Is God cruel?

[MonkeyFire]

Dont blame God on your own ignorance, you can easily be happy but you choose to be angry instead. Your own feelings are a result of your own actions.

 

[Spiderman]

Dont blame God on your own ignorance, you can easily be happy but you choose to be angry instead. Your own feelings are a result of your own actions.

God is at fault for my ignorance because I asked him for understanding, prayed for enlightenment, and read his Bible from front to back, finding a load of contradictions and verses that lead people to opposite opinions and beliefs. God also commands people at one part of Scripture to do what he forbids at other parts. It's quite confusing and God is the one at fault.

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

Every thing in life has rules. And there are penalties for breaking those rules. Is a teacher cruel for punishing children who talk in class? (against the rules ) Is a traffic cop cruel for giving you a speeding ticket? * against the rules ) Well, God has rules and people who break the rules face punishment. If everyone followed God's rules there would be no hatred or wars or crime. Wouldn't that be wonderful? So is God cruel for wanting peace and love between people?

 

[MonkeyFire]

God is at fault for my ignorance because I asked him for understanding, prayed for enlightenment, and read his Bible from front to back, finding a load of contradictions and verses that lead people to opposite opinions and beliefs. God also commands people at one part of Scripture to do what he forbids at other parts. It's quite confusing and God is the one at fault.

Yeah but your the one who chooses to be biggoted/ignorant of your own anger which is why you suffer. Your own feelings are a result of your own action.

 

[Spiderman]

Yeah but your the one who chooses to be biggoted/ignorant of your own anger which is why you suffer. Your own feelings are a result of your own action.

How am I ignorant of my own anger? I'm aware of it and I asked God to take it away from me and make me meek, humble, and have understanding.

 

[Riders]

Do you think God is cruel?

Please join me in prayer that he would stop requiring people to suffer so much and be so confused like God isn't even there to shepherd his flock.

Since God wants us to suffer so much, we might as well pray for the grace to love suffering. Please let's all pray that God would have a change of heart and be more gentle, compassionate, caring, kind, and stop allowing so much evil to haunt and torment his creatures. I would outdo God in showing mercy if I had God's powers.

Well the wars in the old testament and wars because of religions are sad and yes God told man to do bad things in the old testament. However I believe its mostly man who chooses to commit. evil. Sounds like your having a hard time, I am sorry.

 

[nPeace]

How am I ignorant of my own anger? I'm aware of it and I asked God to take it away from me and make me meek, humble, and have understanding.

Very good. There are only a few more steps to take then.
The first step...You need to act on what you ask God for.

Think of it this way.
A child wants to get all his/her homework done correctly. So he/she pushes the exercise book in front of mom/dad... "Here. You do it. I'm going to bed."
Reasonable? Far from, you know?
What the child needs to do, is let mom/dad help the child understand how to do their homework, in order to get it right.

Likewise, if you refuse God's help, to teach you how, are you being a reasonable "child"?
Remember...(Matthew 18:2-5) 2 So calling a young child to him, he stood him in their midst 3 and said: “Truly I say to you, unless you turn around and become as young children, you will by no means enter into the Kingdom of the heavens. 4 Therefore, whoever will humble himself like this young child is the one who is the greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens; 5 and whoever receives one such young child on the basis of my name receives me also.

When one gets and point and wag their finger at God, and clench their fist at him... By the way, do you do that at times?
Are you like the child, who when his/her mom/dad says, "No. You have to do your homework. I will help you." You scream. "No.I wanna go to bed. You are a bad mom/dad. I'm not listening to you."?
Or will you be like the child who says, "Okay. Help me."?

It would be great, if it's the latter. For then, you will be on your way to being meek, humble, and having understanding.

 

[Sand Dancer]

Do you think God is cruel?

Please join me in prayer that he would stop requiring people to suffer so much and be so confused like God isn't even there to shepherd his flock.

Since God wants us to suffer so much, we might as well pray for the grace to love suffering. Please let's all pray that God would have a change of heart and be more gentle, compassionate, caring, kind, and stop allowing so much evil to haunt and torment his creatures. I would outdo God in showing mercy if I had God's powers.

The Hebrew god? Absolutely. At least he was honest by saying he was jealous.

 

[InChrist]

There

Do you think God is cruel?

Please join me in prayer that he would stop requiring people to suffer so much and be so confused like God isn't even there to shepherd his flock.

Since God wants us to suffer so much, we might as well pray for the grace to love suffering. Please let's all pray that God would have a change of heart and be more gentle, compassionate, caring, kind, and stop allowing so much evil to haunt and torment his creatures. I would outdo God in showing mercy if I had God's powers.

