Replies

A person gets in a serious car wreck. She barely escapes with her life. But she thanks God that she lived and only has a broken back. Excuse me, serious question here. If God was looking out for her why did he let her get in a car wreck at all? It makes no sense.

The short answer would be that God is a not a goody-dispenser and that you're missing the point of life.

The longer answer can be (partially) explained with Pascal's Wager.

Pascal's Wager is roughly as follows. (Forgive me for oversimplifing it)

Either there is a God (omnipresent, omnipotent, benevolent, however you want to define it) or there is no God.
If there is a God and you believe, you receive his benefits (heaven, nirvana, eternal life, reincarnation, 72 virgins, however you define it). If you dont believe, you receive his punishment (hell, bad karma, reincarnated as an ant, however you define it.)
If there is no God nothing happens. You simply die.

Pascal says you should wager on the former because the upside can be very good. And if you're wrong nothing happens anyway.

Now before you think about it too hard, here is a heads up: Pascal's Wager is bogus. It is a compelling Mr.Spock-type argument to throw at an agnostic or an atheist. However if you do believe in God as he is known in the major world religions, you will be able to identify the faulty premise of the argument.

Most of the Christians can probably pick out the flaw right away. However an atheist typically can't.

Answer:

The flaw in Pascal's Wager is selfishness.

It can be summed up in Job 1:9-10. Basically Satan was claiming that Job is sucking up to God to score points, like an employee brown-nosing the boss. But God doesn't want that. He wants us to love God, not his goodies. So to show Satan his accusation is wrong God inflicts great suffering on Job to test him, and to prove to Satan that Job's love of God is independent of Job's fortune or circumstances or rewards.

Thinking of heaven as some sort of eternal playland (which is what Pascal's Wager does) is to miss the point. God wants us to love Him as much as He loves us. It's a relationship. The purpose of heaven is to get closer to God, and He to you.

So the answer is that (perhaps) God saved the woman's life, even with the broken neck, because He knew it would make her stronger spiritally and improve her relationship with Him. Or because she would witness about God's love from her bed in a stronger way than she ever thought possible and bring more people to Him. We will never know the exact reason in this lifetime. All we know is the relationship. That's the key.

“So the answer is that (perhaps) God saved the woman’s life, even with the broken neck, because He knew it would make her stronger spiritally and improve her relationship with Him. Or because she would witness about God’s love from her bed in a stronger way than she ever thought possible and bring more people to Him. We will never know the exact reason in this lifetime. All we know is the relationship. That’s the key. “

This is the standard answer but I just find it inadequate. God permits people to suffer and die in obscurity (billions of them) so we will love him more??? This is an insult to God! A God who is truly God would never do this.

At this moment a huge comet could come crashing into earth and destroy every living thing on the earth. Poof! All gone! There is a caldera under Yellowstone that is 45 miles wide. If it explodes (and it will someday) the USA will be practically wiped off the map. The bubonic plague of the middle ages wiped out about 100 million people. They called out to God, they suffered in agony and they died anyway. The good with the bad.

The fact is most human beings die like flies. God has does nothing to change this. Humans have! It is humans who have improved the quality of life on this planet. I am not saying God is evil or bad, only that if there is a God I don’t pretend to have any idea what God is doing or why God is doing it.