Where is your God?!

reply to post by Republican08


conversation getting too deep.

Originally posted by platipus
reply to post by Republican08

 

conversation getting too deep.

'

touche, night getting a too late.

If you want, will pick up tomorrow, at a more convenient hour.

reply to post by Republican08


i ment u'll have to find out the rest on ur own ;p

My god lives in us all,spiritually of course,runnin through every sinlge soul their is to make us function everyday. And for your story u think i want to think about that sick craped you named every day when i wake up or when i'm doing some thing,God has nothing to do with the choices of mankind.just becuase the wrong thing happens doesn't mean he's not there.and whats wrong with being happy,every day u walk out your door,theirs a chance u may not make it home that night with all the sickos out there, and what not ,but am i gonna let it get me down no im gonna live my life,the happiest way i can, and that article u wrote is a blank bullet,weak son weak.

www.gotquestions.org...



"Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?"

Answer: This is one of the most difficult questions in all of theology. God is eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Why should human beings (not eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent) expect to be able to fully understand God’s ways? The book of Job deals with this issue. God had allowed Satan to do everything he wanted to Job except kill him. What was Job’s reaction? “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15). “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21). Job did not understand why God had allowed the things He did, but he knew God was good and therefore continued to trust in Him. Ultimately, that should be our reaction as well.

Why do bad things happen to good people? The biblical answer is there are no “good” people. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that all of us are tainted by and infected with sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 6:23; 1 John 1:8). Romans 3:10-18 could not be clearer about the non-existence of “good” people: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Every human being on this planet deserves to be thrown into hell at this very moment. Every second we spend alive is only by the grace and mercy of God. Even the most terrible misery we could experience on this planet is merciful compared to what we deserve, eternal hell in the lake of fire.

A better question would be “Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?” Romans 5:8 declares, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Despite the evil, wicked, sinful nature of the people of this world, God still loves us. He loved us enough to die to take the penalty for our sins (Romans 6:23). If we receive Jesus Christ as Savior (John 3:16; Romans 10:9), we will be forgiven and promised an eternal home in heaven (Romans 8:1). What we deserve is hell. What we are given is eternal life in heaven if we come to Christ in faith.

Yes, sometimes bad things happen to people who seem undeserving of them. But God allows things to happen for His reasons, whether or not we understand them. Above all, however, we must remember that God is good, just, loving, and merciful. Often things happen to us that we simply cannot understand. However, instead of doubting God's goodness, our reaction should be to trust Him. ”Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).



www.gotquestions.org...



Why did God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden?"

Answer: God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden to give Adam and Eve a choice to obey Him or disobey Him. Adam and Eve were free to do anything they wanted, except eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17, “And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.’” If God had not given Adam and Eve the choice, they would have essentially been robots, simply doing what they were programmed to do. God created Adam and Eve to be “free” beings, able to make decisions, able to choose between good and evil. In order for Adam and Eve to truly be free, they had to have a choice.

There was nothing essentially evil about the tree or the fruit of the tree. It is unlikely that eating the fruit truly gave Adam and Eve any further knowledge. It was the act of disobedience that opened Adam and Eve’s eyes to evil. Their sin of disobeying God brought sin and evil into the world and into their lives. Eating the fruit, as an act of disobedience against God, was what gave Adam and Eve knowledge of evil (Genesis 3:6-7).

God did not want Adam and Eve to sin. God knew ahead of time what the results of sin would be. God knew that Adam and Eve would sin and would thereby bring evil, suffering, and death into the world. Why, then, did God allow Satan to tempt Adam and Eve? God allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve to force them to make the choice. Adam and Eve chose, of their own free will, to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit. The results—evil, sin, suffering, sickness, and death—have plagued the world ever since. Adam and Eve's decision results in every person being born with a sin nature, a tendency to sin. Adam and Eve's decision is what ultimately required Jesus Christ to die on the cross and shed His blood on our behalf. Through faith in Christ, we can be free from sin's consequences, and ultimately free from sin itself. May we echo the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:24-25, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”





www.gotquestions.org...



WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUFFERING



22 results found containing all search terms. 1614 results found containing some search terms.


