Lessons that can be learned from Newtown (preaching, scripture, prayer)
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That God can turn sorrow on it head and bring peace to hurting people, does not in anyway shape or form mean that these horrible acts are subject to God.
The view that God is somehow responsible for evils that men do is about the most horrible view of a kind loving God I have ever witnessed.
I never stated that God was "responsible for evils that men do" .
Your rationalization is a wanton blindness to the fact that God sometimes let people experience what it would be like if He stepped out of the way.
Matthew 27:25 All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us andonourchildren!”
Jerusalem was destroyed in 70AD
Exodus 17:3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our childrenand livestock die of thirst?”
They wandered in the desert for 40yrs
Numbers 14:3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Ourwives andchildrenwill be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
Later on Israel was indeed plundered by the Babylonians. 10 of the 12 tribes were never heard of again, and only a remnant of the remaining 2 were allowed to return.
I never stated that God was "responsible for evils that men do" .
Your rationalization is a wanton blindness to the fact that God sometimes let people experience what it would be like if He stepped out of the way.
Matthew 27:25 All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us andonourchildren!”
Jerusalem was destroyed in 70AD
Exodus 17:3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our childrenand livestock die of thirst?”
They wandered in the desert for 40yrs
Numbers 14:3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Ourwives andchildrenwill be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
Later on Israel was indeed plundered by the Babylonians. 10 of the 12 tribes were never heard of again, and only a remnant of the remaining 2 were allowed to return.
You said subject to God Twin. And God never stepped out of the way. Man might step out of Gods way but God never steps out of mans way.
What any of us learn from this remains to be seen. What I hope we learn is to stop pointing fingers at God, at guns, at the mentally ill, at their parents, at the mental health profession, at the victims or their families or their community, at the schools, at the government, at the media, at the entertainment industry, etc., ad nauseum.
I hope we learn to stop finger pointing, period, and start taking responsibility for the ways in which we each, every one of us, contribute to evil manifesting itself in this world. Because that's really the only thing we have control of ... ourselves. What are we putting out into this world? Are we taking each thought "captive" and making it obedient to Christ, obedient to the law of love? Are we holding our thoughts steadfastly on excellent and praiseworthy things so that the peace of God guards our hearts and our minds? Because when we don't, cumulatively, we create evil. All of us, together, are responsible.
You said subject to God Twin. And God never stepped out of the way. Man might step out of Gods way but God never steps out of mans way.
That's correct, I quoted God by saying "subject".
Hebrews 2:8
In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him.
A "subject" ( be that a person or a person's action \ the weather \ an animal... even death or life) does not have the authority to act upon nor by itself. When God says in Hebrews 2:8 "left nothing that is not subject" that means exactly "left nothing"
But God that doesn't mean that when man says "Get out of my way God" .... that God doesn't finally does so, resulting in the innocent being affected.
Could God prevent all evil by supernatural intervetion? Of course.
Could God remove all evil doers from earth? Of course.
Could God alter man's mind so it would become sinless, or less sinful? Of course.
God does not do the above, because we live in a world where we have free will and where our actions have consequences. If God was to prevent sin, then where should He draw the line? Should he prevent an evil thought? A lie? A theft? An assaut? Rape? Murder? All sin is evil, and if God removed all evil from world, this would not be not earth. It would be heaven.
I'm glad the sermon I heard last sunday at the church I visited was more about Jesus loving a broken world, followed by prayers for those who died and their families, than this armchair theological crap (ie, that God was behind the killings). The fact is this line of theology has been tried and left wanting by most of the thinking, feeling world. Shame on you.
Could God prevent all evil by supernatural intervetion? Of course.
Could God remove all evil doers from earth? Of course.
Could God alter man's mind so it would become sinless, or less sinful? Of course.
God does not do the above, because we live in a world where we have free will and where our actions have consequences. If God was to prevent sin, then where should He draw the line? Should he prevent an evil thought? A lie? A theft? An assaut? Rape? Murder? All sin is evil, and if God removed all evil from world, this would not be not earth. It would be heaven.
Of course your God should have prevented the senseless shooting of 20 innocent, beautiful 6-7 year old children, 'IF' he was so able.
Only a lunatic would suggest that someone or something is doing us a favor, by allowing senselessly killing, when they could have stopped it from happening.
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" Epicurus
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" Epicurus
Epicurus didn't consider option 4) God is mysterious and beyond comprehension. 5) God cannot do the impossible: create free creatures that always choose good, because freedom implies choice.
Either way, I have learned putting God on the dock is a spiritual dead-end. The spiritual thing to do is to be there for people that are hurting and stop asking speculative questions about God.
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