Posted on 09/14/2017 11:26:49 AM PDT by Kaslin
“The judge ignores a whole body of scripture and theology that says God does punish people.”
I don’t think so. He was talking about theodicy, the problem of reconciling the existence of evil with the concept of a loving God.
Most people, I think, are ok with punishment of the guilty. It’s bad things happening to good people for no apparent reason that trips people up.
I don’t think God creates hurricanes. I think natural disasters are part of his creation. It’s like if I create a computer program....say Sim City, and I have disasters turned on. They can randomly happen, or I can destroy my city with them. I think they happen because they are just part of Gods system of creation, or God obviously CAN make them happen. But I think the former is more likely in 99% of natural disasters.
You may want to revisit the book of Job and see what He permits.
All the wildfires, floods, earthquakes and hurricanes we have seen lately could also be birth pangs. Maranatha.
you basically summed up what the link I listed says- He makes the argument that it’s not localized judgments upon certain civilizations, but just a result of sin in general- Had we not sinned in the garden, there wouldn’t be these natural disasters-
Anyways the link is worth a read- but he says what you do and explains it in more detail=-
Yes, if God didn’t dictate the prophecy, they’re no better than Balim.
‘If “this life” stops, it is not necessarily punishment, could be a door to reward.’
yeah it could be...or it could not be...
see how fluid the whole thing is...?
Sorry Judge that is the dumbest question ever
List those you believe exist.
You have to take the bad to be able to apprehend and appreciate the good.
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I think he meant to say “comprehend” instead of “apprehend”. Sometimes our fingers get ahead of our mind.
There is much wisdom in his statement.
The Lord Jesus Christ says we are commanded to be like Him. If we obey the commandments we will become like Jesus and receive, or inherit with Him all that His Father has.
This is not a willy nilly idea. We have come here to learn and obey, to prove ourselves able to handle what God so wants to give us. Our afflictions are for us to learn from. All of us are going to die, don’t think you are going to go through life without something bad happening to you. What you do with what things happen to you is a measure of your maturity in The Gospel. The Lord has told us to be prepared. I don’t believe that just means love The Lord, I believe it also means if you live in a Hurricane prone area then build a house that will withstand the hurricane or move. It means getting medical check-ups, it means getting an education of some type so you are not tossed around by every wind of doctrine so to speak.
If we do those things, if we are prepared by living close to God then when the afflictions come we will try to learn from them or be prepared to not be hurt by them. We will be more prepared to help others when these things happen to them.
We all need to grow from our afflictions and appreciate them for the learning opportunity they are.
To me, the people who cry about God allowing them to have to go through pain and suffering are the same people who believe that since they “accepted” Jesus then they are saved and shouldn’t have to go through pain and suffering. Well The Lord Jesus also tells us to endure to the end. To me you endure hard, difficult things. Life is hard and not always rosy. We need to learn to Love the Lord despite the pain and sufferings, we need to understand what others are going through when we have pain and suffering and be more willing since we understand and have experienced suffering.
Jesus Christ suffered more than you ever will. He understands.
God is perplexed why humans love to build on floodplains.
Why did He allow Barack Obama to be President, not once but twice?
Judge - The reason you ask that question is the reason why.
Read the bible.
They only think they’re good.
It all goes back to fall of man. Not only man was corrupted but the whole creation.
“They only think they’re good.”
I know the theological argument for that, and yes, none of us is without sin.
However, I was talking about the people that others think are good. I didn’t mean “good in their own eyes.”
Because man disobeyed God and SIN entered the world.
There ya go, in a nutshell.
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