There is no way I’ll join you in prayer with your false caricature about God, whose very Being is Love and whose greatest desire is to set people free from the bondage of this fallen world and their destructive, self-centered ways for an eternal life of beauty, joy, and peace.

You wouldn’t have a clue what gentleness, compassion, or goodness even is, except that God bestows these blessings upon humanity even when people reject and mock Him. God is Love unsurpassed.

 

[Spiderman]

The Hebrew god? Absolutely. At least he was honest by saying he was jealous.

Precisely! I give him props for confessing that. Jealousy is one of the 7 deadly sins. So is anger. At least he is honest!

 

[Spiderman]

Very good. There are only a few more steps to take then.
The first step...You need to act on what you ask God for.

Think of it this way.
A child wants to get all his/her homework done correctly. So he/she pushes the exercise book in front of mom/dad... "Here. You do it. I'm going to bed."
Reasonable? Far from, you know?
What the child needs to do, is let mom/dad help the child understand how to do their homework, in order to get it right.

Likewise, if you refuse God's help, to teach you how, are you being a reasonable "child"?
Remember...(Matthew 18:2-5) 2 So calling a young child to him, he stood him in their midst 3 and said: “Truly I say to you, unless you turn around and become as young children, you will by no means enter into the Kingdom of the heavens. 4 Therefore, whoever will humble himself like this young child is the one who is the greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens; 5 and whoever receives one such young child on the basis of my name receives me also.

When one gets and point and wag their finger at God, and clench their fist at him... By the way, do you do that at times?
Are you like the child, who when his/her mom/dad says, "No. You have to do your homework. I will help you." You scream. "No.I wanna go to bed. You are a bad mom/dad. I'm not listening to you."?
Or will you be like the child who says, "Okay. Help me."?

It would be great, if it's the latter. For then, you will be on your way to being meek, humble, and having understanding.

I sometimes and have often clenched my teeth and screamed at God with clenched fists, but I've also humbly begged him to help and surrendered and begged him to remove my anger, fear, and confusion. I don't think I'm refusing God's help to teach me how to do my homework. I'm waiting for him and begging him to show me cuz I've got tons of homework and don't know what to do!

 

[notthedalaidrama]

Do you think God is cruel?

Please join me in prayer that he would stop requiring people to suffer so much and be so confused like God isn't even there to shepherd his flock.

Since God wants us to suffer so much, we might as well pray for the grace to love suffering. Please let's all pray that God would have a change of heart and be more gentle, compassionate, caring, kind, and stop allowing so much evil to haunt and torment his creatures. I would outdo God in showing mercy if I had God's powers.

Man always looking to place blame elsewhere!.

the truth is Man is cruel.
and he enjoys inflicting pain - and makes a profit from inflicting pain!
......but no lets blame god.

I have a friend who blames god for the death of his brother. while I can understand why, but find it sad that his Catholic upbringing still haunts him. he is a lapsed Catholic which makes it even sadder.

 

[Sand Dancer]

Precisely! I give him props for confessing that. Jealousy is one of the 7 deadly sins. So is anger. At least he is honest!

Why can Yahweh do this stuff, but we can't? He's a "Do as I say, not as I do" kind of deity.

 

[Spiderman]

Why can Yahweh do this stuff, but we can't? He's a "Do as I say, not as I do" kind of deity.

Yes he is. He gets to be a hypocrite because we are like specks of dust to him and he can make us then break us, and no one holds him accountable for his hypocrisy!

 

[MonkeyFire]

How am I ignorant of my own anger? I'm aware of it and I asked God to take it away from me and make me meek, humble, and have understanding.

By you I mean everyone, and if you even suffer a tiny bit you would be considered a biggot.

 

[Hockeycowboy]

I don't make my own God but I believe God can evolve

I don't believe cursing God like Job's wife advised is a good idea. However, fighting with God can be a good thing. Israel means to contend or wrestle with God. We can get got to repent and change his mind.

God changing His mind, is what Jonah 1 - 4 reveals. Of course, it all hinged on the Ninevites (Assyrians] changing their actions.
It also highlights that Jehovah God doesn’t use His power of foreknowledge with His children, even those alienated from Him. We can make our own decisions (because of our free will), but He won’t interfere, not while the issues of sovereignty and loyalty are still being settled.

2 Peter 3:9 tells us Jehovah ‘wants all to repent, and not to destroy them.’

It’s pretty obvious, from that passage, Ezekiel 18:31-32 and others, that Jehovah doesn’t get what He desires! He has killed many.

