God used a lot of collective punishment in the Bible? Did he ever figure out how to punish individuals?

Question

And spare the innocent? Oh, that's right God never changes...so presumably he can't learn from his mistakes.

Unfortunate. Perhaps the church people can put a positive spin on this.

Answer 1

God just doesn't like people very much.

"For I so loved the world that I sacrificed Myself to Myself to appease My own anger at My own creation." - God

Answer 2

The Idea of God being a force for Justice would make him easier to love. We see so much evil in the world and we hope for Justice. If they get away with it to some extent in this world, I hope they at least pay in the next. Problem is, the whole eternal Damnation thing seems a bit over the top. For Justice to be true, the punishment should fit the crime. With very few exceptions, an eternal punishment for temporal crimes seems a bit unreasonable. In that case, I would hope that Fireball is right about the "hell is the grave" thing.Also I think some people have good reasons to not believe, I don't think threats should be used to force someone to believe in something. In the case of that then it makes it harder to love God (or indeed, to accept his reality as a "loving" God).

Answer 3

First off, be very clear that God doesn't make mistakes, therefore, He has no reason to "learn from them". Everything is created for His purpose and only God knows the meaning and reason behind every thing. Just because we don't understand it at this time in our imperfect human minds doesn't mean His plan isn't right. The way I think of it, you could go into a preschool classroom and begin teaching advanced algebra to the toddlers. Just because they can't begin to comprehend what you are talking about doesn't make algebra non-existant and nonsense. They just aren't equipped to understand something so vast; just as we aren't equipped to understand how God works.
Now to answer your other question about punishment, in the Bible, there are many stories of God's wrath on groups of people but if you read the whole story, you'll see that God gave them every chance to repent. He wants us to come to him of our own free will and free choice, not out of fear or strong-arm tactics. And God will know in your heart if you truly mean it when you say you are sorry and want to be forgiven. God sent Moses to lead the slaves out of Egypt, they witnessed His power and miracles with the parting of the Red Sea. But apparantly that wasn't enough for them, even after seeing such miracles, when they began to come upon hard times in the dessert they immediately began to make a false god, a golden calf statue to worship. Back to their old ways again, and thus God punished them. I think if I'd have had the opportunity to witness a huge miracle such as the sea parting, I'd never have any doubts again about Gods love and power!!! You ask about sparing the innocent, that is a difficult thing to comprehend too, I admit. None of us are innocent, we are all guilty of sinning, so there are no true innocents. According to some beliefs, we are all born through "original sin", the sin of Adam and Eve, so even a newborn baby is sinful. I don't fully believe that, I think a baby is an innocent because they aren't yet able to make a conscious choice to be faithful to God or to reject Him.

Please, let your heart open a small crack and if you do, God will come in and fill it with the light of His love and knowledge. If you pray with an open heart, He will come to you. God wants nothing more than to be reunited with His beloved children. We are the ones that distance ourselves from Him by doing bad things that hurt Him. He never leaves us, we are the ones that walk away. So turn back, tell Him you are sorry for your sins and weakness of faith and I promise if you are sincere, He will fill you with a peace and joy you've never known before.
Peace and blessings to you.

Answer 4

When the very first sin was committed God punished the woman and the man. Each recieved an individual punishment for their sin. The man would toil hard in order to eat from the earth and the woman would labor to bring forth children. God also immediately put into motion the events that that would bring us back to Him.

Answer 5

Well, the book of Job is pretty much one guy having it stuck to him.

Maybe the Abrahamic god stopped killing cities with fire and brimstone for mistreating strangers when he read some Greek Mythology and found out it was Zeus' schtick.

You know, like on that one episode of South Park "The simpsons did it."

I mean, if he wanted to do something new in the world, he'd run out of stuff first.

I mean, he wasn't the first god to claim to be the only god, he wasn't the first god to burn a bush, he wasn't the first god to put on a man suit and kill himself.

Maybe he stopped trying.

