Why does my God allow children to die? Is he evil?

[Triumphant_Loser]

That means he cannot make a world where freewill exists and evil does not.

Noted. But what of natural disasters, terminal diseases, and illness? None of these are the result of human free will, yet claim millions of lives. Couldn't God have prevented these? Why does he not? These things are not controlled by the will of humans at all.

 

[Ingledsva]

The amount of "bloodthirsty" God has displayed (even if I attribute what you would blame him with" is dwarfed by many orders of magnitude by what man has done to it's self. This is like a group of death row inmates sitting around discussing the morality of the shoplifters. In fact it is far worse in every aspect. A race that has self imposed an imminent threat of it's own annihilation and has instituted the therapy of vice has no moral credibility.

And your point?


The shoplifter is STILL a shoplifter!


*

 

[Ingledsva]

Since the book written by those sheep herder's is simultaneously the most critiqued and cherished book in history your comments say more about you than people of faith. You have also not shown that witches do not exist (as the bible defines them) nor that a single verse insinuates the earth is flat, much less all of them considered as a single narrative as should be done.

You have basically invented something that does not exist, called it faith, and condemned it. Not much of a foundation to risk your soul on. The stakes are too high for this type of amateurish propaganda based fantasy.

Since visibility is equated with rationality in your mind I guess 99.9% of reality including dark matter, gravity, and the quantum are silly as well. Nice job.

Is there a relevant argument coming at some point. If so lets skip ahead a bit.

Actually it says it is a scribed circle - meaning it is a flat pancake shape, and apparently the heavens are like a tent over the pancake, with God above looking down on us - tiny like bugs/locust, - and I can't figure how the mountains holding things up, figures in.


Edit - thought I should add a verse, or two.



Isa 40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle (chug) of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:


Chug = a flat scribed circle = pancake shape.


Pro 8:26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
Pro 8:27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass (scribed a circle - chaqaq & chug) upon the face of the depth:
Pro 8:29 when He gave to the sea its limit, that the waters should not pass beyond His command; when He decreed (scribed - chaqaq) the foundations of the earth,

Flat Circles are being scribed everywhere.



*

 

[Ingledsva]

It is ridiculous that you have to come up with such scenarios in an attempt to make your God appear sane.


My mother was an extremely nice person, loved by all. She would give the shirt off her back if someone needed it. She belonged to several help the poor organizations, cooked to feed people that need it, etc.

She died of cancer, over several painful years.


This idea of a God controlling, and allowing such, for a purpose - is just BULL!

As I said, I have a loving aunt that died of cancer, and despite her ailment she never lost faith in her God...and for all I know, if your mother was a believer, she is with God right now.

Which would not change one iota of what I said!


This idea of a God controlling, and allowing such, for a purpose - is just BULL!



*

 

[Will Campbell]

Since the book written by those sheep herder's is simultaneously the most critiqued and cherished book in history your comments say more about you than people of faith. You have also not shown that witches do not exist (as the bible defines them) nor that a single verse insinuates the earth is flat, much less all of them considered as a single narrative as should be done.

You have basically invented something that does not exist, called it faith, and condemned it. Not much of a foundation to risk your soul on. The stakes are too high for this type of amateurish propaganda based fantasy.

Since visibility is equated with rationality in your mind I guess 99.9% of reality including dark matter, gravity, and the quantum are silly as well. Nice job.

Is there a relevant argument coming at some point. If so lets skip ahead a bit.

I did not say the bible said the earth was flat.....I said the people who wrote it believed it was flat. Anybody who believes those people were capable of prophesy really has a problem with reality. They didn't even understand what was happening around them much less looking into the future. I want you once again to know what I believe and who one of my heroes is.....you take Jesus and I'll take Einstein:

"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own--a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human fraility. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism. It is enough for me to contemplate the mystery of conscious life perpetuating itself through all eternity, to reflect upon the marvelous structure of the universe which we can dimly perceive, and to try humbly to comprehend even an infinitesimal part of the intelligence manifested in nature." ~Dr. Albert Einstein~

 

[CG Didymus]

Noted. But what of natural disasters, terminal diseases, and illness? None of these are the result of human free will, yet claim millions of lives. Couldn't God have prevented these? Why does he not? These things are not controlled by the will of humans at all.

