, there are some in basically all religions and philosophies who use religion or philosophy as a set of blinders, thus obscuring Truth.

Therefore, to put this together, we need to be objectively realistic ("Truth") and make decisions on what best helps people and not hurt them ("Love"). Sometimes this leaves us with tough choices, no doubt, but I think it's a commendable approach.

What do you think?

 

[metis]

Hmm, which Bible? The Jewish Bible or the Christian Bible? If it’s the Christian Bible, which one? Christians are not in agreement on how to interpret the Bible. There are over 10,000 flavors of Christianity. Whose interpretation should I trust? Jews are not in agreement how on how to interpret the Bible either. All the Jewish sects do not see eye to eye on the concept of the Messiah.

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. (Acts. 8:30-31)
​

To go along with what you wrote here put into the context of your previous post directed towards me, I would point out something that I believe you're likely to agree with, namely that most Christians are not committed to the non-violence that I believe Jesus taught (I'm using "non-violence" here in reference to not using deadly violence or unnecessary violence that may be short of deadly violence), plus most are opposed to full gay equality in all areas, including marriage. As Gandhi reluctantly said, all too many Christians elevated the man but forgot his message.

 

[Triumphant_Loser]

I believe the source of sound morality is revealed by God in the Bible. The morality of humans is flawed.

Then couldn't the morality of the Bible itself also be flawed? Considering that it was written by humans.

 

[metis]

Reminds me of what the rather notable Christian theologian Sir William Barclay once wrote, namely that if God essentially wrote the Bible, apparently He's a lousy speller because there are several thousand misspellings found in the oldest copies of the "N.T." alone.

 

[rusra02]

Hmm, which Bible? The Jewish Bible or the Christian Bible? If it’s the Christian Bible, which one? Christians are not in agreement on how to interpret the Bible. There are over 10,000 flavors of Christianity. Whose interpretation should I trust? Jews are not in agreement how on how to interpret the Bible either. All the Jewish sects do not see eye to eye on the concept of the Messiah.

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. (Acts. 8:30-31)
​

You raise some interesting questions. I believe the Bible is Inspired by God, as it claims it is. (2 Timothy 3:16,17) Jesus condemned the religious teachers of his day for replacing the clear teachings of the Bible with man-made traditions. He told them; “Isaiah aptly prophesied about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far removed from me. *It is in vain that they keep worshipping me, for they teach commands of men as doctrines.’ *You let go of the commandment of God and cling to the tradition of men.” *Further, he said to them: “You skillfully disregard the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition." (Mark 7:6-9)
The clergy of professed "Christian" denominations have done the same thing, IMO. Claiming to follow the Christ, they follow and teach the ideas and traditions of men. However, the Bible assures us that "Nevertheless, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for indeed, the Father is looking for ones like these to worship him." (John 4:24) it was a true disciple (Phillip)?that God sent to help the Ethiopian you mentioned learn the truth.

 

[rusra02]

Then couldn't the morality of the Bible itself also be flawed? Considering that it was written by humans.

It is true the various books of the Bible were recorded by imperfect men. However, the Bible assures us that it is inspired by God. (2 Timothy 3:16) In order to accept or reject the Bible's claim of Divine inspiration, I believe we must read the Bible and examine the evidence it presents that, as Jesus believed, God's Word is the truth. (John 17:17) The Bible's morality has proven far more valuable than the shifting philosophies of men, IMO.

 

[Triumphant_Loser]

It is true the various books of the Bible were recorded by imperfect men. However, the Bible assures us that it is inspired by God. (2 Timothy 3:16) In order to accept or reject the Bible's claim of Divine inspiration, I believe we must read the Bible and examine the evidence it presents that, as Jesus believed, God's Word is the truth. (John 17:17) The Bible's morality has proven far more valuable than the shifting philosophies of men, IMO.

And since it was written by flawed men, then how can we be so sure that its claims of divine inspiration are...well...divinely inspired?

 

[rusra02]

And since it was written by flawed men, then how can we be so sure that its claims of divine inspiration are...well...divinely inspired?

The evidence must come from what is written. A book inspired by God would contain a record that is historically accurate and true. It"s prophecies of future events would be accurate and reliable. It would give evidence of wisdom far greater than any human philosophy. What it says about the earth and the natural world would be accurate and true. In short, it would be the truth.