164 pages of results.
1. Why do so many people have to experience terrible suffering before death?
Why do so many people have to experience terrible suffering before death? Why does God allow some believers so suffer so painfully before death?
URL: www.gotquestions.org...
2. Why does God allow sickness?
Why does God allow sickness? Does God always bring about good from bad things that happen to us?
URL: www.gotquestions.org...
3. Why does God allow natural disasters, i.e. earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis?
Why does God allow natural disasters, i.e. earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis? Earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, typhoon, mudslide, cyclone?
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4. Why does God allow the innocent to suffer?
Why does God allow the innocent to suffer? I don't understand why God allows the innocent to be hurt.
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5. Why won't God heal amputees?
Why won't God heal amputees? Is the fact the amputees are not healed evidence that prayer is worthless and/or that God does not exist?
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6. Is God cruel?
Is God cruel? Does God have callous indifference to, or take pleasure in, causing pain and suffering?
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7. Why does God allow us to go through trials and tribulations?
Why does God allow us to go through trials and tribulations? What is the purpose of God allowing trials and tribulations in our lives?
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8. Did God create evil?
Did God create evil? How did evil come into existence if God did not create it?
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9. Why did Satan think he could defeat God?
Why did Satan think he could defeat God? Doesn't Satan know that his war against God is a lost cause?
URL: www.gotquestions.org...
10. Where was God on September 11?
Where was God on September 11th? Why did God allow September 11th to happen? Was 911 a judgment from God?

You know, nobody is going to convince anybody on a forum that there is or is not a God. I certaintly feel like God is getting a bad rap here, but in the end, everything will be sorted out. It says in the bible that every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. You can be on His side, or against Him, but you will know at the end of your life that there is a God, a loving God;there is absolute truth out there, and that truth is Jesus.

I think Ive added to this thread a few thousand pages back, but...

I seriously do not understand how people have come to the conclusion that God is so brilliant that we will never have any hope of understanding why he does what he does. We've come a long way on the basis of questioning the world around us and trying to understand how things work. Its in our nature to do it. How is it possible that the 'thing' that created us does not want/hasnt made it possible for us to understand them?

Also, adding to the whole noah's ark scenario, us being punished because of adam & eve and Jesus dying a horrible painful death for us... are people really comfortable not understanding fully why all these punishments were given out? Do you not feel a little uneasy knowing that God could decide to just end things because we've been a little bit naughty?

And yea no one's going to be able to convince anyone either way... but at least its an opportunity to try and see things from other peoples point of view, and either clarify or lead people to seriously question their beliefs!

This is why we have the gift of mortality.

You eventually die and move on...

Hell can exist on earth, but fortunately we can never be trapped.

You die, and you move forward.

Originally posted by forwhomthebelltolls
You know, nobody is going to convince anybody on a forum that there is or is not a God. I certaintly feel like God is getting a bad rap here, but in the end, everything will be sorted out. It says in the bible that every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. You can be on His side, or against Him, but you will know at the end of your life that there is a God, a loving God;there is absolute truth out there, and that truth is Jesus.

Absolutely correct. We can't convince anyone God exists. God reveals Himself when a person genuinely desires to know Him and it is a humbling experience because once He's in your heart He will stay forever. We still make mistakes and sin, however this is the reason Christ died for us...He paid our debt in full on the cross.



Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace that you have been saved thru faith and this is not from yourselves but is a gift of God, not by works so that no man can boast

God this god that? there is no GOD, never was one never will be.
Can`t u get the Church brainwash out of your head? after 2000 years maybe it is to much to ask from a species that has been killing each other since man came to earth.

Originally posted by Bluebelle
I think Ive added to this thread a few thousand pages back, but...

I seriously do not understand how people have come to the conclusion that God is so brilliant that we will never have any hope of understanding why he does what he does. We've come a long way on the basis of questioning the world around us and trying to understand how things work. Its in our nature to do it. How is it possible that the 'thing' that created us does not want/hasnt made it possible for us to understand them?

Also, adding to the whole noah's ark scenario, us being punished because of adam & eve and Jesus dying a horrible painful death for us... are people really comfortable not understanding fully why all these punishments were given out? Do you not feel a little uneasy knowing that God could decide to just end things because we've been a little bit naughty?

And yea no one's going to be able to convince anyone either way... but at least its an opportunity to try and see things from other peoples point of view, and either clarify or lead people to seriously question their beliefs!

I really like the concept you put forward here. As a response, i would say that in my belief system, we have to have an unknowable God, othersie our own individuality and freedom of choice is dimished.