What's strange is most of the Christians I know believe God does intervene and rescue people from disasters and does heal illnesses. What's stranger still, he supposedly created it all? For the greater good?

1Robin, if you read this, you don't have to get into a long winded explanation trying to justify how you believe your version of Christianity is the truth. I know pretty much what you believe and that's fine. A lot of Christians believe like you and that's fine. Some of us read the Bible and just have to ask, "Can this really be how it is? Is this really the ultimate truth?" And then, we get into the many different ways Christians believe and interpret the Bible. There is no consistency. There is no one literal interpretation that makes sense in every situation. The Book can be and is inspiring to lots of people, great. So are other religious books--the Book of Mormon, the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran, etc. But some Christians say all those books are false and man made. But the Bible isn't? The Bible is the perfect, inerrant, infallible word of God?

For some of us, the Bible is merely another religious book written by men. If believed it can change lives for the better. If believed too literally is can make a person a little bit of a religious fanatic. I would doubt that most professing Christians let their beliefs get too fanatical. They probably have an open mind on a lot of the more controversial Biblical topics. Like: Is God evil? Yes, as described in the Bible. He isn't very nice to have created life, and then punish it with pain and suffering. And then say, it is for the greater good?

 

[Will Campbell]

What's strange is most of the Christians I know believe God does intervene and rescue people from disasters and does heal illnesses. What's stranger still, he supposedly created it all? For the greater good?

1Robin, if you read this, you don't have to get into a long winded explanation trying to justify how you believe your version of Christianity is the truth. I know pretty much what you believe and that's fine. A lot of Christians believe like you and that's fine. Some of us read the Bible and just have to ask, "Can this really be how it is? Is this really the ultimate truth?" And then, we get into the many different ways Christians believe and interpret the Bible. There is no consistency. There is no one literal interpretation that makes sense in every situation. The Book can be and is inspiring to lots of people, great. So are other religious books--the Book of Mormon, the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran, etc. But some Christians say all those books are false and man made. But the Bible isn't? The Bible is the perfect, inerrant, infallible word of God?

For some of us, the Bible is merely another religious book written by men. If believed it can change lives for the better. If believed too literally is can make a person a little bit of a religious fanatic. I would doubt that most professing Christians let their beliefs get too fanatical. They probably have an open mind on a lot of the more controversial Biblical topics. Like: Is God evil? Yes, as described in the Bible. He isn't very nice to have created life, and then punish it with pain and suffering. And then say, it is for the greater good?

Right On!!


Mark 16

18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Again we are hardly in a moral position to judge but lets pretend we are.

Saying that God is perfect is also judging God.

Since God's purpose for the universe is to allow the free choice of accepting him or denying him, then it would be perfect. That same God also fixed a time for that purpose to end and his ultimate purpose to be instated. You will not find any suffering, and sickness, not even death in his permanent role for the universe. His temporary purpose requires freewill, this demands that evil be potentially present.

Wait: so God will eradicate free will eventually?

And if you're arguing that someone or something that starts out perfect will eventually devolve into something at least not entirely good if given the ability to freely choose and enough time, then it occurs to me: isn't God (or at least the God you're hypothesizing) something that started out perfect and was given lots of time and the ability to freely choose?

 

[Call_of_the_Wild]

Which would not change one iota of what I said!


This idea of a God controlling, and allowing such, for a purpose - is just BULL!



*

I wouldn't expect anyone that is not of Christ to understand.

 

[adi2d]

I wouldn't expect anyone that is not of Christ to understand.

Then why do you spend so much time posting?

 

[Will Campbell]

Then why do you spend so much time posting?

