BackOnlyBriefly I always feel a little sickened when people speak of good coming from suffering.
I am in possession of many medically related books about dealing with chronic and incurable illnesses; cancer, disability, that sort of thing. In these books, advice is given from a psychological perspective, to help people deal with these sort of blows. The opening paragraph usually contains some quote about the grief process and “finding the good” in (and despite) the physical and psychological suffering. This material is based on the grief process and using CBT and mindfulness to find meaning and purpose, rather than giving up. It’s all from a secular, medical viewpoint, and not written by theists. So if medical professionals recognise that finding the good in a bad situation is a powerful tool, I wouldn’t be so ready to knock it.
Having said that, when a person is currently experiencing their struggles, they often want to kick out against it in frustration, anger, and sadness, and the idea of trying to consider a positive viewpoint is probably, in the first instance, the last thing on their mind and met with a great deal of resistance.
This is an example of things people have said to me though usually people are not keen on spelling it out.??'I used to be quite selfish but it made me think of others when I saw this small child die in agony. So god did a good thing there killing that child slowly and painfully didn't he'??I think that good coming from suffering caused by god is reason enough on its own to despise religion.
God doesn’t cause the suffering and pain that we experience. He has compassion and empathy, which means that He endures it with us. The bible makes no secret of this, and there is an account in the bible where “Jesus wept” with other people mourning.
What about if he just stopped Satan from actively pushing people into doing evil?
You’re forgetting that these events happened long before you and I appeared, and will continue long after we are departed.
In a very quick overview, we read in the bible that satan was an angel who had free will just like everyone else. However he decided that he wanted more power than God, and “turned” for want of a better word. The long term battle began, with satan deceiving Adam and Eve, and the introduction of evil to humankind. Choice, choice, choice.
God chose to allow us all (satan included) freedom of choice, and although the spiritual wars rage on, there will be a day when God defeats satan. But it will be in HIS timing, not your or mine. Remember God has the view of the big picture, we only have the view of our short time on this earth. If God stopped satan when we decided he should, our world would be perfect now, wouldn’t it? But we have been warned that it once was perfect, and is no longer, not in this short life on earth. Things changed in the Garden of Eden. However there is a promise of a hopeful future.
If God defeated satan in our timing and not His, the war would end tonight. But that would mean we’re God and not Him! It’s His fight and not ours. He has the wisdom and knowledge that we lack, so it seems futile to try and tell Him how to run his own affairs. Back to the analogy of telling a brain surgeon how to do his 12 hour operation. I don’t have that expertise so no point in trying to pretend I do.
You might risk a child falling off a bike in order for them to learn to ride, but would you really pay some guy to run alongside shoving them off and say that was an essential part of free will?
God doesn’t pay satan to destroy people. In fact, He says he has come to “seek and save that which is lost”, and that HE offers healing and restoration. The “destroyer” of our souls is predicted to lose the battle in the end. But the battle isn’t just of this world, that’s a very small part of the big picture.
BigDorrit
Strange how your god so often helps rich people in wealthy countries with trivial matters, but so rarely helps the poor and starving in third world countries with minor things like food and water.
Your photo banner is not a balanced picture at all. There are very contented people in the third world that believe they have been tremendously helped by God in some way, and equally there are people with great riches who know the cliché is true; that money might pay the bills but doesn’t really make you deeply satisfied or happy. And there are countless rich westerners who would profess that God didn’t help them, in their opinion, because they suffered hardship or felt things hadn’t gone according to plan.
God does not favour the rich. The bible is quite clear about that.
Job 34:17-19 speaks of how God “shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?”
Luke 4:17-19
‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
?
I would also say that people who think God is cruel and evil have not read the bible in it's correct context. We all know it is possible to twist meanings to suit an agenda, but the safest way to avoid this with the bible is to look at who is talking, what they are talking about, and who they are talking to. Context. Knowing the accurate word translations using bible thesaurus also helps.