| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"NeoTruthSeeker" |
| Date: |
25 Apr 2006 10:31:47 AM |
| Object: |
Re: Why doesn't God end all evil immediately? |
Rolf Ruhig wrote:
In article <18683-3F20BDD9-293@storefull-2193.public.lawson.webtv.net>,
MemberOfHeart@webtv.net (Member Of Heart .) wrote:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
AS GREAT EPICURUS SAID:
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then where does evil come from?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
Epicurus
Do you, as Job of old did, wonder why God permits evil? If so, we feel
confident that you will find a comforting and satisfying answer to your
question in what follows.
PERHAPS no question has perplexed more honest-hearted persons than why
God permits evil, injustice, wickedness and suffering. Atheists pounce
upon that fact as proof that God does not exist. Thus Woolsey Teller,
general secretary of the American Association for the Advancement of
Atheism, Inc., in an interview insisted that the prevalence of “terrible
misery, stark poverty, plenty of pain,” proves that God does not exist.
The interviewer, while professing belief in God, was unable to give him
a satisfactory answer, but merely posed such questions as “But we don’t
know God’s purposes, do we?” “Do we humans presume to know what is in
the mind of God?”
Incidentally, let us note that many who use the existence of suffering
in the world as a reason for not exercising faith in God would have Him
perform continuous miracles in contravention of his own laws.
Inconsistently they would blame God for the wretchedness that man
continually brings upon himself because of his own selfish and foolish
course.
Can we know God’s purpose in permitting evil? Yes, we can, if we are
openminded and humble enough to be willing to heed his advice, “Come
now, and let us reason together,” on what he has to say in his Word, the
Bible. And is not that just what we should expect, that the Creator, who
has so abundantly provided for all our material needs, would also make
provision for satisfying our hunger and thirst for truth, for the whys
and wherefores of such perplexing things as the permission of evil?
Surely it is!—Isa. 1:18.
First of all let us note that “with God all things are possible,” for he
is a God of “wisdom and might.” Further, we are assured that “God is
love” and that “righteousness and justice are the foundation of his
throne.” (Matt. 19:26; Job 12:13; 1 John 4:8; Ps. 97:2, AS) While to the
atheist the permission of evil is a negation of God’s power and wisdom,
as if he were unable to stop it, and of his justice and love, as if he
were indifferent to evil, yet to those who really believe that God has
these four attributes in a perfect and infinite degree the permission of
evil merely raises the questions as to why God permits it and when he
will put an end to it.
Briefly stated, God has permitted evil because one of his creatures
raised the questions, Who is supreme? And, Can God put men on earth that
will keep integrity in spite of pressure and temptation? When these
questions have been fully answered, God will make an end to ev
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| User: "DanielSan" |
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| Title: Re: Why doesn't God end all evil immediately? |
25 Apr 2006 11:29:06 PM |
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Mark K. Bilbo wrote:
Previously, on alt.atheism, DanielSan in episode
<444ed811$0$15444$6d36acad@taz.nntpserver.com>...
duke wrote:
On Tue, 25 Apr 2006 15:31:47 GMT, NeoTruthSeeker <truth@nobody.net>
wrote:
Do you, as Job of old did, wonder why God permits evil? If so, we feel
confident that you will find a comforting and satisfying answer to your
question in what follows.
I already know the answer. God wants our choice. And we will be
rewarded accordingly.
And you're pissing Odin off.
Not to mention, you should *hear what Thor said about him yesterday...
I choose not to involve myself in the gossip of Thor. It's all about
lightning bolts and electrical power with him. And he _HAS_ to bring up
the pronunciation of "gigawatt" in the Back to the Future series _EVERY
SINGLE TIME_ I talk to him!
Personally, I choose to associate myself with Aphrodite. 8-)
--
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* DanielSan -- alt.atheism #2226 *
*--------------------------------------------------*
* "Torture has never been a reliable means of *
* extracting information.... One wonders why it *
* is still practiced." --Jean-Luc Picard *
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--
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