Is God in control?

[YmirGF]

I was recently at a lovely dinner held at my sister's house. She is very religious and had several of her friends over who are members of her church. They were discussing issues of the day and bemoaning the state of affairs when one of them said "One thing's for sure. God is in control." And several of the others started nodding and repeating "God is in control." I wanted to ask them what they meant by that, but I held my tongue.

So let me ask all of you. What do Christians (or other theists I suppose) mean when they say that God is "in control"? Do you agree that God is in control?

My read on this is that they have given their lives over to the "will of god", thus they are no longer in control and are therefore no longer responsible for the reality they help to create. God did it! Praise be! It's like where Pastor Rick Warren told his readers to take their hands off the wheel of life and let God do the driving. I don't think I have actually seriously listened to another word the man has said. So, in short, to me, it is an affirmation of the abdication of personal responsibility. I don't see it as something to be proud of, quite frankly.

 

[Thief]

God is not in control.
God gave Man dominion.
Man is in control.

 

[Charity]

God isn't in control, He is dependant upon the decisions of humans. I once heard that God had to sacrifice His only begotten son to a brutal death because some couple decided that they were hungry for apples.

You heard it wrong, it didn't say apples.......

 

[mohammed_beiruti]

I was recently at a lovely dinner held at my sister's house. She is very religious and had several of her friends over who are members of her church. They were discussing issues of the day and bemoaning the state of affairs when one of them said "One thing's for sure. God is in control." And several of the others started nodding and repeating "God is in control." I wanted to ask them what they meant by that, but I held my tongue.

So let me ask all of you. What do Christians (or other theists I suppose) mean when they say that God is "in control"? Do you agree that God is in control?

it's like using car brakes

slow down by pressing on the brake
harry up by leaving it

same as when :God grants or God prevents

 

[Beaudreaux]

it's like using car brakes

slow down by pressing on the brake
harry up by leaving it

same as when :God grants or God prevents

Can you provide a concrete example of when God has granted or prevented?

 

[truth seeker]

oh.......................