Question for any Bible Believer????????

by JT 15 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  JT

  To any bible believer- how would you answer this question-
  Why Does God Permit Evil and Suffering?

  below is how JW answer it:
  BLAME THE VICTIM- IT'S HIS OR HER FAULT

  do you still accept this explanation now that you are no longer a jw?

  Today I had a discussion with a man who feels that "IF" there is a God then he is sitting on his hands during nothing for mankind-

  He gave 2 examples:

  1. Sept 11, 2001- God did nothing but watch like the rest of us did on CNN

  2. The Afghan women suffering- God just watch those women suffer till God like the rest of us saw on CNN- his daughter and a few other troops telling them they can take those Goofy head pcs off without having to worry about getting a beating.

  So we both agreed that God needs to pick up the pace if he plans on doing anything for mankind-

  it's been over 2000yrs and billions of folks have died while he is playing "Chicken" with the Devil

  Kinda sad state of affairs- makes you and i no more than mere PONS in some big chess game in the sky I guess

  james

  Below is the typical jw view blame the victims

  http://truesite.org/Jehovah
  Why Does God Permit Evil and Suffering?
  The good news first: God's toleration of evil and suffering is very soon going to
  end (see the chapters on The Last Days and Armageddon). But to answer why this has
  gone on for so long...

  Basically God permits evil and suffering because we told him to.
  That may sound strange, but consider: When Adam and Eve rebelled against
  God, they in effect told him, "We don't want you to rule us. We want to decide for
  ourselves what is right and wrong, what is good and bad. We don't want your
  guidance, direction or help. We want to be Gods ourselves."

  Throughout 6,000 years of history, mankind in general has had the same attitude.
  While individuals have accepted God and wanted his help, the world at large has
  disobeyed his commands, rejected his requirements and blatantly told God that we
  don't need him. Mankind's disrespect for God and his commandments is amazingly
  brazen.

  While there are many who claim to follow God, the majority of mankind do not.
  Even those who claim to be Christian do not follow his will. They still commit
  fornication and adultery, cheat their neighbor, view extremely immoral videos and
  television, use extremely obscene and offensive language, fight other Christians in
  nationalistic wars and pretty much ignore everything God teaches us in the Bible. And
  they teach their children to do the same.

  Now, if God stepped in every time something went wrong, how would mankind
  ever learn its lesson? No, rather, God has pretty much kept a "hands off" attitude,
  much as most parents would do with a hopelessly rebellious and wicked offspring. And
  as he warned those who refused to follow his advice: you will suffer the consequenses
  of your actions".

  Mankind is a real mess. We have murders, drug abuse, sex crimes and venerial
  disease, unwanted pregnancies, theft, raging wars and much more... all because we insist
  on doing things our way... rather than God's

  In short, it's not God's fault... it's ours.

  But men are in general arrogant, proud, haughty and crybabies. We get ourselves
  in trouble, then blame God for the resultant misfortunes and wonder why God doesn't
  correct things. We teach evolution in our schools, forbid our children to pray, and then
  we blame God when he allows bad things to happen... when all along we've basically
  told him to go away and leave us alone. Why, we even teach our children in school that
  God doesn't exist, that he didn't create the earth and the universe!

  Is it really any wonder that evil and suffering exist?

  But there is even one, more powerful reason that these things exist. Jehovah has
  a major enemy. His name is Satan, the Devil. Although once a beautiful and very
  powerful angel, he became a blasphemer and rebeller against the authority of God. He
  challenged God that he could turn all mankind away from God's rule, that no one serves
  God out of love, because they think God's rule is best.

  God has given mankind a certain amount of time to prove Satan wrong. In the
  meantime, Satan is pulling every dirty trick he can to get his way. He has already lost
  the battle, but he stubbornly insists on trying to cause as much damage as possible in
  the short time he has left remaining. So in addition to mankind's own endless
  arrogance... there is the extremely evil influence of Satan himself

  But the Bible promises that very soon God will bring an end to ALL of this evil,
  and "The meek shall inherit the earth". Please read on for further information.
• 

  nowaytess

  A good book to read by James Dobson is, "When God does not make sense." You can order a copy by going to :

  http://www.family.org

  When ever i feel they way you do I read Pslams 73. Plsam 73 does not blame the victim. It brings comfort to Godly people who are distressed by the fact evil doers just seem to get away with it without suffering the consequenses fo thier action while living on earthlylife.

  <A HREF= http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/christianexjehovahswitnesses </A>
• 

  ofcmad

  As far as why bad things happen -- it's life. God allows life to occur.
  I think God had more to do with the Sept 11 incident then most think. Just think of the possibility of those buildings were to contain over 100,000 office workers - 4,000 lost their lives. The airliners that crashed were only about 60% full. And we should remember how bad the airlines were before with having to bump passengers to make room. The buildings could have toppled onto other buildings instead of imploding on themselves. It was a terrible tragedy to begin with, but I think God's grace spared many many folks.

  Ofcmad

  "Noah was a drunk and look what he accomplished." The Metatron/Dogma
• 

  SixofNine

  I'm speechless in response to your words ofcmad.

