On Blaming God... (page 5)

berylblue

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On second thought, why bother.

wonderer2003

KennesonWrote And if there is no God who do you blame? Are all those millions of sufferers suddenly alleviated because there is no God?

No but this is our world and we have to make the best of what we have got. And the best for other people who do NOT. The world is full of good leaders AND bad leaders and lazy people i.e (Jehovahs Witnesses) who sit on there backsides and say it is Gods will that children starve, etc. Someone else in this thread said we should "pull out the weeds blah blah blah" I don't see any witnesses abroad or in their own country helping people who are less fortunate than themselves, lending a hand, do you. Except of course to sell a book or two. That is if that person can read of course.

Kenneson

Wonderer2003,

O.K., I agree with you. If God won't do it and Jehovah's Witnesses won't do it and bad leaders won't do it, you and I and others must. At least we can make a small impact in our limited sphere. Maybe we can begin a ripple effect. It's too easy to wait upon God and shirk our own responsibilities.

Lady Lee

Ultimately we all have to take on the responsibility for problems.

The real problem for me is that I was taught God helps if you ask. It was drummed into my head. All I had to do was ask and lean on Him for help.

I learned that it will always be up to me

teejay

The real problem for me is that I was taught God helps if you ask. It was drummed into my head. All I had to do was ask and lean on Him for help.

I've said the same thing to folks like AGuest (Shelby). Her response? God answered but I just wasn't listening. Or lacked the right kind (or amount) of faith. The problem was never god. It was always me.

My friend Trung told me that just the other day. When I told him that for me to believe in god I needed evidence, he told me that I can't fathom god intellectually. That I have to "feel." When I said that I'm not made that way, it should be up to god to determine how best to reveal himself to me.

When I talk to my four year old, I speak to her, not with philosophical terms or intellectual concepts, but in words she can understand. It's called communication. If god hasn't communicated with me over 40 years then the problem ain't me.

I learned that it will always be up to me.

Me too.

asleif_dufansdottir

I will never understand why some people insist on defending an insane desert god who is, at best, capricious, bloodthirsty and unfair. Not to mention using the accounts in the Bible to try to show how loving he is. Give me a break.

The picture that the reader (one with no preconceived notions) gets of the god of the Bible is of an abusive spouse and parent. One who holds all the cards and controls everything, and punishes people, thundering the 'divine' equivalent of "You made me punish you! It's your own fault!"

The biggest favor that god can do for me, assuming he actually exists and was not the fevered product of insane minds, is stay the &$%@ away from me!

dedalus

The biggest favor that god can do for me, assuming he actually exists and was not the fevered product of insane minds, is stay the &$%@ away from me!

Reminds me of the conclusion to Graham Greene's The End of the Affair, in which the narrator, having finally inched from atheism to Christianity, asks God to leave him alone forever. Or when Ivan, in The Brothers Karamazov, acknowledges the power of God, this sovereign sort of train conductor of the universe, but respectfully returns to him the ticket.

Or in Harry Potter, when ... uh ... nevermind.

Dedalus

AGuest

I see your posts, here and above. I will respond by tomorrow evening, if that's okay with you. Until then, peace to you!

Your servant and a slave of Christ,

SJ

DJ

Ahhhh, here is the problem: you are in error in your understanding! It was not ABOUT the offering itself... but about what was in CAIN... when he BROUGHT it. Cain... had a problem... that he didn't FIX... BEFORE he offered up HIS gift. Matthew 5:22-24;

Now, we don't know the circumstances of what it was Cain didn't fix, but...

Hi Teejay and Shelby,

I hope you don't mind my interjection here. I disagree, that it was not ABOUT the offering. It certainly was about the offering as well as, what was "in" Cain. Because of what was NOT in Cain is what drove him to offer what he did. Also, we certainly do know now the circumstances of what Cain didn't fix!! This is a foreshadowing of things to come. Cain's offer was very distinctive from Abel's because Abel brought the blood of his firstborn lamb. Firstborn, meaning best of the flock. Does this sound familiar? Abel knew that any work of his hand could not please God. While Cain brought the work of his hand. This is foreshadowing that works are not acceptable to God as an offering but only the blood of Christ is...the lamb of God. Christ shed His Holy blood for us so that we may have acceptance before God. It is the only way. Abel had Christ in him which led him to abey God's requirement for an acceptable offering. Cain did not. Christ has been from the beginning and it is noteable that in the OT there were others who knew Him.

" By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and while being dead still, SPEAKS." Heb.11:4 Christ is our righteousness, not the work of our hand. Good works without Christ is not pleasing to God. It is pride in ourselves not to receive the free gift of Christ. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9.

The jw's and others teach that when James spoke of "faith without works is dead" that he meant that works are what save us as well as faith. Not so. Works are merely the result of receiving the free gift of Christ. He was not disagreeing with Ephesians. For Paul continues in Ephesians 2:10 "For are are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Any good works that we do are a result of the free gift of Christ by faith. If we hand God our works without having Christ in us as our righteousness, we will never please God. Our works are as filthy rags without the blood of Jesus which covers our sin. What a gift! We give our praise to God not ourselves. He has accomplished for us what we cannot. Hallelujah!!

love to you both, dj

DJ

I failed to mention that after Cain became angry because his offering was unacceptable.....God gave him another opportunity to choose to offer what IS acceptable: Genesis 4:6-7 So YHWH said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And it's desire is for you, but you should rule over it.

Cain chose not to listen. The similarity today is that many who hear the saving gospel message today about the blood of the Lamb being the only acceptable way to inherit salvation is still not listened to.

Do you see teejay? I hope that helps you to understand what happened there. love, dj

On Blaming God...

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