But the promised Resurrection will give the vast majority of mankind, a second chance....and at that time, it will be without the misleading influence that permeates everything today! Those resurrected — all living — will make their choices knowing all the facts...the truth!

 

[nPeace]

Precisely! I give him props for confessing that. Jealousy is one of the 7 deadly sins. So is anger. At least he is honest!

Really? Says who?
I have to tell you Pope, you speak with very little knowledge. I did the same at one time.Will you allow yourself to be corrected?
That's what it means to be humble. So let's see.

Did you know jealousy is not always bad?
The Hebrew word קָנָא qanah means to be jealous or zealous, and קִנְאָה qinah means ardor, zeal, jealousy
So based on the context of the scriptural text, the word is used in a negative or positive sense.
Jealous / Jealousy
The Greek zelos has a similar meaning
ζηλόω zéloó: to be jealous
ζῆλος, ου, ὁ zelos: eagerness, zeal, rivalry
At 2 Corinthians 11:2, the apostle Paul said...2 Corinthians 11:2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
Was that positive? Yes.
Paul had a zeal for the congratulations remaining faithful to God.
It is like a husband, who is zealous for his wife's faithfulness. He has the right to be jealous over his wife, who vowed to belong to him, and do so faithfully, till death.

At one time, I was like you, not knowing these things... but I learned. I was taught, and I humbly adjusted my understanding to conform with the facts.
Was Jehovah teaching me, these things? Evidently... because they were scriptural word usages.
So now you know, God's jealousy is positive, in that as creator he deserves to be worshiped exclusively, what do you think?

I sometimes and have often clenched my teeth and screamed at God with clenched fists, but I've also humbly begged him to help and surrendered and begged him to remove my anger, fear, and confusion. I don't think I'm refusing God's help to teach me how to do my homework. I'm waiting for him and begging him to show me cuz I've got tons of homework and don't know what to do!

Do you remember "the boy who cried "WOLF"?
Nobody took him seriously after a while.
If he had quit crying say the first or second time, when the wolf really came, he would have gotten attention.
Don't you think you are "crying wolf" when you complain against God, almost every post on RF?
Unlike the villagers in the fable, God is not one to be mocked... according to scripture.
If you are really begging "him to help and surrendered and begged him to remove my anger, fear, and confusion", do you think you should still be accusing him?
It may not be with clenched fist, but it may be with pleasure... for example, in this post.
It is clear to me, you are speaking with very little knowledge and understanding, yet you speak as though you know all about God.
I can only encourage you, but it's up to you.

 

[Spiderman]

Really? Says who?
I have to tell you Pope, you speak with very little knowledge. I did the same at one time.Will you allow yourself to be corrected?
That's what it means to be humble. So let's see.

Did you know jealousy is not always bad?
The Hebrew word קָנָא qanah means to be jealous or zealous, and קִנְאָה qinah means ardor, zeal, jealousy
So based on the context of the scriptural text, the word is used in a negative or positive sense.
Jealous / Jealousy
The Greek zelos has a similar meaning
ζηλόω zéloó: to be jealous
ζῆλος, ου, ὁ zelos: eagerness, zeal, rivalry
At 2 Corinthians 11:2, the apostle Paul said...2 Corinthians 11:2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
Was that positive? Yes.
Paul had a zeal for the congratulations remaining faithful to God.
It is like a husband, who is zealous for his wife's faithfulness. He has the right to be jealous over his wife, who vowed to belong to him, and do so faithfully, till death.

At one time, I was like you, not knowing these things... but I learned. I was taught, and I humbly adjusted my understanding to conform with the facts.
Was Jehovah teaching me, these things? Evidently... because they were scriptural word usages.
So now you know, God's jealousy is positive, in that as creator he deserves to be worshiped exclusively, what do you think?


Do you remember "the boy who cried "WOLF"?
Nobody took him seriously after a while.
If he had quit crying say the first or second time, when the wolf really came, he would have gotten attention.
Don't you think you are "crying wolf" when you complain against God, almost every post on RF?
Unlike the villagers in the fable, God is not one to be mocked... according to scripture.
If you are really begging "him to help and surrendered and begged him to remove my anger, fear, and confusion", do you think you should still be accusing him?
It may not be with clenched fist, but it may be with pleasure... for example, in this post.
It is clear to me, you are speaking with very little knowledge and understanding, yet you speak as though you know all about God.
I can only encourage you, but it's up to you.