Their fairy tale tells them to spread the word. It's their way or the highway. They're even instructed to shake the dust from their feet of those who don't believe the tale .

Mark 16:
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.


Matthew 10
13"If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. 14"Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.

 

[Ingledsva]

...


Matthew 10:14 Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.

I remind the proselytizers that arrive at my door, - of that verse.


It kind of reminds me of -


Don't let the door hit you in the A** on the way out.


*

 

[Will Campbell]

I remind the proselytizers that arrive at my door, - of that verse.


It kind of reminds me of -


Don't let the door hit you in the A** on the way out.


*

I love you and I've never even seen you. It hasn't been more than two months since two old men(probably younger than me) came to my front door handing out Jehovah's Witness brochures. I pulled my hand back and said, "Thanks But I'm Not Superstitious" The guy paused and turned a little red and about half a minute later as they left my driveway and stepped back into the street I yelled, "Don't Forget To Shake My Dust Off Your Feet!" He was about 75-100 ft. away from me but I swear I think I saw him turn redder.

 

[CG Didymus]

Their fairy tale tells them to spread the word. It's their way or the highway. They're even instructed to shake the dust from their feet of those who don't believe the tale .

Mark 16:
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

You passed up a great time. Not only did I get "saved" but healed. I learned another language. Got a magic show. One of them drank poison and the other guy healed him. And then, they did a Hopi Snake dance impression.
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

 

[Call_of_the_Wild]

Then why do you spend so much time posting?

To defend my faith against bible attackers, atheists...agnostics...skeptics...critics.

 

[Will Campbell]

To defend my faith against bible attackers, atheists...agnostics...skeptics...critics.

When you rise up out of your grave, meet your ghost pal floating on a cloud, fly off to a gated community up in heaven, whatever up means, the earth rotates at 1000mph at the equator and up at noon is down at midnight, 'course the people who wrote the fairy tale didn't know that, they thought the earth was flat, anyway, tell ol' Hey Zeus I said hello. Meanwhile kill a few witches and homosexuals and pillory a few disobedient slaves in the public square while you're waiting. What a load of it......I can't believe people in the modern society still fall for that con game. Have you given them your tithe this week?

 

[viole]

I would do whatever God wants me to do.

So, you are not going to call a doctor.

Correct?

Ciao

- viole

 

[CG Didymus]

So, you are not going to call a doctor.

Correct?

Ciao

- viole

Call a doctor? Oh ye of little faith. I've been going to a skin doctor every 6 months to have him check for skin cancer. But what is a little melanoma to the Lord? I think I'll go down to the tongue speaking church instead. It'll cost about the same, maybe a little more? Let's see, I think they want at least 10% minimum tithe, wait a minute, that's about 400 a month! Oh well, it's quite a bit more, but who cares, they have a better guarantee. If they fail in getting me healed, I get to go to heaven to be with Jesus.

 

[Triumphant_Loser]

Call a doctor? Oh ye of little faith. I've been going to a skin doctor every 6 months to have him check for skin cancer. But what is a little melanoma to the Lord? I think I'll go down to the tongue speaking church instead. It'll cost about the same, maybe a little more? Let's see, I think they want at least 10% minimum tithe, wait a minute, that's about 400 a month! Oh well, it's quite a bit more, but who cares, they have a better guarantee. If they fail in getting me healed, I get to go to heaven to be with Jesus.

You could always go to a Pentecostal church, where rubbing olive oil on your head can supposedly cure every illness ever, but only if you "have enough faith." (A.k.a if your immune system happens to kick in around the same time.) Otherwise, your faith "wasn't strong enough." I'm curious to know when an amputee is going to grow some limbs back from faith healing. I guess they aren't "trying hard enough" either.

 

[Call_of_the_Wild]

So, you are not going to call a doctor.

Correct?

Ciao

- viole

If it is God's will that they should be inflicted with cancer to serve his divine purpose, then I doubt calling a doctor would would help any.