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To: Ward Smythe
So God is responsible for the evil of the Soviet Union? God is responsible for Hitler? God is responsible for 9-11? For Osama Bin Laden?

In case you had not noticed, God was responsible for granting men free will -- even though He knew that men would use it for all those evil things.

And He didn't have to Create at all. And, given that He did resolve to Create, He certainly did not have to create Lenin. You may refuse to admit God's Sovereignty over men's salvation, but I certainly think you ought admit His Sovereignty over their conception. Foreknowing that the birth of Lenin would bring about the murders of hundreds of millions, and ultimately result in Lenin's being thrown into Hell... and foreknowing that just the most microscopic of changes in the Divine Design would prevent Lenin's ever being born (one sperm, one egg, slightly different environmental factors on one day of history), or result in an entirely different Lenin... God nonetheless decided that this Lenin (the one He actually ordained to create) should be brought into the world, that Lenin should (freely) choose to make the evil choices which He would make (though God could have created him differently, or introduced different Graces into his life), and be thrown into Hell at the end of his days.

Lenin's choices were freely made, by Lenin. Likewise, God's choice to create Lenin at all, and ordain the creation of Lenin as He did -- with full foreknowledge of what choices Lenin would make if created one way, or another, if some circumstances were brought into his life, or different -- was a choice freely made by God.

So, ultimately, yes -- God is responsible for everything.


213 posted on 02/27/2002 10:46:28 AM PST by OrthodoxPresbyterian
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To: OrthodoxPresbyterian
You may refuse to admit God's Sovereignty over men's salvation

I have never refused that. Nor did Wesley. I addressed my point in Post #178.

230 posted on 02/27/2002 11:14:13 AM PST by Ward Smythe
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To: OrthodoxPresbyterian
Sorry, that verse is out of context as you use it.

The evil that is referred to is not moral evil (see James 1:13), but in contrast to peace in the parallel clause as in war and disaster (compare to Ps 65:7, Am 3:6)

375 posted on 02/28/2002 12:28:49 AM PST by raygun
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