Couldn't He stop it?
Couldn't He stop it?
Hi Knight,
I can sympathize with your frustration, but from a different perspective, of course.
Knight writes:
I try to be calm and I try to be patient with those that credit bad things to God via Calvinistic theology.
I also try to be calm and patient with those who seem to have no problem with God not stopping a couple of planes from killing thousands of people.
Knight writes:
She went on to say that she was comforted by God (which of course is fantastic). But then she said that God have given her the cancer so God would also give her the strength to get through it.
I agree that this is a horrible distortion, but not for the same reason. The reason the woman developed cancer is possibly genetic, or possibly environment, and most likely a combination of both. God did not
give her cancer. She acquired it quite naturally, without any special divine intervention. However, God did in fact decree that she would have cancer, and that she would ignorantly distort the facts concerning Him. God also controls meticulously every cancer cell in her body, holding their atomic structure together, maintaining their existence and preventing them from obliterating.
Knight writes:
What ever happened to understanding that it was man’s sin (our rebellion) that brought sickness and death into the world? What ever happened to placing the responsibility for bad things with mankind?
Both are good points. But it should be said that the Calvinistic view does not (should not) assign responsibility to God for bad things, or for
anything for that matter. Responsibility implies accountability, and God answers to no one for anything He does or for anything He has decreed.
Clete writes:
In what way does the act of raping a five year old boy who dies a week later due to a swollen brain that was caused by the severe violent shaking inflicted as his attacker performed his crime glorify God?
My question is how does the Open Theist worship a god who would not prevent this from happening?
Along those same lines, here's a question for the Open Theists: Surely God could see what was transpiring as the 9/11 terrorists prepared to kill thousands of people. Would it have been against your theology for God to have figured out some way to prevent them from getting on those planes? (e.g. traffic jam? food poisoning? falling-piano or guardrail?) If yes, why? If no, why wouldn't God do everything He could to stop that tragedy?
Thanks,
Jim
PS: Knight -- I (finally) have another editorial cartoon coming -- soon. Cheers.
