Is there a God?
This time of the year has got me thinking about God.
Such as is there one? I keep thinking if there was why would such terrible things keep happening in this world. Yes I know about free will but (there always seems to be a but) if he/she (and how do we know God is not a she?) is Omnipotent then God should be able to stop all these things happening.
If God was a loving and good God as the bible says then God could if he/she wanted intervene...God doesn't, or maybe there is a God but it is still the jealous vengeful God of the Old Testament.
So lets ask some questions..
If there was a loving God why would God allow terrible things to happen?
If there was a loving Omnipotent God then God could stop all this why hasn't he/she,? could it be that God is not so loving and forgiving.?
If there was a loving God then why allow such terrible things in his/her name?
God is meant to be perfect and created man in his image, so why has man got flaws? does this mean God has as well?
God is perfect and therefore everything he/she does is, God is all knowing and therefore knows what his/her future actions are going to be, if God doesn't know this then he/she are not Omnipotent. So God cannot change his/her mind because that would mean he/she are not all knowing... so God has not got free will, how did God give us something he/she doesn't posess?
So do we have an Omnipotent loving God who if he/she wished could intervene and makes things better for makind, but doesn't...which says God is not that loving..
Or we have an Omnipotent God that isn't perfect so therefore cannot be God because God is perfect.
Of course there could be two Gods one loving and forgiving of the New Testament and one a jealous and vengeful of the Old Testament...and if this is the case I would hazard a guess at which one is the more powerful one.
Hi, I've just been reading your blog and thought you were asking some very interesting questions! Obviously I don't have all the answers, but I thought I'd share with you what I believe.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to the first question, 'If there was a loving God why would God allow terrible things to happen?'. I think the problem seems to be that it doesn't seem to add up having a 'loving' God who at the same time causes suffering? If you take the example of a parent/child relationship, the parent loves the child, but disciplines them to keep them in control. They still love the child, but they need to be hard on them in order to be kind to them. If the parent doesn't discipline the child, then the child will grow up to be spoilt and unruly. Therefore, it would be cruel and unloving for the parent not to discipline them. I'm not going to pretend I completely understand why God causes suffering, but I know that when he does it, he does it out of love. But I can understand how hard that is to grasp.
That leads us on to the question 'If there was a loving Omnipotent God then God could stop all this why hasn't he/she,? could it be that God is not so loving and forgiving.?'. Yes, I believe that God can stop suffering. I also know that he does stop suffering, for example, I know of a couple whose cancer completely went away. Also, God gave us science and medicine so that we can use it to relieve illness. But no, God doesn't stop all the suffering.
Paul said in Romans 5:3-4 'we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope'. Suffering can make us grow: people learn from it.
Back to the last half of the question, 'could it be that God is not so loving and forgiving.?'. I wouldn't say so, no. God has gone out of his way to be loving and forgiving. It's coming up to Christmas. Christmas is all about celebrating what amazing love and forgiveness God showed to us- by sending Jesus for us: 'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.' (John 3:16). Suffering on Earth is as it says: limited to Earth. God, by sending Jesus, showed his ultimate love by taking away our eternal suffering after we die, if we have faith in him. That isn't the act of a vindictive God.
I'm going to stop there, but I'd like to hear what you think about all that. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Hi absolute,
ReplyDeleteYes I understand about discipline being a parent myself. But discipline to show a child the errors of their ways is different to the suffering that we have here on earth. In my mind I see it as if it was a loving God, why would he/she allow wars in his/her name? We all know that war solves nothing. It perpetuates more suffering,and normally is the old and the young that suffer the most. What good is hope to those that are starving, and dying. What good is hope to a child who lives on the street and survives by scavenging on rubbish tips, knowing they can be killed at any moment and by those who are meant to be helping them?
Does God really think a child suffering is a good thing because....we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope'. Suffering can make us grow: people learn from it. Sorry I just can't get that.
I believe that mankind is going backwards not forwards, is this what God wants?
Christmas to me is meant to be about peace on earth and goodwill to all men, but not everyone celebrates this, and why is it just at Christmas surely if God wanted he/she could make it so this happens all the time.
I also believe that as long as you live a good life, then you will get to "heaven" whether you believe in God or not, and to be honest even if you don't you will still get to another plane of existence. If there is a hell I think we are there now....
See this is where I wonder if it is a truly loving god that we are meant to have..
Ah. Sorry. I was thinking more of individual/personal suffering. I don't know why there are wars and poverty. I'm sure there are a few reasons that could explain it, for example it could be a way to show us how messed up we are and how we need God - the reason behind wars being that there is sin in the world. But I'm sure that leaves the question: what about the innocent victims of war? Truthfully, I don't know. I don't understand where things like wars and poverty fit into God's plan. But I know that God can be trusted. It says in Isaiah 66:9 '"In the same way I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born," says the Lord'.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI really don't believe a loving God would show us how messed up we are by letting make war on each other.
I know that poverty and wars are man made....in saying that though. don't forget there was meant to be a war in heaven where Lucifer was cast out... So if God can make war why would he/she stop us?
As for poverty, if all countries came together as one, after all we are all humankind, then it could be wiped out, and so could wars.
I'm a dreamer I know :-)