Post by James Blankenship on Apr 5, 2012 13:42:27 GMT -5
This is the question that is most commonly asked by atheists/non-Believers.
Often, they will they will use what is known as the EPICURUS Riddle, which is this:
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
Ok. Let's break this down:
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent"
Of course He is able to prevent evil. But who is causing the evil-man or God?
"Why doesn't God feed starving children in Africa?"
How is it God's fault, if a leader of a country doesn't feed their OWN people?
Isn't THAT what a leader of a country is SUPPOSED to do?
(God isn't the leader of this country, so how is it HIS fault people are starving?. Especially WHEN every country IS able to feed their own people? It's the corupt leaders of these countries that are responsible for their OWN people starving-not God!)
"How Could God let someone be killed?"
How is it God's fault, if someone kills another person?
(God didn't kill the person.)
"Why was my baby brother killed in a car crash?"
How is it God's fault when a driver runs another off the road & a child dies?
(God wasn't driving either car.)
Why are you blaming God for what MAN is doing?
Man is simply not taking responsibility for his OWN actions, (once again), & is "passing the buck", by blaming God for their problems!
That is the 2-edged sword that Free-Will is. Free will by itself is neither good nor evil. It is what is done WITH that freewill, that makes it good or bad.
If God stopped everything bad from happening, how would we grow?
Also:
Do you really think that God DOESN'T want us to learn how to adapt to various situations? That we who DO know Christ Jesus, should never learn? What kind of "loving" Father would that be? Would you want YOUR father NOT to teach you how to deal with unexpected situations? That is not the God of the Bible, nor the God I know. Knowing God, involves us trusting God to help us THROUGH unexpected situations-NOT always avoid them or remove them! If we always avoided them, we never WOULD grow! We never WOULD learn! The job of a loving father is to TEACH his children-not let them remain ignorant & helpless!
Then we have this:
"Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent."
No He isn't.
Man has not accepted responsibility for his own actions, ever since Adam & Eve refused to take responsibility for disobeying God's command not to eat the fruit of that tree. We can't know God, until we take responsibility for our own actions & stop blaming God for what WE choose to do. WE & WE alone are responsible for our OWN problems--NOBODY ELSE! Don't you think that it's time to stop "passing the buck?"
I need to say something about people accusing God of causing natural disasters.
God DID use nature in the OLD TESTAMENT. But there is not ONE SINGLE REFERENCE in the NEW TESTAMENT!
NOT ONE!
There is NO ONE who can show me ONE SINGLE Scriptural reference in the NT, where God EVER used nature as punishment. (The Book of Revelation, cannot be included, because those events haven't happened yet.)
At least in much of the world:
Why are there hurricanes only one time a year?
Why do we have 4 seasons, that have been consistent for countless millenia?
Why do earthquakes only happen in certain parts of the world?
And on & on.
God has set nature in strict, UNCHANGING patterns, that have not changed for tens of thousands of years.
What happens is nature acting within the bounds that God has set. If God hadn't set these kind of controls, nature would run wild! There would be hurricanes all over the globe. Tornadoes occurring in every part of the world. There wouldn't BE regular seasons! These are God's controls that keep nature FROM running wild!
Then we have this:
"Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?"
From Man's disobedience-Not God
Man CHOOSES to disobey God.
God doesn't force ANYONE to obey OR disobey Him
Never has-never will.
This is CHOICE.
There WAS no evil in the Garden of Eden when God created it!
No deadly bacteria.
No deadly animals.
No disease.
No Sickness.
Nothing EVIL or Bad,
as seen here:
The Bible clearly states that EVERYTHING that God ever CREATED, was created in these passages.
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201:1-31&version=NIV
There is not ONE SINGLE reference ANYWHERE in the Bible that God EVER created anything else after this.
If what you "say" God "created", is not in this passage, then He did not create it.
It should also be noted, that there is NOT ONE SINGLE Biblical reference, where GOD says that man will EVER have a life with no problems, Outside on Revelation, which hasn't happened yet, so those who accuse God of causing problems for us, has NO SCRIPTURAL BASIS WHATSOEVER for saying this!
And finally:
"Then why call him God?”"
Because His IS-whether you want to believe it or not, does not change who God is.
God doesn't change REGARDLESS of what ANYONE thinks about Him.
