he says if god wuz real and perfect then y didnt he cre8 a perfect world, and y there is starving kids and familys in Africa. I mean my friend is athiest and my other friends are really religous, and then again i have my bro and my bf who r agnostic. I dont know wut to think about god. I feel bad for doubting him :( but i also feel like hes forsaken me :(
2006-08-02 13:03:06 · 25 answers · asked by =)) 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
If theres a god i don't b lieve there is a hell.
2006-08-02 13:16:59 · update #1
First, God did create a perfect world. It was sin that wrecked it.
Secondly, If we look at the world, it generally says "I am self sufficient and don't need God," or "God you can intervene but on my terms, I still wan't my sin" or "God doesn't exist". God, who gave us a free will says you don't wan't My help, you don't want Me, that's your choice. Your terms will kill you and those around you, I will not help you do that."
Don't blame God for mans' problems.
2006-08-02 13:05:41 · answer #1 · answered by jemhasb 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is God Really All Good?
Question from Benjamin Jacobs on 6/25/2006:
Dear Dr. Geraghty:
I am not sure whether this is a spiritual question, best asked of a priest, or a philisophical one regarding God and His nature- probably a bit of both and I hope you will be able to respond to it. Everyone asks how an all loving and merciful God can allow bad things to happen to good people. Often the answer is that He allows us free will, therefore, although something like a holocaust or any sort of genocide is horribly tragic, because God gives us free will, the choice to act for good or evil, we can not place the blame on God but only on man. Fair enough. But what about in cases where no free will is involved? Just a short time ago I read that in Texas, a two year old girl was killed by a vicious dog. This is not a case of free will! This is simply a senseless tragedy. Surely, if God is all Good and all loving and all merciful he could have, would have or SHOULD HAVE prevented such a thing from occuring, and He could have done so without stripping us of moral choices or free will. So in the face of such a tragedy, if we assume the existence of a God, how can we say He really is all good and all loving? Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Benjamin Jacobs
Answer by Richard Geraghty on 7/8/2006:
Dear Benjamin,
The kind of case you mentioned happens every hour of the day at some place in the world. People who are absolutely innocent suffer all kinds of indignities. So there is a malignant intelligence operating in the world that rejoices in any suffering, particularly the suffering of the innocent. That power and intelligence is the devil and like-minded spirit, both angelic and human. That is the way the world is, as the facts show. Now the answer of God to this was to become a man and take all the suffering that evil could impose upon him to show that God can still bring good out of evil. Christ rose from the dead and so will we if we are faithful. What we have to do then is to give up any thoughts we may harbor about the way we would run the world if we were God and go with the way God runs it. He is actually running it quite well-- but we do not know that. We live by faith, here, not our own logic. We have to hold onto the notion that God is good even though it often appears that the devil is running the world.
Dr. Geraghty
www.ewtn.com
2006-08-02 20:10:04 · answer #2 · answered by admyr75 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your religious beliefs, or lack thereof, are simply your thoughts on what is true about the entire universe. There is no way that these answers come easily and simply, and spiritual things are subjective and impossible to prove or disprove. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks about you; worry about what you think about everything. Whether or not you believe in God has nothing to do with whether or not you're a good person. Whatever you decide, though, I hope you're a tolerant person because we have conflict on both sides. I don't think you should feel guilty about doubting God, because if you never questioned your faith how could you tell the difference between the truth and simply being in a state of denial or illusion? It's not really a belief at all if you've never put any thought into it. As someone who was raised Christian but was always an Athiest deep down, I know how it feels to be sent on a guilt trip for questioning God. It's a lot of unneccessary pain. Don't ever let anyone make you feel guilty for what you do or don't decide you believe.
2006-08-02 20:17:07 · answer #3 · answered by Emily I 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's understandable that because of the world we live in there are so many bad things happening and it can leave so many people jaded, and confused, and even angry.
Please take heart and know that God is there and He does care. The world was perfect once, but a sin of disobedience screwed everything up and left us where we are today. The evils that befall this world are not because God doesn't care or because He isn't there, but because people are sinful and hurt each other, even kill each other, when they shouldn't.
Think about it, we all pretty much know what God teaches: love, faith, patience, sacrifise, obedience. It's all in the Ten Commandments. If people followed that, this world would be a whole different place.