  *shakes head- shudders- heaves- sighs*
• 

  cornish

  If the issue is about can man manage without God,Why is a superhuman creature and his demon buddies alowed to interfere,it seems according to the Wit theory that it more of an issue between God and Satan and humans are pawns stuck in the middle,
  if it was simply between man and God thats one thing,but to have a superhuman creatures which are hell bent on their own agenda interfering seems very unfair,its like someone trying to walk a tightrope while someone from below is permited to throw rocks and missiles at them.
• 

  Frenchy

  Why Does God Permit Evil and Suffering? -- Is that all? I thought this was going to be a hard question! . Excellent question, JT. I hope this prompts many replies because I believe this to be one of, if not the, most important question that any one who believes in God (whether or not he believes in the Bible) must ask. Let me begin by saying I don’t KNOW although I have thought about it for a long time.

  Basically God permits evil and suffering because we told him to. That may sound strange, but consider: When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they in effect told him, "We don't want you to rule us. We want to decide for ourselves what is right and wrong, what is good and bad. We don't want your guidance, direction or help. We want to be Gods ourselves."

  This may not be far from the truth when you consider that people want to do what they want to do. They do not like being told that something is wrong if it’s something they get some gratification from. My mother, for example, was furious when ‘the brothers’ approached her about her smoking. How dare they! I tried to reason with her later on about the health risks and she told me that if smoking would kill her, then so be it. Many years later an x-ray showed a spot on her lungs. She stopped smoking. She died several months later, gasping for every breath that she took until she simply exhausted herself and suffocated. Who is to blame for that?

  But men are in general arrogant, proud, haughty and crybabies. We get ourselves in trouble, then blame God for the resultant misfortunes and wonder why God doesn't correct thing

  I can’t argue with that either. I know several people that are close to me that have a life-long habit of ignoring advice and then suffering terribly for it. Of course, as soon as they get in trouble they scream for help. Once their crisis is past, they’re right back doing what caused the problem in the first place. They want to do as they please and then have an outside source come in and clean up their mess.

  He (Satan) challenged God that he could turn all mankind away from God's rule, that no one serves God out of love, because they think God's rule is best. God has given mankind a certain amount of time to prove Satan wrong

  I do not agree with this at all. This, whatever it is, is about man and his relationship to his God and not some squabble between God and one, measly angel on an ego trip. I find the illustrations given by the Society to be both very foolish and an insult to both God and man. I’ll post the illustration given in one publication and then I’ll comment on it since it bears on this thread.

  -Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it-
• 

  ChimpGirl

  This question always did my head in and I couldn't accept that it was 'all our fault' either, particularly where innocents are concerned. Best book I've ever read on the subject is The Problem of Pain by C S Lewis. You don't have to be a Christian and take a leap of faith to understand Lewis's writing - he was a brilliant scholar and Christian apologist, making his arguments clearly and honestly. And I'm someone who spent years being furious with God for permitting things to be the way they are. Give it a read and see what you think, I'd be interested to hear the viewpoints of someone who read the book and still felt the same way.
• 

  Frenchy

  From ‘The Truth’ book. P67:
  “Satan’s false charges against God may be illustrated, to a certain extent, in a human way. Suppose a man having a large family is accused by one of his neighbors of many false things about the way he manages his household. Suppose the neighbor also says that the family members have no real love for their father but only stay with him to obtain the food and material things he gives them. How might the father of the family answer such charges? If he simply used violence against the accuser, this would not answer the charges. Instead, it might suggest that they were true. But what a fine answer it would be if he permitted his own family to be his witnesses to show that their father was indeed a just and loving family head and that they were happy to live with him because they loved him! Thus he would be completely vindicated.—Proverbs 27:11; Isaiah 43:10.”

  So my question is: What father, accused by his neighbor of being an unfit husband and father, would allow his neighbor to come into his house and plunder his belongings, rape, torture, and murder his family just so he could say, “See, I told you I was a better person than you!” It’s just plain stupid.

  -Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it-
• 

  teejay

  Six?

  I was also quite impressed with Ofcmad's explanation of the loving care that God showed toward New Yorkers on the Eleventh. He reminded me of an email I received (and unfortunately deleted after reading barely half of it) from a Christian friend.

  The email told of how GOD WAS THERE in NY. Among the other good deeds He did that day: He steadied the fingers of the gentleman on the 103rd floor as he dialed his wife one last time -- to tell her he loved her. Steadied his fingers. Ain't God good?

  It told of how god helped those who jumped find peace before jumping. How loving god is! (Maybe you can see why it was impossible for me to finish. Must have been the water in my eyes.)
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Cool site you mentioned, JT. The guy offers to study the bible with folks... online. Must be a pioneer.

  FREE BIBLE STUDY

  If you would be interested in learning more about what the Bible really says and
  the hope Jehovah God offers to mankind, please click the Email link below. I
  will be happy to answer your Bible questions or arrange a FREE bible study.
  This study can be conducted right here on the internet, or at your home or
  place of preference, arranged to fit your schedule, at your convenience. It
  really is free, conducted by volunteers earthwide whose only goal is to help you
  learn more about Jehovah God Almighty. There is no obligation, no charge
  and no strings attached.

  "... no strings attached."

  Right.
• 

  ChimpGirl

  Teejay - 'no strings attached', just a big ole rope to put around your neck!