If we knew God's nature for certain we would know how to act. As it stands, people tell us how to act, but who are they? If we knew of a God we couldnt deny their existance. Hence, a lack of freedom of thought.

As for the Bible, it is filled with half-truths and twised truths. Anyone who thinks it is complete and utter truth is quiet frankly an idiot. Look it up, cannonization of the Bible. Take it as a guide, but make up your own opinions, study it for logical coherance. Any propostitions that are based on "ideas" should be disregarded. For example WHY is it wrong to steal?

Thas just my 2c.

Originally posted by Wookiep

Originally posted by Titen-Sxull
reply to post by Republican08

 

"Suffering is caused by men, God gave us free will." (even though an All-Powerful God could never truly give something free will)

Why not? I think an all-powerful God can do whatever he wants. Who are we to say that he can't or hasn't *limited* himself in the sense that he does not allow himself to make choices for us? If we *didn't* have free-will then all "religions" are pointless. I think if we were to quote general scriptures of all "religious" documents, I'm willing to bet we would find very solid evidence that we are intended to have "free-will" by Gods pourpose.

[edit on 18-8-2009 by Wookiep]

The only fly in the ointment when it comes to an all-knowing god and free will is that if he knows everything... past, present and future... then our choices make zero difference. It leaves the realm of free will and enters into destiny.

And if God knows eons before I'm even born that he is going to create me, knowing the choices I will make in advance, then I no longer have a choice. It was his choice all along, because god can't be surprised and he can't be wrong. And if I roast in hell for eternity, he knew that in advance too... and created me knowing that I was destined to suffer for eternity.

At that point it leaves the realm of benevolence and into the realm of sadistic psychopath.

yes, where is your god now mf!@$¨&

man, the world is an evil place .. really... there are a lot of sick bastards ... and there is nothing we can do to stop it ... they always will be

Originally posted by Lois
www.gotquestions.org...



"Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?"

the answer is THERE IS NO GOD, not like every religion is expecting

off course there may be something greater but that doesnt man that some guy appeared and made miracles on earth .. really ...religion is bull#, religion is something made to make money .. thats it my friend, sorry, thats the reality, if you didnt realized that, I hope you do someday...



[edit on 25-8-2009 by Faiol]

reply to post by Angus123

And if God knows eons before I'm even born that he is going to create me, knowing the choices I will make in advance, then I no longer have a choice. It was his choice all along, because god can't be surprised and he can't be wrong.

God's knowledge of an event doesn't cause that event to happen. It's like watching a movie you've already seen. You know what's going to happen, but that doesn't cause those things to happen; they just happen. I could choose to get up (after posting this) and either watch TV or read a novel. God's knowledge doesn't influence my decision. I am free to do either activity; God knows which one I'll choose, but I'm still free to choose one.

The only way it could be destiny is if you knew what God knew about your future choices.

You're right mate. It can be a cruel cruel world ay... but hey, it's the only one we've got. Everyone's gotta stick together and do the right thing. The thing is, everyone doesn't. That's where things go wrong.

It's a sad thing to know of these things. My ex girlfriend got raped a year ago by a few guys out in the bush. Her little brother was molested by a 40 year old guy too. And her mum... She's been raped and bashed too. This is a good family I'm talking about, and yet all of this happens.

There are a many many bad people in this world. Too many, that's why we need to do our part. We need to be the good people. We need to step in when we see wrong-doings occuring.

Peace be with you my brother.

reply to post by Totakeke


Poor argument to back up free will and an all-knowing god.

Angus, i believe you have a very valid point. It seems contradictory to say "all-knowing god" and "we have Free will".

Firstly, what i would do is challenge what is meant by all knowing. If God for example, knew your psyche, knew your thoughts, how you came to those decisions, sees your flaws and so on. Then no He doesnt know what choice you are going to make, but we are rather predictable.

I personally believe, that if someone was trying to uphold an all-knowing god and that we have free will, they wouldnt be able to do it. Rather, id say god's all-loving nature superseed's his all-knowingness to the point where, he lovingly gave up, through his own concious choice (not that he/she/it is a person) part of their all knowing ability, so that he could enable us to have free will "to know what its like to be Gods", rather than be puppets.

