If God is forgiving God, why do people believe in punishment? Is punishment God's anger or is it the consequence of our choice to sin against ourselves, others and God. Please....explain
2007-07-18 21:55:23 · 20 answers · asked by -meh- 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Hi! From a Christian, nothing is that black and white. Yea the Bible says so and I'm supposed to respect the thing but... I don't because it is quite boring and was written by HUMAN BEINGS. Of course humans are bound to contradict themselves...
2007-07-18 22:00:21 · answer #1 · answered by blah 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Evil is absence of God, just as darkness is the absence of light.
Hardships or experiences that feel like punishment are merely the consequences of our past actions. It is when begin to see them as our 'creations', do we begin to make better choices; until then we continue to blame others or God for our hardships
God doesn't play any role in our choice making process, hence even the consequences be it good or bad are also all ours.
Since He has given us a Freewill, he can only guide us, when we ask, and listen.
2007-07-19 05:32:04 · answer #2 · answered by Abhishek Joshi 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
God also created Satan, so all he created is not good, without evil there would be no free choice.
God created us in his image so he is a lot like us with that said think of it this way, Once you were a child and your parents tryed to teach you right from wrong but there has to be a time when your parents let you make your own desisions and some will do wrong, they may even know that it's wrong when there doing it but if you break the law you go to jail. You can not make someone love you or go through life without making there own choices, man creates evil and there will be consequences for bad choices, if ther was not there would be a lot more evel in this world, we have laws of the land and if someone don't follow them they get in trouble and God has laws. I believe God dose get angery at times but a lot of times I think it's more of a hurt, we are his children, If you had a child and tryed to bring them up right wouldn't you be hurt if they hurt someone or broke the law and went to jail, You may be able to bail them out and then the child would be thankfull you were there for them, It is the same with Jesus he paied the bail for us to set us free all we need to do is ask, He is our Father and he loves us more than we could understand and we don't deserve it with all we did wrong but he saves us by his grace and all he wants is our love and to follow his laws, Yes your in trouble if you don't, If you had a child and he was in jail would you bail them out if you think they don't love you and they haven't learned there lesson?
They will just be back in jail again, wouldn't that be a waste, they must learn to change and so do we for Jesus he did his part and showed his love and grace. Now it's our choice.
2007-07-19 05:29:59 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
When you break Gods laws knowingly you can only be forgiven if you:
1. repent sincerely
2. try to make up for what theyve done (i.e. not do the hideous act again)
Lets say a man steals, but he neither feels sorry for what hes done, or he feels sorry but does not make up for what hes done (like give the thing he stole back, go and surrender to the police etc)
Do you think its fair for God to forgive this man knowing hes not sincerely sorry? Because if he was sincerely sorry he wouldnt do this act again. But most criminals repeat themselves, they dont just do one act and leave it at that.
God has created the human. Knowing full well the human capacity for both good and evil. Would you consider this creation a good creation or a bad creation? or both?
***
When you look at the history of civilizations, youll notice that God does not send down His wrath until the masses go corrupt.
Mayas, incas, ancient egyptians. Theyve all perished for a good reason. Egyptian pharaos believed they were gods, and they tortured humans to bow down to them as slaves. The mayas and incas sacrificed humans for their own selfish benefits. And many more could be said of civilizations who were wiped off the face of earth. And if you look carefully, youll see that God did not wipe them off the face of earth by one or more of their actions, He waited. He was patient. And finally, eventually, all that is left of them, are remnants, and old pots. Where is the power now?
In all religious texts, God addresses humans and says: do not transgress your bounds. remember that youre only human and show respect to life. or else Im gonna kick your ....
:)
If youve noticed, I didnt attempt to answer your question fully. Because I think you can very well derive to the answers by giving it some good thought. Its not too hard.
2007-07-19 05:24:23 · answer #4 · answered by Antares 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Perhaps the issue is not with God but with man and mans organic limitation to perceive life as it, to perceive life from higher reality.
All is good, because all things have purpose and a divine string that unites each action to the purposes of development and completion. Perhaps all is ultimately and what man sees as bad is a form of correction and serves the refinement of souls. If I put my fist through a window will I not bleed by my own hand?These are the laws of God, everything thought or acted out returns to its source, and many an experience occurs as a test for consciousness.
2007-07-19 05:19:24 · answer #5 · answered by Automaton 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Excuses me!
God created everything , yes even satan !
The devil was created to fulfilled God's purposes in designing Man to one day become His many sons.
Adam failed but Jesus the second Man didn't
Satan is still a tool in God's hand to bring about perfection in God's people.
Christians who can't admit or explain it as it is , does not have a greater appreciation of God's ultimate purpose and intention
The only thing central in all of God's creation is to bring many sons of God into the Kingdom of God.
And , Jesus is the center of that purpose and man who believes are the receipients by faith - just believe without works.
Alll religions are based on works - what men must do to get salvation. Christianity is all about What's God has done for you and you(man) do nothing - just believe!
It's the simplest of all message but religious christianity put in so many laws that once you become a christian about their kind - you are bought into their bondage.
Wake up and come out of them , for Whom the Son of God has set free, they are free indeed!
2007-07-19 05:31:40 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because mankind has freedom of choice. Mankind has given into temptation and done some low-down ****. God will not come down and interfere with this. God has given mankind the intelligence to create rules and how to enforce them. We must punish and put some of the bad people away to protect the good people.
2007-07-19 05:09:59 · answer #7 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The Bible explains all. If you read it, it states that God gave man the ability to choose and we blew that in the Garden of Eden. We are by nature, rebellious. We want our own way and want what is easy and free. The Bible states "Straight is the way and Narrow the gate that leads to Heaven". God gave His Son on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins and all we have to do is accept His gift and we will be blessed and enter into Heaven. Reject His gift and spend eternity in Hell.
2007-07-19 05:11:49 · answer #8 · answered by who-cares-who-i-am 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
There are two spirits that influence human behavior, one is evil and wants to keep people confused, the other is good and wants us to understand the truth about God, ourselves, Jesus, and evil. The truth about what God created is not in Genesis, it was given to us by Jesus in The Apocryphon of John. Be smart, God is NOT the author of confusion nor the creator of evil.
2007-07-19 05:04:13 · answer #9 · answered by single eye 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Well don't forget that god also created Lucifer who is supposedly the antithesis of evil, nothing more evil has ever been created. So it is said the angels, of which Lucifer was one were not given free will, only mankind was given that gift. The angels had no choice but to worship god. It is all a mystery
2007-07-19 05:03:53 · answer #10 · answered by Dr Paul D 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
God created man in His image and he saw that it was good. But with man he gave freedom of choice, as love that is returned willingly is love worth having from his creation. By giving us free will, we were created good with freedom to do good. Evil isn't just mass murderers and serial killers, it's any act commited apart from God's will. And when man chose a path away from God, man acted with evil intent. God created good, but man chose otherwise.
2007-07-19 05:02:10 · answer #11 · answered by Jay 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