Posted on 09/17/2001 12:48:19 PM PDT by RnMomof7
WHY DOES GOD ALLOW EVIL?
Pastor Rick Warren
Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA.
Tuesday’s horrific mass murder of innocent Americans leaves all rational people shocked, angry, grief-stricken, and numb. Our tears flow freely and our hearts carry a deep ache. How could this happen in our nation?
As mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors, and co-workers begin to share their stories of the horror, this tragedy will be become even more personal. As this tragedy becomes more personal, it will become more painful and as our pain deepens, so will the questions. Why does God allow evil to happen? If God is so great, and so good, why does he allow human beings to hurt each other?
The answer lies in both our greatest blessing and our worst curse: our capacity to make choices. God has given us a free will. Made in God’s image, he has given us the freedom to decide how we will act and the ability to make moral choices. This is one asset that sets us apart from animals, but it also is the source of so much pain in our world. People, and that includes all of us, often make selfish, self-centered, and evil choices. Whenever that happens, people get hurt. Sin is ultimately selfishness. I want to do what I want, not what God tells me to do. Unfortunately, sin always hurts others, not just ourselves.
God could have eliminated all evil from our world by simply removing our ability to choose it. He could have made us puppets, or marionettes on strings that he pulls. By taking away our ability to choose it , evil would vanish. But God doesn’t want us to be puppets. He wants to be loved and obeyed by creatures who voluntarily choose to do so. Love is not genuine if there is no other option.
Yes, God could have kept the terrorist from completing their suicidal missions by removing their ability to choose their own will instead of his. But to be fair, God would also have to do that to all of us. You and I are not terrorists, but we do harm and hurt others with our own selfish decisions and actions.
You may hear misguided minds say “This must have been God’s will.” Nonsense! In a world of free choices, God’s will is rarely done! Doing our own will is much more common. Don’t blame God for this tragedy. Blame people who ignored what God has told us to do: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
In heaven, God’s will is done perfectly. That’s why there is no sorrow, pain, or evil there. But this is earth, a fallen, imperfect place. We must choose to do God’s will everyday. It isn’t automatic. This is why Jesus told us to pray “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
The Bible explains the root of evil: “This is the crisis we're in: God’s light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness...because they were not really interested in pleasing God.” ( John 3:19 Message Translation) We’re far more interested in pleasing ourselves.
There are many other questions that race through our minds during dark days. But the answers will not come from pollsters, pundits, or politicians. We must look to God and his Word. We must humble ourselves and admit that each of us often choose to ignore what God wants us to do.
No doubt this weekend houses of worship across America will be packed.
In a crisis we cry out for a connection with our Creator. This is a deep-seated, universal urge. The first words uttered by millions on Tuesday were “Oh God!” We were made for a relationship with God but he waits for us to choose him. He is ready to comfort, guide, and direct us through our grief. My prayer is that you will attend a house of worship this weekend and reconnect with God. But it’s your choice.
Dr. Rick Warren is founding pastor of America’s second largest congregation, Saddleback Church, in Lake Forest, CA.
Specifically refuted in the Scriptures:
Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I, the LORD, do all these things.God created evil. To suggest that He cannot control His own creation is eternally dangerous.
Revelation 4 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:God is not a battery; there is no such thing as the Divine Power Density. All things have existence only because of the Will of God for His Glory.
"You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created."
He hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.
And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell, and having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself -- by Him, I say, whether they be things on earth or things in heaven.
I think you missed OrthodoxPresbyterian's point. GWB claims to be in the mainstream of Reformation theologians with his interpretation of Hebrews 10:14. But he is not in the mainstream.
And the matter of public interpretations versus private interpretations becomes even more curious when we notice that Hebrews 10:14 definitely does present exactly what OrthodoxPresbyterian and the Reformed mainstream theologians have said about the verse.
So, let's call OP's interpretation "private." And let's call the interpretation by the Reformed mainstream "private." Okay, then, OP would say (and I would agree) that this "private interpretation" (using your language) is God's Own meaning.
This reminds us that the point of the Bible's warning about private interpretations is that there is a correct interpretation for any given text and that there will always be incorrect interpretations. The correct interpretation may have quite a few facets to it, but we are not allowed to assert Adamic interpretations which miss the important interpretive points.
That's all OP was saying. That's all I am saying. We don't argue that the Calvinistic mainstream is bound to be correct just because it is the mainstream. We merely notice that the Calvinistic mainstream is correct. And we are not going to let GWB claim to be in the mainstream when he is not in the mainstream.
Besides, we have noticed that he is incorrect. (The funny thing is, the fact that he is incorrect is not the main issue in the controversy--and never really was. The whole thing is weird, especially for newcomers to the thread.)
One of my favorite examples of such speculation is provocative, subversive and highly effective at taming our wandering ways. It comes in the form of a poem by highly-acclaimed poet and Vanderbilt Professor of English Mark Jarman. Jarman playfully pens a poem entitled:
"Unholy Sonnet 12:"
There was a pious man upright as Job,
In fact, more pious, more upright, who prayed
The way most people thoughtlessly enjoy
Their stream of consciousness. He concentrated
On glorifying God, as some men let
Their minds create and fondle curving shadows.
And as he gained in bumper crops and cattle,
He greeted each success with grave amens.
So he was shocked, returning from the bank,
To see a flood bearing his farm away--
His cows, his kids, his wife, and all his stuff.
Swept off his feet, he cried out, "Why?" and sank.
And God grumped from his rain cloud, "I can't say.
Just something about you pisses me off."
I don't use them very much either. I never have. As Spurgeon said, the minister of the gospel needs to very, very strong in the BIBLE ITSELF. And since I haven't had all that much time, due to various life circumstances, to devote to the scholarly tomes, I have tended to devote more time to devotional contemplations of the Biblical texts standing more or less alone.
Commentaries have their place, and I don't just shun them by any means, but one of the marks of regeneration is that of having another more direct tie to the Word of God!
(I still try to be generally aware of what Whitefield believed AND what Wesley believed; of what Calvin believed AND what Arminius believed; of what Luther believed AND what Erasmus believed; of what Augustine believed AND what Pelagius believed.
I'm sure you know what I am talking about in this.)
****
Occasionally I discover things in the Bible and then check out the commentaries to see if anyone has noticed what I am noticing--only to discover that the commentators have overlooked some important ideas.
Regards,
It depends on how you define "God".
A Scofield KJV was my first "teaching bible" I purchased about a year after being saved.I didn't even know until that last couple of years that there was such a thing as commentaries..(after 20 years you think I would have known that :>) Imagine my happiness when I realized that alot of my notes were similar.....that is grace!
How do you define God?
What a gnostic thing to say. So, you think that God is the energizer bunny and now you think that God is further constrained so that he cannot communicate through His written word.
Just curious; is Jesus Almighty God?
So, what far eastern spiritual garbage would be your particular kind?
BTW, the Scripture that I quoted to you earlier shreds this junk as well.
That is gobbly gook...Who is God to you?
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