Answer 6

The Catholic Church is under the control of Zionists, -so church people are brain-washed. God doesn't exist, god is a lie and a fairytale fantasy myth, a mind control tool.

Answer 7

God The Father,Son,and Holy Spirit is one God. Genesis one tell us God said let us make man in our own image. He made Adam from the dirt he formed his body and then he breathed in a spirit and he became a living soul. So what we have is the image of God being body+spirit and the two make one soul.God made man knowing that we had a sin nature..God created us with free will. He could have made perfect creatures who simply worshiped him because they were perfect not having free will but God created us so that we could choose to worship him. Now this means man was born with free will and a sin nature and man would fall away from a righteous God because God being perfect and righteous he could not join us in sin by simply calling that which is not holy righteous so the wages of sin was death. As I said God had a plan for his creation before he made them. that plan was not to join in mans unrighteousness but to bring man ot his righteousness and that plan was Jesus Christ who did pay the penalty of death for us. This is the reason Jesus said no one comes to the Father but through the Son. And He is the only way to the Father as he provided the atonement that makes a man righteous before God.

Answer 8

Like Christians, Muslims believe that the present life is only a trial preparation for the next realm of existence. This life is a test for each individual for the life after death. A day will come when the whole universe will be destroyed and the dead will be resurrected for judgment by God. This day will be the beginning of a life that will never end. This day is the Day of Judgment. On that day, all people will be rewarded by God according to their beliefs and deeds. Those who die while believing that “There is no true god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger (Prophet) of God” and are Muslim will be rewarded on that day and will be admitted to Paradise forever, as God has said:


And those who believe and do good deeds, they are dwellers of Paradise, they dwell therein forever. (Quran, 2:82)

But those who die while not believing that “There is no true god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger (Prophet) of God” or are not Muslim will lose Paradise forever and will be sent to Hellfire, as God has said:

And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him and he will be one of the losers in the Hereafter. (Quran, 3:85)

And as He has said:

Those who have disbelieved and died in disbelief, the earth full of gold would not be accepted from any of them if it were offered as a ransom. They will have a painful punishment, and they will have no helpers. (Quran, 3:91)

One may ask, ‘I think Islam is a good religion, but if I were to convert to Islam, my family, friends, and other people would persecute me and make fun of me. So if I do not convert to Islam, will I enter Paradise and be saved from Hellfire?’

The answer is what God has said in the preceding verse, “And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him and he will be one of the losers in the Hereafter.”

After having sent the Prophet Muhammad to call people to Islam, God does not accept adherence to any religion other than Islam. God is our Creator and Sustainer. He created for us whatever is in the earth. All the blessings and good things we have are from Him. So after all this, when someone rejects belief in God, His Prophet Muhammad , or His religion of Islam, it is just that he or she be punished in the Hereafter. Actually, the main purpose of our creation is to worship God alone and to obey Him, as God has said in the Holy Quran (51:56).

This life we live today is a very short life. The unbelievers on the Day of Judgment will think that the life they lived on earth was only a day or part of a day, as God has said:

He (God) will say, “How many years did you stay on the earth?” They will say: “We stayed a day or part of a day....” (Quran, 23:112-113)

And He has said:

Did you then think that We had created you in jest (without any purpose), and that you would not be returned to Us (in the Hereafter)? So, God is exalted, the True King. None has the right to be worshipped but Him... (Quran, 23:115-116)

The life in the Hereafter is a very real life. It is not only spiritual, but physical as well. We will live there with our souls and bodies.

In comparing this world with the Hereafter, the Prophet Muhammad said: {The value of this world compared to that of the Hereafter is like what your finger brings from the sea when you put it in and then take it out.}1 The meaning is that, the value of this world compared to that of the Hereafter is like a few drops of water compared to the sea.

Answer 9

lol
you know God left the church people to punish, judge and harrass all the others!

oh, collect all the money too!

Answer 10

The bible also talks a lot about "the Lord" dashing babies to pieces. They must have been some really bad-a** babies. Real charming.