2006-06-25 16:56:33 · 26 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Would your earthly father punish you for doing something wrong? I think the answer would be yes. Our Father in Heaven does not punish us to be mean or spiteful. When we sin and are chastised it is a way of stretching us, we learn a lesson, we become stronger, and we are ever more thankful for the grace that God has given us.
2006-06-25 17:00:27 · answer #1 · answered by mycathisses 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
That's the big question and the big contradiction about the God of the Bible isn't it?
The OT God was punishing sin all the time by just outright killing people or giving them diseases or other misfortunes. In the NT Jesus came along and basically said that all your sins can be forgiven. But he didn't say that it was okay to sin or that sin would not longer have consequences. He even said that the wages of sin are death and those who don't accept him are destined to hell.
So, it's all very confusing and contradictory.
My best advice? Forget the God of the Bible. Learn to meditate and search inward for the ancient truths and wisdom that already inside of you waiting to be discovered.
2006-06-25 17:53:27 · answer #2 · answered by idspudnik 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Sin cannot come into the presence of a perfectly holy God. Therefore, sin had to be punished. That was why Jesus gave His life, to take the punishment of all who would believe in Him.
2006-06-25 17:37:46 · answer #3 · answered by Cameron 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sin is anything a person does that is contrary to the will of God. God is Love and yes he punishes those who sin.
For example, say you have a child and it does something wrong. Would you tell your child that it was okay for what they just did? Or would you punish your child and let it know that what it did was wrong.
Punishment is not harsh, in my opinion it is a way to correct what we have done wrong. It is a way of caring. If no one didn't care for their child they would let it go and do whatever it wanted.
God loves all of his children and is the same way. God punishes us all for our mistakes that we may learn from them.
2006-06-25 17:25:24 · answer #4 · answered by Angie R 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God has to judge sin because he is a righteous God. Because God loves us so much he punishes us when we sin and disobey Him. Wouldn't you be upset if your parents had let you have everything you wanted when you where a child? You would be a very selfish person today if that had been the case.
2006-06-25 17:03:30 · answer #5 · answered by Tina L. 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why should not a loving God punish for sinning? In order for you to have a child behave in the appropriate way you punish them. In order for us to learn what is good and moral we have to understand what is pleasing and accepting in God's eyes. How are we to know what is pleasing and accepting without him showing us the way. In order for us to become contributing adults in society our parents set up guidelines and rules and if we step out of these boundaries we are punish. It is the same with God he sets up guidelines so we can follow and the only way we can know that we made a wrong turn is if we are punished and shown the right path to travel.
2006-06-25 17:05:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
God loves us. He has expectations of us, though.
Similar to the way parents love their children, but punish their misdeeds, God loves us all, but views sin as actions and thoughts outside his expectations of us.
God sent his Son, though, so that we can be saved and avoid the ultimate punishment despite our sin. If we believe in God and his son Jesus, ask that our sins be forgiven, and get baptized for the redemption of our sins, we can be saved. Christians sin, too, but their sins have been forgiven and they are supposed to try very hard not to sin.
2006-06-25 17:05:00 · answer #7 · answered by LookingOut 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because it's not a loving god, it's an evil god. The whole issue is completely paradoxical, Christianity doesn't work:
"God is perfectly just, and yet he sentences the imperfect humans he created to infinite suffering in hell for finite sins. Clearly, a limited offense does not warrant unlimited punishment. God's sentencing of the imperfect humans to an eternity in hell for a mere mortal lifetime of sin is infinitely more unjust than this punishment. The absurd injustice of this infinite punishment is even greater when we consider that the ultimate source of human imperfection is the God who created them. A perfectly just God who sentences his imperfect creation to infinite punishment for finite sins is impossible."
2006-06-25 17:00:14 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's no different than any loving parent punishing a child to teach him a lesson so he'll shape up.
...only, the punishment is cruel and horrific, and it never ends, and it happens after it's too late to learn anything from it, and there's no way out so you can't shape up. It's totally pointless and sadistic.
Other than those minor trivialities, it's exactly the same.
2006-06-25 17:06:01 · answer #9 · answered by lenny 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If God did not punish, then He would not be a God of love.
2006-06-25 17:01:49 · answer #10 · answered by b c 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