He IS the great "I AM"!
James.
Often, they will they will use what is known as the EPICURUS Riddle, which is this:
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
Ok. Let's break this down:
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent"
Of course He is able to prevent evil. But who is causing the evil-man or God?
"Why doesn't God feed starving children in Africa?"
How is it God's fault, if a leader of a country doesn't feed their OWN people?
Isn't THAT what a leader of a country is SUPPOSED to do?
(God isn't the leader of this country, so how is it HIS fault people are starving?. Especially WHEN every country IS able to feed their own people? It's the corupt leaders of these countries that are responsible for their OWN people starving-not God!)
"How Could God let someone be killed?"
How is it God's fault, if someone kills another person?
(God didn't kill the person.)
"Why was my baby brother killed in a car crash?"
How is it God's fault when a driver runs another off the road & a child dies?
(God wasn't driving either car.)
Why are you blaming God for what MAN is doing?
Man is simply not taking responsibility for his OWN actions, (once again), & is "passing the buck", by blaming God for their problems!
That is the 2-edged sword that Free-Will is. Free will by itself is neither good nor evil. It is what is done WITH that freewill, that makes it good or bad.
If God stopped everything bad from happening, how would we grow?
Also:
Do you really think that God DOESN'T want us to learn how to adapt to various situations? That we who DO know Christ Jesus, should never learn? What kind of "loving" Father would that be? Would you want YOUR father NOT to teach you how to deal with unexpected situations? That is not the God of the Bible, nor the God I know. Knowing God, involves us trusting God to help us THROUGH unexpected situations-NOT always avoid them or remove them! If we always avoided them, we never WOULD grow! We never WOULD learn! The job of a loving father is to TEACH his children-not let them remain ignorant & helpless!
Then we have this:
"Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent."
No He isn't.
Man has not accepted responsibility for his own actions, ever since Adam & Eve refused to take responsibility for disobeying God's command not to eat the fruit of that tree. We can't know God, until we take responsibility for our own actions & stop blaming God for what WE choose to do. WE & WE alone are responsible for our OWN problems--NOBODY ELSE! Don't you think that it's time to stop "passing the buck?"
I need to say something about people accusing God of causing natural disasters.
God DID use nature in the OLD TESTAMENT. But there is not ONE SINGLE REFERENCE in the NEW TESTAMENT!
NOT ONE!
There is NO ONE who can show me ONE SINGLE Scriptural reference in the NT, where God EVER used nature as punishment. (The Book of Revelation, cannot be included, because those events haven't happened yet.)
At least in much of the world:
Why are there hurricanes only one time a year?
Why do we have 4 seasons, that have been consistent for countless millenia?
Why do earthquakes only happen in certain parts of the world?
And on & on.
God has set nature in strict, UNCHANGING patterns, that have not changed for tens of thousands of years.
What happens is nature acting within the bounds that God has set. If God hadn't set these kind of controls, nature would run wild! There would be hurricanes all over the globe. Tornadoes occurring in every part of the world. There wouldn't BE regular seasons! These are God's controls that keep nature FROM running wild!
Then we have this:
"Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?"
From Man's disobedience-Not God
Man CHOOSES to disobey God.
God doesn't force ANYONE to obey OR disobey Him
Never has-never will.
This is CHOICE.
There WAS no evil in the Garden of Eden when God created it!
No deadly bacteria.
No deadly animals.
No disease.
No Sickness.
Nothing EVIL or Bad,
as seen here:
The Bible clearly states that EVERYTHING that God ever CREATED, was created in these passages.
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201:1-31&version=NIV
There is not ONE SINGLE reference ANYWHERE in the Bible that God EVER created anything else after this.
If what you "say" God "created", is not in this passage, then He did not create it.
It should also be noted, that there is NOT ONE SINGLE Biblical reference, where GOD says that man will EVER have a life with no problems, Outside on Revelation, which hasn't happened yet, so those who accuse God of causing problems for us, has NO SCRIPTURAL BASIS WHATSOEVER for saying this!
And finally:
"Then why call him God?”"
Because His IS-whether you want to believe it or not, does not change who God is.
God doesn't change REGARDLESS of what ANYONE thinks about Him.
He IS the great "I AM"!
James.
