is he really a compassionate god?

[jrhutch65]

First off let me say I am sorry if I offend anyone. I merely have a question. my mother passed away from ovarian cancer, it was quick but very painful. why does he let those suffer?

 

[Sees]

Sorry to hear about your mother's pain and your loss of her. I don't think the Gods micromanage all the aspects of our lives - it's in our best interest to be this way, though at the most difficult times it seems not the case. If you believe in God/Gods, you have to work out your own theology, regardless of any religious tradition/s' influence or adherence, in a way that makes most sense to you. We have to find peace, strength, wisdom to keep moving and make the most of the days we have.

 

[FunctionalAtheist]

First off let me say I am sorry if I offend anyone. I merely have a question. my mother passed away from ovarian cancer, it was quick but very painful. why does he let those suffer?

Good question jr. The question assumes there is a god, of course. While you are looking for comfort, that may not be compatible with reason. You have my condolences.

That said the concept of god in the minds of many westerner's, that god is 1) all powerful, 2) all knowing, and 3) all good, is inconsistent.

We know that suffering exists. This is not at issue.

Either there is a god, or there is not a god.

If there is a god, then either god cannot dispense with suffering, or god choses not to dispense with suffering.

I believe the above cannot be rationally rejected. But this doesn't spell out all possibilities and it doesn't say much about why.

I don't believe there is any meaning in your mother's suffering. It is just the way it is. I don't believe there is anyone to blame, no one to hate, no deep realization that will make it all ok.

My father died from cancer. Within 4 months he went from perfectly healthy to a ghostly shell. In his life he had good times and hard times. He did great things and he really screwed up some things. He was a great guy, and he was a horses ***.

When you are born, you have nothing but time. When you die you have nothing but the moments you've experienced. Your whole life is a trade off, each moment for each experience. Was the life she lived worth the pain she suffered?

I'm sorry for you loss!

 

[Koldo]

First off let me say I am sorry if I offend anyone. I merely have a question. my mother passed away from ovarian cancer, it was quick but very painful. why does he let those suffer?

There are many possible answers to that question ranging between 'Gods don't exist' and 'Everything is god.'. The truth is only you can determine what rings true to you. There is no answer that will satisfy everyone, and there is no one who actually knows the answer to that question; it is all speculation.

 

[icehorse]

There are many possible answers to that question ranging between 'Gods don't exist' and 'Everything is god.'. The truth is only you can determine what rings true to you. There is no answer that will satisfy everyone, and there is no one who actually knows the answer to that question; it is all speculation.

Agreed, with the addition that clergy who say that "their" scripture provides coherent answers to these questions are like snake-oil salesmen.

 

[George-ananda]

First off let me say I am sorry if I offend anyone. I merely have a question. my mother passed away from ovarian cancer, it was quick but very painful. why does he let those suffer?

(I believe in reincarnation and karma)

We don't know from our perspective exactly why in any particular case things happen the way they do but everything is caused by a long preceding chain of events that we can't see from our perspective. Your mother has lived and will live many lives and in the end there is merger in Oneness and love for her and all. In this life our job is to do what we can to alleviate suffering with effort and compassion.

 

[Nada]

Jehovah God the Almighty is very compassionate

 

[Pegg]

First off let me say I am sorry if I offend anyone. I merely have a question. my mother passed away from ovarian cancer, it was quick but very painful. why does he let those suffer?

Im sorry to hear about your mother, and yes, its a very cruel and unjust world we live in. And its not wrong to question God as to why...even his prophets of old asked why he allowed wickedness and suffering Habakkuk 1:2 How long, O Jehovah, must I cry for help, and you do not hear? [How long] shall I call to you for aid from violence, and you do not save? 3 Why is it that you make me see what is hurtful, and you keep looking upon mere trouble? And [why] are despoiling and violence in front of me, and [why] does quarreling occur, and [why] is strife carried?

And there is acknowledgement in the bible that we are suffering: ie,
Romans 8:22 For we know that all creation keeps on groaning together and being in pain together until now.

So God is not indifferent, nor has he ignored it. But please realise that it is not God who made it this way...and you can be assured that he has taken action to restore all things to the way he wants them to be.

The restoration of all things will take place and it includes bringing all who have died back to life to live again without all the suffering they endured in this world as Revelation 21:3  says: With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. 4 And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”
5 And the One seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new.”

This may seem a little too late for your mother, but its not. ALL things will be restored by means of Christ Jesus and the heavenly Kingdom in the very near future.

 

[Sleeppy]

Compassion comes after the pain.. When? Only your mother will know. --Keep your mother's memory alive, and she will live in you even moreso than your genes previously permitted.

 

[Triumphant_Loser]

First off let me say I am sorry if I offend anyone. I merely have a question. my mother passed away from ovarian cancer, it was quick but very painful. why does he let those suffer?