God still understands us, still see's our reasoning, our choices, to the same level that we understand ourselves. And so, id say in most cases He also knows the "most likely" thing to occur. I am not a hard determinist or liberalist, I prefer to use Aristotle's principle of the mean and think its more logical to believe in soft determinism. ( agood example would be a heroin addict. They are bound to abuse, and here we can see that drug addicts are hard determined in their actions, however at the same level we have the ability to change if we truely want to.)

If you look at it in such a way, that our perception of this reality, our family, our influences, hence our core values and so on and so forth are determined by God, through his choice of person your soul resides in, then He truely does know all. He knows what big obstacles you are going to face, when you will die etc. Fate and destiny are two different things.

Destiny is what WE choose. Fate is already decided. It was your fate to be the person you are, the family you grew up in, the values that were instilled in you, you were fated to live a life of a certain amount of breaths.

You see where im trying to come from? No way would I argue for the God of Classical theism, but i take from it what truths i believe it to hold, use it as a guideline to establish my own ideas of the world. Religious texts are previous thoughts of many great minds, which are now manipulated to ensnare and controll billions of people.

all interesting opinions except the 1s that say "there is no god" straight with no background and reasoning.

reply to post by platipus


They arent interesting because they are what they are, no thought process etc. Those people just believe the universe is here, thats it, get on with it.

reply to post by Toughiv


thats pretty obvious but u should kno wat i mean.

reply to post by Republican08


I have an interesting theory on this. I have to state though that although am consider myself open to spirituality, I don't actually have a faith. I’m in search of the truth....if there is one. There is either something bigger than us, or we are just worm food at the end. Either way, lets try to enjoy the ride. Also, I’m ex Christian. Born again and died shortly after. Bible / Torah does not make good reading, I don't need a god who commands people to build WMD's (Arc) and blow trumpets around Jerusalem then commit mass murder. There's enough killing and pain on a human level I would not expect it from God. I do believe there is something out there though, after all, Humans I don't think could have gone from knuckle dragging apes to space flight, religion, writing, language and thought in 50,000 years. In the grand scheme of evolution , its too fast. Also, how does a butterfly know how to colour its wings in such a way so that they look like eyes when joined together (To scare off predators) if it has never had the ability to see them. So maybe there is some underlying intellect /choice built in evolution as well....one for another time that one.

However, my theory is this.

Zen Buddhism teaches the theory of Yin and Yang. Where there is day , there is night, where there is good there is bad...and so on. For everything there is an opposite. Also, in order to grow...as a species here....we need to evolve on several levels. If I were in charge (God) I would teach my creation through the principles of Yin and Yang.

So what does that mean?.

Well I don't know if I could evolve happiness without knowing what sadness feels like.

Would I develop compassion without the existence of situations to feel compassionate. i.e. A child dies horribly after birth leaving the parents and family distraught, however, all the people around them feel compassion and develop more understanding about supporting their fellow man.

If you are an anxious person and want to feel brave, do you simply get that feeling of being brave. Or are you provided with opportunities to be brave and grow into that feeling.

What do you do when someone is angry or upset. You try and bring them peace. Without the chance to bring comfort to someone, you may not develop the character of peacefulness.

I guess with all the crap in the world, if this not a chance for us to globally counter it with something good. So, in the UK should 7/11 been a chance to spread hatred and war, or should we see it as a chance to bring peace and understanding.

Evil and bad things I guess are road signs letting us know we are on the wrong path. Or, they have to exist so the opposite can exist...being good. I struggle a little with my own philosophy here, but if I imagine life as eternal , and that we never die (After all consciousness is not made up of matter) then maybe our consciousness never dies, it simply evolves until it reaches perfection (God head)....which might take repeated attempts. in multiple lives and dimensions.

So perhaps Earth is a giant class room and you are in year 1. Once we have learned the lessons we need, both good and bad, we move onto the next level.

God , if there is one, must find infinity difficult to maintain. So if each and every human evolves to god head. And we are selves become masters of creation when we have reached perfection, there is plenty of space for us all to create our own universe and dimension. And we in turn become the teachers of lessons, both good and bad, to make sure that our own creations reach their full potential. However, if there is nothing else but 80 years of life then you die, then forget the above and get what you can when you can.

My answer to what life is, is simple: Be Happy, and bring happiness to others. Im sure we know how to fill in the gaps from there.