by cofty 2596 Replies latest jw experiences
Eden, preaching is not the same as debating.
In open theism god sees the future as a set of possibilities rather than as a certainty, so he would have been aware of the possibility of the tsunami but not the Certainty. He would then try to prevent it through persuasion instead of coercion as coercion might necessitate destruction of the force behind the evil and leave open no hope of redemption. I found this compelling until I read the brothers kamarazov.
Adam, what is the "ancient wisdom" that faith in God steals from humans? Just curious ...
Will you now preach me about the Vedas?
Eden
atheists hope that reason will triumph over superstition
Laika, I find the argument persuasive until you introduce:
He would then try to prevent it
Why would he necessarily try to prevent it?
Eden
This thread seems to have been de-railed....
besty, and if that hope ever comes true, life will be better because...?
Eden
Stay on-topic please Eden.
I am still trying to distill your specific answer to the question under discussion.
Why did god not prevent the tsunami in 2004?
a) He didn't know about it
b) He left Jesus in charge so it was his fault
c) Physical life is relatively unimportant compared to heaven
d) ?
Eden, I was explaining the problem of evil as dealt with by most open theists. You can take it any direction you want, but I suppose open theists would argue that God tries to prevent evil because they think he's nice like that.
Words a believer can never utter...... God bungled, Jesus dropped the ball, the angels were on strike.
Cofty, you said:
Are you seriously proposing that god cocked-up and didn't know about the tsunami until it was too late?
You're putting words in my mouth because you assume that I posite that God would do anything about if if he knew about it beforehand. I didn't say that.
Why did god not prevent the tsunami in 2004?
a) He didn't know about it
He has stepped aside, either permanently or temporarily [I don't know which] from interveining personally in human affairs. To know or not know beforehand about it is therefore irrelevant.
b) He left Jesus in charge so it was his fault
It's not Jesus' business to stop natural disasters, or to stop bad things from happenning to good people. It's up to Jesus to teach people to make the best possible choices in life, find comfort and courage in hope and to attain salvation in the heavenly realm.
c) Physical life is relatively unimportant compared to heaven
The importance of physical life compared with heavely life is indeed relative, but the fallacy of your reasoning is that such relative importance implicates the play down of human suffering. It doesn't.
In essence, my answer is:
d) It's not God's business to exempt human beings from suffering that has always existed in nature. It is God's business to help people to cope with said suffering and to find comfort in a hope for salvation into a better life outside the physical realm.
Eden
