God is Great?

[bhaexpress]

Erm, no they don't. For crying out loud...

And here is a bloke who does it for a living, does he start theads praising the Lord ? Never but he has the right to defend his faith and from Juan it is an educated respense when required.

 

[rool]

And here is a bloke who does it for a living, does he start theads praising the Lord ? Never but he has the right to defend his faith and from Juan it is an educated respense when required.

That's because someone cunningly created the word association thread to keep him occupied.

 

[bhaexpress]

That's because someone cunningly created the word association thread to keep him occupied.

 

[Vlad the Impala]

That's because someone cunningly created the word association thread to keep him occupied.

Hen

 

[Juan Albion]

That's because someone cunningly created the word association thread to keep him occupied.

Very true. But I was equally cunning. If you start from my 4,374th post on that thread and read backwards, you will find the complete book of Zephaniah.

 

[bhaexpress]

Good one !

 

[rool]

Very true. But I was equally cunning. If you start from my 4,374th post on that thread and read backwards, you will find the complete book of Zephaniah.

I did wonder during a bored moment recently how long it would take to read that thread from the beginning let alone backwards.

 

[Kent Seagull]

Or was it Dan Brown... hmm more like Dan Brown..

Dan Brown, author of the Da Vinci Code? Don't know the quote but halfway through reading the book. Best book I've read in years, i wonder just how much truth there is in some of the theories put forward, even if it is a work of fiction?

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

What a strange thread....
I just love the way people who obviously have no real understanding of Christianity come on here, state something totally wrong about Christianity, and then proceed to argue against it. Bizarre and a little sad. Makes them look rather stupid, really - as stupid as building an argument on a phrase used by insurance companies.

But if I'd titled the thread "Allah-u-Akhbar?", who would have bothered to read it? That comes not from Christianity, but from Islam. : the thread was all about how religious conditioning can blind you to perspectives that are obvious to everyone else. In this case that the anthropomorphic God model does not stand up to scrutiny. No loving human father would cause his totally innocent children to die a horrible death. Why would this "God"? He clearly does not exist, except as a construct devised by deluded ancients bent on political control of the uneducated masses.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I'd disagree with your first point. I guess you might find some extremists who think just about anything, but if you check any of the mainstream churches, you will find that the fact we live in a broken world that is not the way God wanted it to be has always been the WHOLE point. Now if you base your knowledge of Christianity on what was on EastEnders or what some bloke said he heard down the pub, you might not know that, I suppose (I'm not implying this is true of you, specifically).

And, yeah, maybe a few who call themselves Christian may have some confusion over this. There are no entry exams to become a Christian and sometimes people will come to understand some aspects of belief a little more quickly or slowly than others, but no-one starts as a fully-fledged theological genius, that's for sure. We learn and we grow.

The answer to your second question is quite easy in some respects. Christians would say that God created us with free will. We can choose to be who we choose to be - we are not puppets on a string. God cannot step in and keep saving us from our mistakes and still maintain that free will. Would you want to live in a world where it was dictated what you can and cannot do? I know I wouldn't. Free will is a precious gift. It is up to us to decide what we want to do with it.

I think you're a little naive. Many lay christians have a limited understanding of the subleties of theology, it ain't just extremists.

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

Would you want to live in a world where it was dictated what you can and cannot do? I know I wouldn't. Free will is a precious gift. It is up to us to decide what we want to do with it.

What do the deaths of 40,000 people in your God's earthquakes have to do with "free will" FFS?

 

[Yorkie]

But if I'd titled the thread "Allah-u-Akhbar?", who would have bothered to read it? That comes not from Christianity, but from Islam. : the thread was all about how religious conditioning can blind you to perspectives that are obvious to everyone else. In this case that the anthropomorphic God model does not stand up to scrutiny. No loving human father would cause his totally innocent children to die a horrible death. Why would this "God"? He clearly does not exist, except as a construct devised by deluded ancients bent on political control of the uneducated masses.

Who said that dying in an earthquake was a horrible death?
Most of the victims would have been crushed to death immediately and probably not know much about it.
That would be preferable to taking months to die of cancer for me.

Thousands die in road accidents every day throughout the world. Is there any handwringing for their deaths?

As Dave the Gaffer rightly said earlier, deaths are a matter of perspective.
Natural disasters seem cruel because a lot of people die in one go but there are just as many people dying every day of disease and other accidents.

Death is part of life and something we all face every day.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

I've decided I"m going to live forever. So far so good

 

[Dave the OAP]

As Dave the Gaffer rightly said earlier, deaths are a matter of perspective.

Did I....

 

[beorhthelm]

Erm, no they don't. For crying out loud...

taken from the historic positon of religion, yes they do. Otherwise there's no point in believing. Now the modern church may well have moved on from this position, but only because it lost the argument. It now has moved on to more subtle arguments about having "faith" being the most important point. But less secular communities still hold the old ideals of the perfect God and all is done as his will.

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

Natural disasters seem cruel because a lot of people die in one go but there are just as many people dying every day of disease and other accidents.

Death is part of life and something we all face every day.

So what you're saying is, basically, shit happens. Or from a Christian perspective, holy shit happens.

Straight answer needed here: Is "God" responsible for the earthquakes? Or just the successful rescues?

 

[3gulls]

Let's look at his 2005 track record: --

Asian Tsunami -- 300,000 dead
Hurricane Katrina -- 900 dead
Pakistan earthquake - 40,000 dead

According to insurance companies, these are all classed as Acts of God...

After the Hurricane Katrina disaster, many survivors in New Orleans were praising the Lord for having saved them.
Villagers triumphantly rescuing a child from the Pakistani earthquake could be heard chanting "God is great".

If these poor, deluded people believe that God saved them, you wonder who they believe was responsible for killing all their friends and relations.

God is great? God is cruel? God is incompetent?
Or God is non-existent?

You decide.

Which God?

 

[Lokki 7]

Who said that dying in an earthquake was a horrible death?

You make a valid point Yorkie. But just because dying in an earthquake may (or may not) be quick compared to cancer, it still makes "God" a nasty piece of work due to the suffering disease causes his children. I can't see any justification for the prolonging of suffering for those you love.

 

[Dave the OAP]

You make a valid point Yorkie. But just because dying in an earthquake may (or may not) be quick compared to cancer, it still makes "God" a nasty piece of work due to the suffering disease causes his children. I can't see any justification for the prolonging of suffering for those you love.

Its life, Jim, but not as we know it.

I have been waiting years to get a chance to post that

 

[Lokki 7]

Its life, Jim, but not as we know it.

I have been waiting years to get a chance to post that