Our sins and mistakes are put there by God to teach believers or to conform us to the image of his son.
Is this true of the sins of all men, or only the sins of the chosen?
Is God Responsible For Bad Things that Happen?
by What Now? 45 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
-
leavingwt
-
tec
I should add that while I do not believe God is responsible for making bad things happen... he can take those bad things and turn them to his will. We do (or we should) learn from suffering. At the very least we should learn empathy toward others who suffer. So that learning is one way to turn a bad thing that we (humanity) has done and turn it toward his purpose - creating empathy, lessening hypocrisy and hopefully forcing us to recognize it within ourselves, and countless other things I cannot think of on my own.
Tammy
-
bobld
He created a defective Earth---earthquakes,hurricanes .snow,floods etc.Yes his is responsible.For example if man builds a defective car or road he is responsible.But man will correct the defective car,road, building etc.Why has not God corrected earthquakes.tornadoes.
B
-
steve2
Where is the choice and freewill of being in the path of a tsunami or for being a child who is beaten and raped?? Blaming humans for all the suffering in the world removes a remote and inactive "god" from the picture.
-
PSacramento
Perhaps the question, then, should have been posed in a forum that doesn't include people who don't believe in God. I think the Watchtower has one that does a good job of screening every single comment and censoring those it does not like.
I believe it was posted in such a forum, no?
- WatchTower Society
- Beliefs, Doctrine & Practices
- Is God Responsible For Bad Things that Happen?
It's not about censorship, no more than a forum about the disscusion of Buddhist doctrines is a place for soemone to say, " I don't believe in God".
Great, don't believe, we aren't discussing of we beleive in God, we are discissing IF you beleive, do you beleive God is reponsible.
Non-belief in the subject kind of eliminates you from a discussion about that subject, no?
-
beenthere26yr
Look close and study hard. All you accomplish is to disect and shred the scriptures.
Stand back and observe the Bible as a whole and you might realize that God's direct involvement with mankind is depicted principally in the OT.
Now comes Jesus in the NT. Jesus is the fulfillment of ALL of God's promises and the end of his direct involvement with fleshly mankind.
What we see and feel in this fleshly world is the result of a extremely complicated set of our own fleshly interactions.
Keep it simple and you can see God and his purpose. Complicate it and all you will see is our sinful, fleshly selves.
God's purpose deals with the spirit and sadly, the WTBS seems to be out there trying to prove that they have the answers that will save your fleshly body.
-
Deputy Dog
leavingwt
I'm not sure I understand your question.
I believe the sins of all men work to the good of the choosen, to conform them to the image of his son.
-
steve2
Non-belief in the subject kind of eliminates you from a discussion about that subject, no?
A nice and tidy response that narrows the audience significantly, but wait a minute, Who said I don't believe in God? From my perspective, the question really is what kind of God allows bad things to happen? If you confine discussion to those who believe God is a certain way and has specific irrefutably laudable qualities, you've practically pre-judged the answer. It's kind of like the type of question the Watchtower poses about its doctrines - you can tell by the articles lead question what sort of answer they'll accept as true (e.g., Should True Christians Accept Blood Transfusions? My response, what a conveniently made-to-answer-our-way question).
Of course, you are perfectly entitled to confine your pre-set question to an acceptably agreeable audience. That's called selective listening and suits many people just fine. Then my question becomes: Are you interested in a discussion that may be uncomfortable for you but ultimately demonstrate there are no simple questions.
-
PSacramento
A nice and tidy response that narrows the audience significantly, but wait a minute, Who said I don't believe in God? From my perspective, the question really is what kind of God allows bad things to happen? If you confine discussion to those who believe God is a certain way and has specific irrefutably laudable qualities, you've practically pre-judged the answer. It's kind of like the type of question the Watchtower poses about its doctrines - you can tell by the articles lead question what sort of answer they'll accept as true (e.g., Should True Christians Accept Blood Transfusions? My response, what a conveniently made-to-answer-our-way question).
Ah, yes, I see your point.
But mine was that someone that does NOT believe in the subject of the discussion, doesn't really need to or is "qualified" to discuss it, no?
When two people that beleive in evolution are discussing a specific point about a PART of evolution, the non-believer coming in doesn't really makes sense, does it?
Arguing evolution YES, but a detail or a theory about a specific part....I don't know.
Of course, you are perfectly entitled to confine your pre-set question to an acceptably agreeable audience. That's called selective listening and suits many people just fine. Then my question becomes: Are you interested in a discussion that may be uncomfortable for you but ultimately demonstrate there are no simple questions.
Agian, well put and excellent point.
-
leavingwt
Deputy Dog:
I'm not sure I understand your question.
I believe the sins of all men work to the good of the choosen, to conform them to the image of his son.
You did answer my question. I wasn't clear on that particular aspect of Reformed Theology. Thank you.