I don't make up things that paint God into any
corner;
DAVEH: Here's the problem as I see it,
Judy. You seem to think God can do anything,
yet he seems to do things the hard way from our
perspective.
jt: Anything physically yes, such as rain, drought,
changing seasons, moving mountains.
However, his holiness prevents him from lying or
being one with evil/sin.
If he could circumvent law, then why did he put his son through the
horror of dying on the
cross in our behalf? Could not have God simply snapped his fingers
to make all right?
Could not God have destroyed Lucifer to prevent him from screwing up the
world?
jt: It was necessary if mankind were to be
redeemed eternally because without the
shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.
I think if we were privy to the Jewish
sacrificial system we would understand more what a
serious business this is and Peta
would come unglued.
Yet God knew all this from before the foundations of the world, and has
presented us
a plan to save us from Satan. Ponder why God's plan is not simple,
but involves a lot of
pain and suffering by all mankind. For a God who is all powerful,
why need there be any
pain and suffering at all?
jt: Because God gives everything he creates freedom
of choice; He could have created
automatons but forced love is no love at all.
Power and control breed fear. God desires
our love and worship freely given. So he gives
us a choice and even makes a way for
us when we blow it and miss the mark. That's
love.
Yes, Screwtape Letters is fantasy, Judy. But IMHO, so are a lot of
the things people
believe about God.
jt: Oh I agree; in fact most of what we hear about
God is mixture but He reveals Himself
to those who will seek Him with their whole
heart. Just about everyone will say they believe
in God and even the demons believe and tremble.
But as the Psalmist writes "the gods
of the nations are idols" (or fantasy)
all He has to do is speak to the rock and it will
move just as He spoke the worlds into
existence.
DAVEH: Kinda makes one wonder why he allowed
his Beloved Son to be crucified. Wouldn't
it have been more expedient to just speak his
will be done?
jt: Speaking to an inanimate object , to nature, or
even animals like Balaam's ass is one thing
Speaking to those created in His own image is
another. He has given us choices and he has
made us responsible for our choice so that we reap
the consequences one way or the other.
How would you suggest He speak His will with regard
to a polluted and sinful heart and have
it change by osmosis? Would that not make us
robot like?
Judy Taylor wrote:
What is a physical impossibility for God?
DAVEH: Did you ever read the SCREWTAPE LETTERS,
Judy? At one point, Screwtape (the devil) tells Wormwood that humans
are too quick to attribute their all their ills to him, effectively
suggesting that sometime humans give credit to where credit isn't
due.
The book you refer to DH is the fantasy of CSL, I
go to a higher authority which tells me that illness is not
a blessing; it also reveals to me who it is
that implements the curse but not without God's permission
I
might add.
I
think the same can be said of God. Sometimes we assume he does
things he really doesn't. In this case, by suggesting God can do the
impossible might just be painting God into a corner from which he would
prefer not to be.
How is that DH? I don't make up things that
paint God into any corner; I am speaking of things that He
has
done already; things he has recorded in His Word
by His Spirit.
You asked the question.....What is a
physical impossibility for God?........and the obvious answer
is that which you have undoubtedly heard before.....Can God create a rock
to heavy for him to lift? Would you agree that doing so
is a physical impossibility for
God, Judy?
Only if God were a man with limitations but since
He is not a man that He should lie and He is not a man who is
limited by fleshly weakness all He has to do is speak to the rock and it will
move just as He spoke the worlds into
existence.
I prefer to believe God
operates within the laws of his creation.
His son was born under the Mosaic Law but even He
circumvented physical laws constantly by walking on water
and commanding a storm along with rebuking
death.
Those laws define him and all his creation, and I do not think God
could/would break those laws, but is capable of using them in ways of
which we are unaware in order to perform miracles that confound his
Adversary.
God is transcendent DH and his adversary is well
aware of who is boss.
Judy Taylor wrote:
Just this morning I read this interaction
between DaveH and KevinD (I think) ...
KD: That is explained by the fire and brimstone imagery
that is in reality endless torment.
a fire which
cannot be consumed, even an unquenchable
fire
DAVEH: More
imagery that is physically an impossibility. Fire can be
extinguished, whereas
mental torment can go on forever.
So tell me - What is a physical
impossibility for God? The same God who delivered what he had
promised to Abraham
and Sarah when they were 90 and 100yrs old respectively. A God who was
able to roll back the Red Sea until his people crossed and
afterward kept them in the desert for
40yrs
feeding them with manna from heaven and
keeping their clothes from wearing out and their feet from
swelling. The same God who stopped the sun
for 24 hours and caused an axe head to float on
water
The God who energized His prophet causing him to run for 25 miles
in front of Jezebels' chariot and
had the ravens feed him while he rested and regrouped in a
cave.
Tell me - what would be too difficult for a
God like this and how can the feeble efforts
of man explain
Him?
Conor: Might we hear from you on this?
Frame this in whatever fashion suits you.
Lance
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dave Hansen
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.langlitz.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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