Justin in #9 said, “none of you have provided scripture to refute the position.” I would say to Justin that I look at ALL of the New Testament and particularly the Gospels to see that God being responsible for evil is totally disputed by Jesus…by everything he said, everything he did, and everything he was. I have to admit that sometimes when I read things in the Old Testament, it certainly sounds like God is saying he caused horrible things, including canabilism in Ezekiel. But, unlike a lot of Christians, though I believe that the Bible is true, I do not believe that every word written in the Bible are God’s thoughts. I think men were trying to come to understand the world around them and evil and God. Sometimes the Holy Spirit was inspiring them in what they wrote, sometimes not. The books of the Bible show us the journey that humankind has been on in coming to know God. When Jesus came among us, he was bringing us his Father’s love, his Father’s knowledge and forgiveness. He said that if we have seen Him, we have seen the Father. (Not that the Father and Jesus are the same, but Jesus respresented all that God is.) And when we see Jesus, we see him healing, making whole, redeeming. We never see him bringing destruction to innocent little children.

I know this is an old post and likely not anyone other than John will see my comment, but I wanted to comment anyway!

any way, i think that by God having decreed that all deeds are being done in his name can be viewed as more of allowence of freedom.

my brother described it to me once as God letting us choose from right or wrong, and then seeing what paths we see fit for ourselves to follow.

now from this i concluded that god was a sadist of sorts.

i mean to say that he watchs us all everyday and night, into our lives and dreams.

he allows for evil to bend our days and surroundings, for the mood to suddenly chill and turn for the worse.

from this he sees how we react and he continues to push. our okay morning turns too a crappy evening, into a horrible night.

he does this every where, everyday, to watch us struggle, he watchs us suffer, he watchs us die, and he allows theses events to pass when he knows from the start how the game will end, he’s a sadist.

now to ‘allow’ in the term which you used or they used, i believe is more like a mother allowing her child out to play and harass a child and turn a blind eye while condoning it.

the ‘allow’ i’m speaking of is like a mother allowing her child free reign over her dolls, knowing that she will cry as soon as shes to rough with them. as soon as that child crys to her mother what does she tell her child?
‘ you want to be a big person now don’t you? you need to learn to be responsible. you should know right from wrong now, you need to learn to grow up.’

harsh but true.

God allows these things to happen because as adults and people, human beings should be able to considered the consequences of their actions and be able to understand the right things to do.

now i understand that it’s hard to see pictures of the innocent in pain and suffering, but God did condone these events, by decree it is in his honour that their blood was spilled as his sons was, and the ones who slew them came to a hard end like those who harmed his son did.

he did decree that all is done by him for him, he is a selfish God whom we love and respect.

i learned from a young age that God is to be feared, because as much as he protects us, he will punish us as well.

to fear is to respect, and God being rightful, he is not to be questioned.

to bad for my parents that God gave them me, i question every thing.

i know i go off on tangents sorry.

anyway by questioning his doing i notice that he likes to see our choices and how the events will play out, like reading a book, then watching the movie.

you want to know which will be better, even though you know the general outcome.

God lets us choose, We allow things to happen, We condone, We contradict, We try to justify, We lose, and God watchs.

the only thing God allows is our freedom to choose, we allow the rest because we fear God no longer, We are ignorant to him and are quite happy to stay that way.

God just leaves it in our hands

msn:princezita_66@hotmail.com

WHO KNOWS?? But theology for me is following the loving example of Christ when faced with suffering. We are God’s hands and feet. My favorite book on the subject is COMPASSION by Henri Nouwen.
God bless and keep you.