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If all events are part of "god's plan" or if at the very least preordained, then what is the point of praying to god for intercession since the outcome is how god saw it (at best) or planned it to happen (worst case) to begin with?
Good point. He obviously didn't give a Moderator cut: inappropriate language about the people living in Haiti, so why should he care because somebody asks him to be nice to them now?
If all events are part of "god's plan" or if at the very least preordained, then what is the point of praying to god for intercession since the outcome is how god saw it (at best) or planned it to happen (worst case) to begin with?
It cannot be assumed that all events are "part of God's plan". (implication: something bad happened. God did it) Example: it cannot be assumed that the quake in Haiti (oops, sorry...Caribbean), was planned or preordained by God. It was allowed to happen. The Bible says that Satan is "the god of this world", hence a lot of bad things that happen (like damaging earthquakes) can be attributed to Satan...not God. God allows a lot of bad stuff to happen, but this does not mean that He caused it. Therefore, prayer is beneficial to overcome the evil caused by Satan...
It cannot be assumed that all events are "part of God's plan". (implication: something bad happened. God did it) Example: it cannot be assumed that the quake in Haiti was planned or preordained by God. It was allowed to happen. The Bible says that Satan is "the god of this world", hence a lot of bad things that happen (like damaging earthquakes) can be attributed to Satan...not God. God allows a lot of bad stuff to happen, but this does not mean that He caused it. Therefore, prayer is beneficial to overcome the evil caused by Satan...
Bud
But God, the omnipotent, all-knowing, forever-seeing Creator actually created Satan, right? Which leads us down the path of this:
Prior to God creating Satan (or Lucifer, if you will), he would have known the outcome of what was going to happen. He would have, if we stick to this same ridiculous interpretation, known that Lucifer would fall. He would have also foreseen every action that this Lucifer would commit on our otherwise friendly planet Earth, up to and including the disaster in Haiti.
I pray not for intercession but that they will get through the storm that they have been sent through and that it will strengthen their relationship in the Lord. If they don't have a relationship, then I pray that they'll come to know the Lord through their struggling.
If all events are part of "god's plan" or if at the very least preordained, then what is the point of praying to god for intercession since the outcome is how god saw it (at best) or planned it to happen (worst case) to begin with?
Yes, indeed. George Carlin once made a comment about a woman who told him she was praying to God to cure her cancer. Carlin replied, "Why would you do that? God was the one who gave you the cancer in the first place."
OP - excellent question & I agree with ya. Presumably, all the people who pray on a weekly basis should be able to fill us in. So far, after 2 days, the response has been quite underwhelming.
If all events are part of "god's plan" or if at the very least preordained, then what is the point of praying to god for intercession since the outcome is how god saw it (at best) or planned it to happen (worst case) to begin with?
From a Christian point of view, the fact that God "foresees" all things does not mean that he "causes" them or "ordains" them. Knowing that something is going to happen is not the same thing as "causing" it to happen.
God foresees all future events, but as humans with free will, we influence them--both with our actions, AND with our prayers.
We are over and over again in the Gospel told to pray, including praying for "our enemies."
If you want more information on the purpose of prayer in the Catholic tradition by all means send me a DM and I will pull together some resources. Volumes have been written on this topic and it is not possible to address in a thorough way on a discussion forum.
In response to the poster who asked why there has been "silence" in response to this post, I submit the following hypotheses:
(1) Christians are too busy praying for Haiti to respond to your question
(2) Christians are so "turned off" by the vitroil directed at them by many of the atheist posters here that they have decided to "not feed" the negativity further.
(3) Christians, based on previous experience with many of the Atheists here, are deliberately waiting to see how long it will take one of the Atheists here to "chime in" with a claim that the silence of Christians somehow points definitively and incontrovertibly to the fact that the OP has raised a question which has "stumped" all Christian participants at CD and thus, Christians are "avoiding" the thread and that moreover, this PROVES Christianity has no basis in reason whatsoever and that Christians are unable to defend their own religion...or something like that.
From a Christian point of view, the fact that God "foresees" all things does not mean that he "causes" them or "ordains" them. Knowing that something is going to happen is not the same thing as "causing" it to happen.
Perhaps, but KNOWING and having ALL POWER TO PREVENT and doing nothing makes one an accomplice, right?
Quote:
God foresees all future events, but as humans with free will, we influence them--both with our actions, AND with our prayers.
This is what the OP is talking about. Why pray if God ALLOWED something to happen commonly referred to by some Christians as "god's judgment."
Quote:
We are over and over again in the Gospel told to pray, including praying for "our enemies."
That's great, but what happens when the enemy is an enemy of god or the enemy is allowed by god to do evil?
..........what is the point of praying to god for intercession ................
the cynical side of me says it is to make the prayer petitioner feel better about themselves without actually having to do anything. the spiritual side of me says that prayer will hopefully motivate that petitioner to contribute to the funds that are needed to provide water, food, medical services and rescue and recovery efforts.
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