Hurled to the Earth - Why?!? (page 3)

HappyHeathen

Here's a few more that are disturbing (that is, if you believe any of this really happened):

1. God asked Abraham to slit the throat of his only son, Isaac, who I believe was a teenager at the time. Can you imagine how Isaac must have felt about his father after that? Talk about a self-esteem problem.

2. How about the story of Job? Killed off the man's entire family! Of course, after he helped God win the bet with Satan, he "blessed" Job with an all-new, improved family. Haven't you heard? Family members are so replaceable (at least in God's eyes)?

Yuk!

Faith

Double Edge

L.E.

A few months ago I decided I would pick up the Bible , American Standard this time not JW bible, and start ready from the beginning.
Well, I made it to Gen. chap 6 and got mad and put it down. It was the chapter about God killing everyone and everything but Noah. I don't understand, I don't think I will ever be able to accept that God did that.......... sounds too evil....... unloving and a too out there for me to believe anymore.

A couple of things, after the FALL (Adam) there was the need of a redeemer (Christ). Trying to get a righteous group of people going to eventually produce a redeemer was no easy task, especially when it got downto Noah's time...slim pickin's - with most of the people hardening their hearts in unrighteousness, nothing of a 'spiritual' nature got thru to them. Finally it got so bad that it was time to start over. Eventually, Abraham, Issac, Jacob came along, the promised people in a promised land and then.....WAA -LAH...the Davidic line and eventually the Savior...mission accomplished. Remember, he was also looking after those people (those that perished in Noah's day).....realizing that they too were in need of a Savior.... The Book of Peter has an interesting scripture:

Peter 3 18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

Unlike some people who believe the entire Bible to be literal, I don't....heck, with dozens of books and writers that make up the compilation, for me that's not hard to understand. However, I do believe in God and I believe he wanted us to have a 'physical' evidence to His existence, a record, words, etc. so I do believe a lot of it is inspired (in other words, why throw out the baby with the bathwater reasoning)....He gave us the ability to figure out the 'treasures' from the 'dregs' ....

One last thing...for me, the Scriptures are just one way of getting to know God. But one thing that doesn't work for me is to read the Bible like a novel, from beginning to end...(booorrrring, and sometimes non-sensical).

Edited by - Double Edge on 4 September 2002 21:15:31

Kenneson

Luke 10:18 "I began to behold Satan already fallen like lightning from heaven." Apparently Jesus didn't have to wait until 1914.

A Paduan

There was no longer any place in heaven for the one who set himself up as judge of the world and accused people all the time.

Remind you of anyone?

paduan

SYN

Well, now at least, if Jehover decided that we were "wicked" and flooded the world, we'd probably have enough warning to do one or both of the following:

A) Develop large, efficient underwater bases for humans to survive the flood in.
B) Send humans into space to miss the flood entirely.

LyinEyes

That is what burns my ass, Syn,,,,,, yeah we are wicked,,,,to a degree we could act better if we wanted to ..........LOL...... but he let us be imperfect. It was God's choice to let us , who were not responsible for the first sin, to also carry the burden of imperfection just because we were born to sinners. How could he get so irritated with us , knowing how imperfect we supposedly are. I am a parent...... and I know I have not always done the right thing in raising my children, there have been mistakes, we had them very young. The biggest mistake was raising them JW, but we are trying to make it up to them on that one. Point is,,,,,,,,,, how could I punish my child for something that I caused, say confusion, the child is confused as to where his life is going and acts out because his whole life has been changed. Will I punish him for feeling cheated being raised JW, will I get angry at him for being a little resentful.......... No, as a parent you should love your child no matter what and understand their point of view. But if you believe the Bible, God is supposed to love us like he is our father, but yet he has no tolerance , even considering our imperfections, for any disobedience what so ever. At least in the Old Testament, the God there is very vindictive to those who even make one little mistake,,,,,,,,like the guy trying to steady the ark and got zapped.... But reading the NT, and about Jesus,,,,,, he seems so much more understanding and just. I guess that is why I feel closer to Jesus really , because he seems more caring and fatherly. Jesus said that he is the exact reflection of his father......... but this is not what I see when I read about Jehovah in the OT

Double Edge

or not

Crazy151drinker

EYES,

Well its kind of like God is making some ceramic pots. Well he doesnt like a certian batch so he breaks them and starts all over!

God is sort of an Anarchist. I mean, he can do whatever he wants! No rules, no punishment.....

Xander

Does that mean free will will cease when satan ceases to exist? If not, then satan was never a necesary component in the original free will.

That's an interesting argument.

Never thought of that.

The WTBTS always argued satan was on earth to 'test' humans - essentially, to give us alternatives to mindlessly serving god. Then, they say he will be destroyed. Which brings up the above question. Does this mean:

a) We won't have to worry about having minds anymore?

or

b) Satan didn't really need to be spared in the first place?

(Alas, I can't take this discussion any further, I feel too 'Chewbacca-could-kick-Data's-ass' about the whole thing already!)

Dazed

Luke 10:18 "I began to behold Satan already fallen like lightning from heaven." Apparently Jesus didn't have to wait until 1914.

I think what Jesus was doing was making a prediction, sort of like an "I can see it all now..." sort of thing.

God is supposed to love us like he is our father, but yet he has no tolerance

LyinEyes, it's fairly apparent that you have some serious pent-up hostility, but aside from that, God is VERY tolerant. Look at the way the world is today. I don't see fire raining down and destroying everything wicked. Vast amounts of time and transgression occured before God took action, and ample warning was given to those sinning. Noah and his sons tried to explain to the people of the time what Jehovah was planning to do, to convince them to come with them, but no one would listen. Is that Jehovah's fault? You continuously teach your children not to kill, and then one kills someone and is sentenced to life in prison, is that your fault?

To continue your child-rearing analogy, a parent will only put up with so much before they discipline their children. It may seem harsh to say you'd kill one of your kids for their disobedience, but it's not in your power to offer them everlasting life, or the blessings leading a good life can bring. Jehovah's form of discipline is always righteous, and in most cases an in-depth study bears that out. In the cases where it's not so obvious, I'm willing to give God the benefit of the doubt. He does the same for me.

I'll admit that sometimes bible accounts give me the heebie-jeebies, but remember, what you're reading is often written hundreds of years after the fact by a man interpretting messages from God (assuming you believe divine inspiration). Perhaps God didn't find it necessary to explain in great detail how long wickedness existed or the true state of men's hearts before he acted. Kind of like trying to explain to your kids every single rule or discipline you dish out in your house. I have kids too, and I try to be as specific as possible, but sometimes you just need them to get the point not to do something or they have to pay the price.

Edited by - dazed on 5 September 2002 19:41:23

Hurled to the Earth - Why?!?

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