I humbly ask God to give me the grace to learn what his will is, why he does what he does, that I may desire what God desires, that I may do what God wants me to do. I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do. It all has to come from God.

I complain against God because all the evidence shows that he wants people to suffer all sorts of afflictions, rape, abuse, cancer, HIV, murder, terrorism, war, famine. If he didn't want it he would heal people, give them clear messages, protect them, give them new hearts, open our blind eyes, give us understanding to end some of this division that has splintered Christianity into 30,000 denominations.

In Scripture God talks about removing hearts of stone and replacing them with a new heart. I want and need a new heart. He has to do it.

I complain against God because God does what goes against my conscience and what I find to be extremely cruel. I have good valid reason for being angry at God

 

[Sand Dancer]

Really? Says who?
I have to tell you Pope, you speak with very little knowledge. I did the same at one time.Will you allow yourself to be corrected?
That's what it means to be humble. So let's see.

Did you know jealousy is not always bad?
The Hebrew word קָנָא qanah means to be jealous or zealous, and קִנְאָה qinah means ardor, zeal, jealousy
So based on the context of the scriptural text, the word is used in a negative or positive sense.
Jealous / Jealousy
The Greek zelos has a similar meaning
ζηλόω zéloó: to be jealous
ζῆλος, ου, ὁ zelos: eagerness, zeal, rivalry
At 2 Corinthians 11:2, the apostle Paul said...2 Corinthians 11:2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
Was that positive? Yes.
Paul had a zeal for the congratulations remaining faithful to God.
It is like a husband, who is zealous for his wife's faithfulness. He has the right to be jealous over his wife, who vowed to belong to him, and do so faithfully, till death.

At one time, I was like you, not knowing these things... but I learned. I was taught, and I humbly adjusted my understanding to conform with the facts.
Was Jehovah teaching me, these things? Evidently... because they were scriptural word usages.
So now you know, God's jealousy is positive, in that as creator he deserves to be worshiped exclusively, what do you think?


Do you remember "the boy who cried "WOLF"?
Nobody took him seriously after a while.
If he had quit crying say the first or second time, when the wolf really came, he would have gotten attention.
Don't you think you are "crying wolf" when you complain against God, almost every post on RF?
Unlike the villagers in the fable, God is not one to be mocked... according to scripture.
If you are really begging "him to help and surrendered and begged him to remove my anger, fear, and confusion", do you think you should still be accusing him?
It may not be with clenched fist, but it may be with pleasure... for example, in this post.
It is clear to me, you are speaking with very little knowledge and understanding, yet you speak as though you know all about God.
I can only encourage you, but it's up to you.

He is jealous because he was one of the El's assembly and wanted to be head honcho. He does not deserve to be worshiped exclusively. He was one of many and wanted to be worshiped alone. As a storm and war god, how could he teach about love?

 

[nPeace]

I humbly ask God to give me the grace to learn what his will is, why he does what he does, that I may desire what God desires, that I may do what God wants me to do. I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do. It all has to come from God.

Wen you ask God, what response are you hoping to get... a voice talking to you, or other?
How would you know if God responded to you, or how he did so?
According to the Bible, he doesn't answer by voice... from heaven, but Hebrews 1 tells us how.
So that would mean, he has already answered... but are most people listening? Evidently not.

I complain against God because all the evidence shows that he wants people to suffer all sorts of afflictions, rape, abuse, cancer, HIV, murder, terrorism, war, famine. If he didn't want it he would heal people, give them clear messages, protect them, give them new hearts, open our blind eyes, give us understanding to end some of this division that has splintered Christianity into 30,000 denominations.

If a man cuts off his hand, is that evidence he did not want his hand, or that he enjoys pain?
If a man let's his child go through a painful operation, is that evidence the man wants the child to suffer?
Only if one ignores the facts.

We can know what the man wants, only if we have all the facts, and consider them.
The facts may be, the man's hand is crushed under a boulder, and his life is in danger.
The man's child's life may be in danger, and the operation is the only one recommended, that can save the child.

The same is true of God.
He outlines in the Bible, the reason for suffering, and why it is necessary. We just have to get those facts, and we will really know what God wants. Rather than assuming based on our limited knowledge... 'cause really, I may come to your home, and it may be a mess (hopefully not), but that doesn't tell me what you want. I may assume, but that doesn't mean I am right.

In Scripture God talks about removing hearts of stone and replacing them with a new heart. I want and need a new heart. He has to do it.

He has. Did you also read how he did it?

I complain against God because God does what goes against my conscience and what I find to be extremely cruel. I have good valid reason for being angry at God

Okay.