Questions for Christians specifically,?

Question

I know this is only ONE example of millions across the globe but this particular case is so atrocious and evil in it's purest sense, you can't help but cry in fits of rage that this precious little angel SUFFERED that much, she didn't die right away, this innocent baby SUFFERED a l i n g e r i n g torment.....

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/26/body.found.arrest/index.html

My question is, if this happened to someone you knew, how would you as christians console them, what do you say to attribute or connect this atrocity to a loving God that you worship????? How do we, here on R&S as detached as we are from this angel and her family, console OURSELVES knowing that this was "allowed" b/c of the generous love our Heavenly father holds for us.
I just want to know how to explain this to myself so I can sleep at night. I'm PI$$ED off!

Yes, but I hope they don't die "quickly" but are subjected to torture, an eye for an eye

Joseph - Do I blame God? NOOOOOOOOOOO, I could never blame God for not stepping in to ease, at the very least, an innocent angel to whom His kingdom belongs, WHY ON EARTH would HE step in to alleviate that baby's pain .....right???

Dewkoons and Suzanne - Thank you, and I used that expression because that's exactly the raw emotion I felt upon reading what happened....

Sarah - this is the story about Baby Grace, do a search if it's not too annoying for you

Answer 1

The Christian faith teaches what is knows as "free will". That means that God made each person capable of making moral decisions, and then holds them responsible for the consequences of those actions. Unfortunately, that mean that people can make bad, immoral decisions, and other may suffer for those decisions.

What do recommend as a remedy? Should God take away your ability to make moral decisions? Should he turn you into a robot that only do the right thing? What he wants are people who serve him by choice, not force.

Should God take away the consequences of bad actions so that they never harm anyone? Then rapes, killings, tortures, etc would happen continually and no one would do anything to stop because if you rape the person, there is consequence for it. Anarchy would results.

Should God protect babies up to, say. 3 years of age? They can never be hurt or killed before that. But what happens at 1 minute past midnight on their third birthday? All bets are off. What happens if the child's whole family is wiped out, but they survive alone?

God had to make a decision on how to run the world. His decision was to give man the control or stewardship of much of what happens day to day in the world. But he left himself the options of "miracles" when he knows they are the right thing to do.

How do we comfort ourselves over "Baby Grace"? Hopefully we don't. Hopefully we never accept that such things will happen in the world, and instead dedicate ourselves to ending such tragedies. That will only happens when each person comes to the point where they know God, and are seeking his will and guidance in their lives.

Then there would have been people to help the parents (or father) before he reached the point of beating the child. There would have been people who would have been warned of the situation and could have rescued the child.

But unfortunately, God's people let this child down (and her parents and family). If there is blame, it needs to lie with us Christians who have not been listening to God to hear and prevent such situations. That is why the first thing Jesus told us to pray is that "God's kingdom would come and his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven". It is not automatic. We have to do it (with his help of course).

So when I find a situation like this that "pi$$es" me off (to use your word), and I can not sleep or release it, I know that it is God once again calling me to rededicate myself to hearing his voice so I can be there to reach others and prevents such tragedies in the future.

You are welcome to join my in this endeavor to rescue the world one person at a time through the love of God.

Answer 2

There's only one way to look at something like this: the fact that evil exists in the world is an indication of just how far humanity (as a whole) is from God. Remember, after the Fall of Man, Satan was given free reign over the earth -- he's the prince of this world (Eph. 2:2). Things like this reflect badly on Satan, NOT on our Father. As Christians, we cannot stop this evil; we can only fight against it spiritually.

I have no idea what I'd say to the father of this murdered child. I really don't think words would comfort him at this point. Sometimes, all you can do is hug someone and cry with them. That's what I'd do.

Answer 3

The question you ask is beyond my capacity to explain. It is held within the hidden mystery.

I do know that love is inherent in all things. On the surface this can be hard to see with the human eye.

In things such as this, words do not exist in me to explain or console. Only your inward light of love may direct you.

There is Holy scripture that says something like "All good that comes to you is of God, all evil that befalls you is from your own self." There is the individual self and the collective self. The individual consciousness and the collective consciousness.

Universally, this thing is offensive. Certainly it gives pause to introspection.

Some things are beyond knowing and beyond explaining. Any words to do so will be hollow

Blessings and peace to all
All in all,
B

Answer 4

The link won't work for me so I don't know all the details of the story :-(

Bad things happen to good people all the time... It's kind of annoying that everyone blames God for bad things and make fun of Christians for believing in a "cruel heartless" God... You all forget that Christians believe in Satan as well. He is the one we believe is responsible for all the crime, all the hurt, all the pain and suffering.

Maybe God doesn't directly intervene because He doesn't feel welcome here on Earth, what with all the Atheists questioning Him all the time.