Pray to God and tell Him how you feel. Tell Him everything. He is always there and always ready to listen. You'll find you can tell God things you feel you can't tell anybody else. He is the best friend you'll ever have; He loves you more than you could ever know.
If you want to make a change in the world, start with yourself. I learned a long time ago that I have a choice: I can either treat people badly because of my own anger and resentment, or I can treat people with kindness and respect. If you choose to be kind to people, you are one more person out there doing good for people, and God's heart smiles on that. Take pride in knowing that He loves you, and wants you to love others.
Pray to Him, and pray often.
God bless.
2006-08-02 20:16:19 · answer #4 · answered by Danny H 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Agnostic means you don't know what is true and what is not and you don't think anyone else knows either. An agnostic allows for the possibility of the existance of a God but does not declare a knowlege or faith in any specific religious doctrine.
An athiest is a person that does not believe there is a God due to tangible evidence and scientific data.
Your brother is entitled to his opinion the same way you are. He is not forsaking you or anyone else with his personal beliefs nor are you forsaking him with yours.
2006-08-02 20:09:10 · answer #5 · answered by Kristonia 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As the others said, God DID create a perfect world, and we as humans have destroyed it... God can only do so much... he works for those who believe... he still will help those who don't, but only up until the point that they denounce his name...
the starving children in Africa is due to human error... not being able to control population, destroying climate and other human errors... but then God sends people like Angelina Jolie and Oprah to try and help all they can.
Think about this too... has God really forsaken you, or did you give up on him first... you have your own mind, beliefs and experiences in life to let you either know or not know if there is God... and once you determine that, then don't allow anyone to influence your decision based on THEIR beliefs... if they are anyone who cares about you, then they shouldn't be judging you anyway... and make sure to tell them that.
just don't forget all that you have been giving that so many haven't, and don't forget to stop and smell the roses sometimes... that's just one of the great escapes from this hectic life we lead.
take care, and if you choose to accept my blessing, God bless
2006-08-02 20:22:35 · answer #6 · answered by Alynn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sober enough at the moment to answer with complete coherence. But God DID create a perfect world. This I know. And in doing so, He gave man choice. Human as we are, we chose wisdom in the Garden, rather than acceptance. Obviously the wrong choice. Wisdom of good and evil, right and wrong. The mysteries of good and evil are not for us to understand. Logic does not apply. This is what is called FAITH. There is NO way to grasp this on a human level. By faith ALONE we are saved. I hope this helps... God (One and Only) Bless...
2006-08-02 20:15:29 · answer #7 · answered by Johnny P 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is suffering in the world because of our own doing. God gave us free will and Adam and Eve were the first to abuse it and do wrong. Now millions of people do sins every time and we are paying for them. God sends us signs that we deserve and if you really think about all the things we did, it does sound really bad. You ask about all the poor people in Africa? If you are a follower of God, God would never let any of his followers stoop that low were you have to kill people for food. He would never do that to his followers because the believe.
2006-08-02 20:11:07 · answer #8 · answered by i_have_the_sixth_sense2000 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God never forsakes you, not ever. It's hard, in this day and age, to not have doubts sometimes, with all of the stuff that we hear. Try not to lose faith though, your friends that are religious have it right.
This world isn't perfect at all, that's true. He did create a perfect world, us humans decided to go against Him, and filled the world with sin, so it's not so perfect anymore. Plus, Satan is trying to deceive all of us and drag us down with him, and that makes things tougher here.
There's lots of historic and scientific evidence for Christianity, and there are people who completely change from converting to Christianity, their testimony is also a powerful force in believing that God is actually real.
Keep reading the Bible, go to church, pray, ask questions to your pastor, and such, ^_^
2006-08-02 20:09:29 · answer #9 · answered by arcmdark 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God gave us free will,he can't always interceed in this world it wouldn't be a 'free will'. If you'll reject God in this earthly life,he will reject you,and being apart from God is what we call Hell.
Did your bro and friend even read the Bible once? it is not hard to not believe at all,faith takes some hardships but the reward is great for your good faith,..don't loose hope,pray for your bro and friend,talk to God to help you out,he listens to ones who seek him.God Bless
2006-08-02 20:12:31 · answer #10 · answered by I-C-U 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