God saved us?
Ed
Last night a Greyhound spun out on the slippery Interstate making
three complete spins before coming to a stop on the side of the road.
Passengers had only minor injuries. One lady, sitting behind the
driver said she prayed during the whole time,"God saved us!" she said
on the news. In the same county, a van skidded on the ice and smashed
into an oncoming pickup, both drivers were killed.
Is the lady right? Did God intervene for her as He apparently did not
for the van and pickup drivers? I understand that the Word of God
cannot be in error, but can words about God by ordinary people be
wrong?
Two scenarios are often posited, in one God controls everything, He
makes each electron spin and every raindrop fall. If that is how the
world works then, clearly, the lady is right.
In another scenario God created the Universe to obey certain laws,
which we are in the process of discovering and call the laws of
physics. He rarely intervenes directly, allowing the laws to work
themselves out in accordance with their nature. If that is how the
world works then it seems to me that the lady may be right and she may
be wrong. If we succumb to temptation and say that God did not
intervene in the case of the van and pickup we may be in error; that
is, it may be that the laws of physics would have had them narrowly
miss each other and God intervened to cause the accident for
unknowable purposes of His own. My puzzlement is how Christians
distinguish between cases where God intervened from cases where, even
though unusual, He actually did not. Surely it is somehow
disrespectful, if not blasphemous, to attribute to God actions which
are not actually His, and a good Christian would want to avoid that.
Mich...@gmail.com
The Bible states that God is in control of everything (I believe
this). The Bible also states that God hears and replys to every
request made to Him from one of His own (this context is tricky and I
wont get into it here). However, this does not mean that the answer
will always be an immediate affirmative. Did God allow the woman on
the bus to escape injury (or serious injury) - yes. Did God allow
those involved in the other accident to die - yes.
From an overall standpoint God did create our environment and controls
it (whether this control is an offshoot of the initial creation event
or a moment by moment manipulation of events or something in between
is debateable), but all of these scenarios fall into the category of
Divine will. However, He also allows us to reap the fruit of our
choices (for good or bad) to some degree. The bible teaches that all
suffering, pain, death is a results of these bad choices be they from
the past or occurring in the present (and ultimately the result of
original sin). The Bible teaches that when we endure (correctly)
through these difficult situations that we bring glory to God. In no
way is any death outside of God's control, but that does not imply
that they are God's fault (nor are they always the fault of the one
who died).
It is important to point out that Christians do not see death as
ultimate evil to be avoided. Nor do we see it as the end of all
things. For a Christian death is merely the end of one thing and the
start of a new thing. The goal is not to see how long you can live
(although there is nothing wrong with that), but rather what have you
done while you were alive.
brian fletcher
"Ed" <solo...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:e8b52c7e-9599-4725...@t47g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
Believeing in the "boogie man" puts a predictable interpretation on things
that go bump in the night.
BOfL
Mark Earnest
"brian fletcher" <bria...@bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:TX%5j.21139$CN4....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
You had better believe in the boogie man if you are thinking about going
into a dangerous part of town at night.
pico
"Ed" <solo...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:e8b52c7e-9599-4725...@t47g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> distinguish between cases where God intervened from cases where, even
> though unusual, He actually did not. Surely it is somehow
> disrespectful, if not blasphemous, to attribute to God actions which
> are not actually His, and a good Christian would want to avoid that.
Indeed. Here's a funny case. I live in a part of the USA that was recently
devastated by flash floods. Hundreds of homes were destroyed. When FEMA
arrived and introduced themselves at a town meeting, the FEMA speaker used
the expression "act of God" to describe the nature of floods and natural
disasters. Some Christians lept to their feet yelling "My God wouldn't do
that to us!"
Later, when a FEMA person was trying to assess whether victims would replace
their home or move to a safer area, the same Christians stood up and shouted
"My God saved me from this flood just like he did from the last one five
years ago." (in the same place). I almost fell down laughing. God, hell.
FEMA bailed 'em out. If God and FEMA have some kind of deal, then it's a
real racket.
pico
news:af39a592-5fce-4e13...@d27g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> The bible teaches that all suffering, pain, death is a results of these
> bad choices be they from the past or occurring in the present (
> and ultimately the result of original sin).
Original Sin is an idea invented by a Roman Catholic scholar.
> It is important to point out that Christians do not see death as
> ultimate evil to be avoided. [...]
Then would you mind moving on through a little faster?
Ed
> through these difficult situations that we bring glory to God. In no
> way is any death outside of God's control, but that does not imply
> that they are God's fault (nor are they always the fault of the one
> who died).
>
introduced? I get " In no way is any death outside of God's control"
but how would we decide which deaths (all of which He controls) are
somehow a "fault" of His?
How could the one who died be "at fault" if God is controlling deaths?
THE BORG
> The Bible states that God is in control of everything (I believe
I had an interesting experience a long time ago - long before THE BORG
revealed themselves - it was one Sunday afternoon and I was lying in bed
when I found a beautiful man next to me.
"I am God" he said. At which point he burst into tears and wept and wept
and wept. "They do nothing but ask" he wept "ask ask ask" but the last
straw was a stupid woman - Oh God - she said - I cannot find my handbag - Oh
God - where is my handbag" (you Americans would call this a purse). "that I
have been demeaned to this?" he said.
He wept about 4 hours and I stroked his head and tried to comfort him - and
then there was the rushing or winds and wonderful roar in the sky.
It is strange to hear so many talk of God now - that then I could have given
you so much proof that he did exist. Journeys I travelled with him - to the
outer edges of the Universe - always with the rushing of winds and the roar
in the sky.
But - if my Faith in God is now superseded - then why?
My belief in God was like a thousand years ago - and compared to what I have
seen and know now - and where my journey has led me with miracles and
wonders like you have never seen - I can sympathise with the immature and
those who do not have sufficient intelligence or luck and those who are
still at this early stage.
But the power that is out there friends - is a darn sight more than any God.
Regards
THE BORG