I am so sorry for your loss. I often wondered the same. My devoutly-religious aunt passed away not too long ago from cancer, and it was far from quick. She spent every waking moment from then on, in pain, until the cancer finally ate away what little bit of life she had left. Part of what led to my de-conversion to Christianity was that the God that I prayed to every night refused to heal her, despite the fact that he could easily have done it, without any effort at all, or at least taken some of the pain away. Yet for whatever reason, this "wonderful" "loving" god everyone carried on and on about started looking more and more sinister, preferring to watch indifferently as the cancer ate away at her like a pack of hungry wolves.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

First off let me say I am sorry if I offend anyone. I merely have a question. my mother passed away from ovarian cancer, it was quick but very painful. why does he let those suffer?

My opinion:

This reality we're experiencing is inbetween being a purgatory and hell, although there are brief moments of pleasure and beauty. It's a place of suffering and enslavement. Whatever created and maintains this state of affairs - whether it be negative ETs, interdimensional entities, "gods" or the universe itself - is not compassionate and doesn't care about us. We're just vessels for them to feed off of our energy. Many Gnostics believe that there is a Most High God who is perfect and loving (doesn't have to be a god but a state of reality beyond this one), but is not within this realm and can only send messengers such as Christ (the Gnostic one -not the one found in mainstream Christianity) and Lucifer to impart the Gnosis needed to Ascend back to the Higher Realms.

Just another viewpoint to consider. Makes more sense to me than what we're usually told.

 

[Triumphant_Loser]

My opinion:

This reality we're experiencing is inbetween being a purgatory and hell, although there are brief moments of pleasure and beauty. It's a place of suffering and enslavement. Whatever created and maintains this state of affairs - whether it be negative ETs, interdimensional entities, "gods" or the universe itself - is not compassionate and doesn't care about us. We're just vessels for them to feed off of our energy. Many Gnostics believe that there is a Most High God who is perfect and loving (doesn't have to be a god but a state of reality beyond this one), but is not within this realm and can only send messengers such as Christ (the Gnostic one -not the one found in mainstream Christianity) and Lucifer to impart the Gnosis needed to Ascend back to the Higher Realms.

Just another viewpoint to consider. Makes more sense to me than what we're usually told.

So, do you believe that god(s) created this Earth specifically as a purgatory for us, or was it by some other means that it became this way?

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

So, do you believe that god(s) created this Earth specifically as a purgatory for us, or was it by some other means that it became this way?

I think that this reality was probably hijacked by negative entities.

 

[outhouse]

why does he let those suffer?

Who is he?


And which "he" you talking about?


Because the god of the Jews is not the god of Christianity and that is not the god of islam

The 3 are very distinct different deities



I would blame it on nature, and not involve mythology into your loss, unless you find comfort in it.


My dad passing played a role in my lack of beliefs.

 

[Etritonakin]

If those who believe there is no God are correct, what happened simply happened.

If God is as he declared himself to be in the scriptures, your loved ones will be resurrected. They will have had the experience of this short lifetime, and from that -along with all of human history -can discern that God is who he says he is.

When you are thinking about such things is a good time to read the scriptures -because they do contain the answers -and the answers are likely not what you've heard (especially about heaven/hell, etc...).

The belief that we go to "heaven" or "hell" -or even purgatory -immediately after death is not biblical.
The possibility exists that God could cause some to cease to exist -to destroy both body and spirit, but those would be the sort which would not be missed.
When the various verses of the bible on the subject are considered together (very important), there is far more hope for all than many believe.

So -why does God allow suffering? Why does he not make himself known to all by appearing to all?

The short answer is that God has made himself known in the past, and man consistently chose suffering and rejected God -though mostly in ignorance.

God actually could manage everything perfectly (create a perfect system) -and teach us to do so (and to not mess up his creations or ourselves).
This is essentially the "tree of life".

Because man in general would have continued to reject God, we now experience the results of the choices of others and ourselves -in ignorance of the things of God.
This is essentially the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

However, even though God seems absent, we also experience judgments from God which actually keep us from messing things up too much (how quickly might we have developed nuclear weapons, etc. had God not disrupted communications and knowledge-sharing at Babel?)
Those judgments also include experiencing very unpleasant things which cause us to learn more quickly than we otherwise would -but even then, they are nothing compared to the state of misery which man would produce without any action by God. We would experience very bad things anyway. God is actually minimizing such -but also allowing enough for us to get the point.

It seems harsh -and the realities of life are indeed very harsh. However, God is compassionate, loving, etc., and knows that the eventual permanent results far outweigh this temporary experience -especially considering that there is nothing that cannot be made right -and that the former things will not be remembered.

God's purpose for man is that they eventually become like God. This -as with most any worthwhile
creation -requires extreme pressures and forces, time, much effort and attention to detail.

God could have made all humans comfortable -kept them from all pain -but this would have required that he take individual choice and creativity from them. It would also mean that he could not make them GODS.

1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

 

[Blackmarch]

First off let me say I am sorry if I offend anyone. I merely have a question. my mother passed away from ovarian cancer, it was quick but very painful. why does he let those suffer?

Part of the reason we are here is to both know joy and sorrow. God has to allow everything to the freedom to operate within their bounds, unfortunately that means sometimes that the actions of some things will be negative or destructive to others.