Answer 5

How do we explain any child who dies?

My sister died when she was five months old. My parents were never told why.

You are correct that story is evil in it purest sense. Although the idea that evil can be "pure" has my dictionary about to wet his pants.

Look at the horror of every war which has ever been fought?

The sailors who were killed in their sleep on Dec 7, 1941?

Six or seven million Jews who were killed by Hitler?

How do we explain any of it?

Why didn't God step in and prevent Eve from eating that fruit?

Why didn't God stop Cain from killing Abel?

You ask how I would counsel who?

The people who did it? or other family members?

The answer is, "I don't know."

The only answer the Bible gives us in found in 2 Peter 3:9

Pastor Art

Answer 6

How would Christians console who?

First of all this little girl was not an angel. Angels are beings who have always lived in Heaven with God. What you're really asking here is; how can a loving God allow something like this to happen? This is a classic response typically from those who neither believe in God nor understand the sinful condition of mankind. They are affected by a particular atrocity or an injustice, and it causes them to question the existence of God. What you need to understand is that since Adam and Eve, every man, woman and child ever born is a sinner. Sin is a hideous thing. It ruins lives, affects the innocent, and it separates us from our creator. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death—eternal suffering in Hell. We are both helpless and powerless in changing our spiritual condition, but thankfully God sent his son Jesus. He became the sacrifice or the payment for our sins, and he rose from the dead. The Bible says that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. No one knows how many more generations God will allow to exist, but one day God will eventually draw life on this planet to an end. A Christian’s hope is in Christ and in the promises of God. Our comfort comes from the Holy Spirit that lives within us and from the direction the Bible gives us. Jesus is our rock, our strength, and our answer to the insanity that abounds in this lost and sinful world.

Answer 7

The only way God will allow something to happen is if it is his will. I wouldn't worry about the child it is safe in the hands of God now. You said it all when you called the child an angel, because that was most likely the idea God had in mind.

Answer 8

The love of God is beyond human comprehension. This atrocious crime is just another example of how depraved the carnal nature is. Mankind still will not submit to God's Way of living.

Yes, it's an outrage what these two peole did to that innocent child, but let's place the blame where it rightfully belongs...on THEM, not God.

Answer 9

Being good is not enough to merit heaven. What is necessary is a sanctified soul and that comes entirely from God's grace and not by any goodness we think we have or reward we deserve by our faith. "But, I don't believe that the Pope is God's man on Earth. I think that the pope is the biggest false prophet that ever walked this Earth, as every Pope before him was, and every Pope after him will be. It's ludicrous to think that God would pick a normal man out of society to be His mouth and to speak His word." So you do not believe that Jesus was competent enough to establish the Church with enduring leadership, that He made a mistake in choosing St. Peter as His leader and that Jesus Himself chose a false prophet to lead His Church. Such statements are nothing less than blasphemy. What you claim to be ludicrous is exactly what Jesus did whether you like it or not. The Church with the leadership founded by Christ still exists today and will exist until the Parousia just as Jesus promised. We do not know who is the anti-christ but we are assured that it cannot be the pope by our Lord. "Shouldn't all Christians unite under the word of the Bible, not a man who is not God?" Say what you will but Jesus has already spoken and He gave all authority to the Church and not to the Bible. Christianity is based on Christ's Church and not on a book that is the product of that Church. We did not write the New Testament for it to be the final authority for faith and we did not canonize the Christian Bible for it to usurp the authority of the Church. That would be disobedient to Christ's teaching who established His authority with the leadership and not a book. Sola Scriptura is a heresy that has resulted in over 30,000 schisms in the Corpus Christi. Christians in the end times must gather around the bishops just as St. Ignatius taught. Only heretics should gather around a book where each person becomes their own theologian. "My question to Christians, Catholics in particular, is why you would think that the Pope should be a religious leader when the only person fit to be one was Jesus Christ." It does not matter what Catholics or anybody else thinks when one is a Christian. What matters is what Jesus thinks and what He thought is that an enduring Church needs an enduring leader. That is why Jesus established the continuous leadership of the Church through apostolic succession with Himself as the cornerstone and the disciples as the 12 foundation stones of the Church. This is a foundation not built on sand but one built on the most solid of foundations. Jesus is the high priest and the disciples and their successors are the teaching authority of the Church. Jesus gave all authority to this leadership. In the first century of the Church the Church is described as those who gather around these bishops ordained by our Lord. Jesus chose St. Peter as the leader of the disciples and the office of St. Peter remains where the first among equals resides and leads the Church to the fullness of truth. God bless! In Christ Fr. Joseph

Answer 10

you can not blame that acts of humans on god - god could not prevent us from doing evil without taking away our ability to choose whether we do good or evil

I'm agnostic, but I can only hope that poor girl is in a better place now. Those people should never see the light of day again.