> I think this is really on shaky grounds. Take Job for instance. God > lets Satan visit all manner of punishments upon his most obedient > servant to show how faithful he is. God was daring Job to renounce > his > faith and stood aside while all he loved, family members included, > was > destroyed even when Job pleaded. Was Job rewarded for his unwavering > faith? Eventually, it seems. Would God have forgiven him if his faith > had wavered?
Hhm, you seem to equate "forgive" with giving back earthly good and possessions. Not really what forgiveness is. But Job does *not* really show unwavering faith at all. He lashes out and complains quite bitterly to God demanding to know why he is being punished. God chastises him for this but certainly forgives him for it as well. An even better example is that of David, held up as one of the most God-fearing men in the Bible. And what did he do? He slept with another man's wife and then arranged to have him killed...pretty clear violations of God's law. He was certainly still punished for his actions, but certainly God did not abandon or turn away from him. > That is the God described in *some* of the Bible. You seem to be > glossing over most of the Old Testament. Yahweh was not a "give it > another go, I know you've got it in you kid" kind of guy in a lot of > the Old Testament. Ask Abraham after he was told to sacrifice a son. Not sure what you mean with this example, since God did not actually make him go through with that sacrifice. If you read the entire OT, it is just constant failures and screwups by the Israelites and God forever giving them another chance. It's almost humorous how much they screw up and he still doesn't give up on them. Does he punish them when they sin? Absolutely. But there are many, many examples of him giving them every possible chance to do what he is asking. > And as a somewhat minor point of theology, not all Christians accept > the Trinity and of those that do, various sects interpret it in > different ways Most Christians would consider any sect that does not accept the Trinity (such as Jehovah's Witnesses) as being heretical and not faithful to the most important tenets of Christianity. The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the few things that unites the vast majority of Christian religions. --- Mary Jo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:306282 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
