Is God able to help everybody all the time?

Gopher

Let's assume that there is a Creator of life who gots things started eons ago. That's my persuasion, although I am not actively religious.

One major problem with belief in a Creator is that he/she/it is supposed to be benevolent, loving and caring. Many evangelical Christians feel he has helped them personally in various ways, emotionally, even financially. Whereas billions of other people who REALLY could use God's help (those who are abused, or in war-torn lands, or starving or diseased, etc.) suffer endlessly through no fault of their own.

Why doesn't God reach out and help those who need it?

When in the religion, we continually heard that God was the "hearer of prayer". Suppose at any given moment 27 million people (rough estimate) are saying a prayer to an Almighty One. How can the Creator possibly pay attention to all those people at once? Does time warp/slow down so much that this Creator can personally consider each prayer and direct a thoughtful answer to each one?

My take on it... The Creator does not personally care for each and every person, because it isn't possible. There's just too much "buzz" with all the events going on and those prayers being said.

Prayer may help a person psychologically or even spiritually. But it doesn't seem provable that any results come from them.

I guess I just don't have enough faith.

Comments?

gumby

Gopher.....your faith is just fine. Your questions are the same questions man has had since man began. How could all this get here, yet not be controlled by the hand who made it all? This has been my dilema since exiting the borg.....and it kinda sucks.

Soon as you find the answer.....PM me...will ya?

Gumby

stillajwexelder

Assume God is all powerful and he can delegate to Angels etc - then all prayers in theory can be answered - however it is when they are diametrically opposed one has a problem.

Two sides on a battle field in war praying for victory - hwo can God answer both prayers - I do not wish to be shot with a bolt of lightening -- but EVEN ALMIGHTY GOD CAN NOT POSSIBLY ANSWER BOTH SETS OF PRAYERS

Gopher

Gumby ... I hear ya.. Don't hold your breath waiting for a PM.

Stilla... your logic also applies when both football teams in a contest pray for victory. As if... God cares!

But I was thinking about the idea that God delegates the answering of prayers to angels. Do religions really teach this? The Bible says that God is the hearer of prayer. I think it's in Psalm 65. (Haven't looked it up recently.)

stillajwexelder

But I was thinking about the idea that God delegates the answering of prayers to angels. Do religions really teach this? The Bible says that God is the hearer of prayer. I think it's in Psalm 65. (Haven't looked it up recently.)

In Daniel did not the Angel Gabriel answer Daniels prayer?

Pole

1)

When in the religion, we continually heard that God was the "hearer of prayer". Suppose at any given moment 27 million people (rough estimate) are saying a prayer to an Almighty One. How can the Creator possibly pay attention to all those people at once? Does time warp/slow down so much that this Creator can personally consider each prayer and direct a thoughtful answer to each one?

In computational terms this is no problem at all. A decent server farm could handle 27m concurrent requests easily. Think of how many users worldwide are requesting information from a site like Google at any given time. I'd guess it could be more than 27m. If you believe in a "relatively" almighty God, you have no problem in reasoning this argument away by saying that God's "brain" must be far more scalable than any human-made server farm or supercomputer.

As for time warping: Think of a fly. It can actually see things up to six times "slower" than humans (I mean in a kind of slow-motion), so even if a bunch of people are trying to hit it at the same time, it stands a good chance of escaping. So time-warping is not only science-fiction. It's can be found in Nature too.

If you're God you have time the best of both worlds: time-warping and huge computational power.

2)

One major problem with belief in a Creator is that he/she/it is supposed to be benevolent, loving and caring. Many evangelical Christians feel he has helped them personally in various ways, emotionally, even financially. Whereas billions of other people who REALLY could use God's help (those who are abused, or in war-torn lands, or starving or diseased, etc.) suffer endlessly through no fault of their own.

We all have problems. Sometimes we solve them, but there are times when things get on top of us. Millions of people manage without the evangelical interpretation of such basic facts of life (they have other often mutually exclusive intepretations). Evangelical Christians have a religious agenda which helps them to get on with their lives when things get rough - that's fine.

Of course it's naive to believe that God helps you overcome cancer, but at the same time he lets a paedophile rape a child. But after all it seems to be a rather harmless misinterpretation.

Pole

peacefulpete

In Daniel the angel was powerless against the "Prince of Persia" and was held up for 3 weeks until the Prince of Judah, Michael, showed up and assisted him. The story reflected the blooming angel obsession of the 2nd centyury BC. The gods of the past that had divided the earth into regions , (like yahweh was rooted to the land of Judah) had by this time become reinterpreted as angels. This story in Daniel provides little comfort if it took Michael 3 weeks to realize that Daniel and the weaker angel had a problem.

onacruse

Hey there Gopher! A double dose of Tylenol with a tequila chaser will help your headache.

Interesting question. Along with you, I too believe that there is a Prime Cause, but the philosophical and scientific reasons that lead me to believe that also lead me to believe that the PC doesn't have much, if any, interaction with the universe: what's been caused has been caused, what is is, and God is just as incapable of changing "it" as it is incapable of changing itself.

Which begs the question: Does God need, or want, to help anybody? What if it's all as simple as "Here's your life, live it, and see what happens next"? Sure, that leaves us with agonizing anger at what we perceive to be the injustices of the world, and frustration at the pain that billions of people (and animals) suffer. But, otoh, there are belief-systems that teach that all such pain and suffering is purely subjective and transient.

However, then why do I (and most all humans) feel a compulsive need to reach out and alleviate the suffering of others? If we feel so compelled, then why, as the physical facts show, doesn't God do the same? My suggestion is that even in asking such questions, we're projecting an anthropomorphization...a perfectly natural, and unavoidable, thing for finite beings to do.

And now I need some Tylenol. LOL

Craig

gumby

If we feel so compelled, then why, as the physical facts show, doesn't God do the same?

Good observation Craig! When man finds the answer to this dilema.....many questions will be erased.

Gumby

XQsThaiPoes

benevolent, loving and caring

When did God ever become come those things?

Isaiah 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I, the LORD, do all these things.

Is God able to help everybody all the time?

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