Thomas Cofie

God has not abandoned the earth as some people may think. Neither is He the one causing suffering. Humans are to blame for much of the suffering such as crime, greed, pollution, wars, weapons of mass destruction etc. We indulge in habits that are harmful to our health.

Galatians 6:7 (ESV) "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, whatever a man sow, that will he also reap." 

Satan and his demons also share responsibility for human suffering, the suffering which so many people blame God. Rev 12:12 (NKJV) "Woe to you O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!" 

HOW DID SUFFERING START?
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, humanity was subject to the consequences of sin, and sin when is accomplished bring forth death. God clearly told Adam that, continued living and enjoyment of life depends on their obedience to His commandment.

Genesis 2:6 (NKJV) "And the Lord God commanded the man saying: you may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die."
Genesis 3:4-5 But the serpent said to the woman, "you surely will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
So Adam and Eve passed on sin and death to their offspring. Thus all were born in sin, with inclination toward wrongdoing, weakness that leads to illness; a sinful inheritance that would eventually leads to death. 

Romans 3:23 (ESV) "..for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God."

*But why would a God of Love allow the suffering of His children to continue until now? GOD, as an expression of his marvellous undeserved kindness, sent His only begotten son to lay down his life to save us from our sins, so that whoever believes in him will have eternal life." 
John 3:16

God is not causing earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, volcanic eruptions, diseases, hunger and wars. These are occurring because they are things foretold in the Bible as the "sign of the last days," and of the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. 

"So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near."
Luke 21:23

April 10 2016 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

1.) In order to know God, you must know His nature. The deist claims that this is achievable through reason, without the need for special revelation. If that is the case, how can deists know that their criteria as to what constitutes valid reasoning are the standards that God the Creator (whom deists acknowledge to exist) set?

The deist would say that God gave us the ability to reason. But that assertion in itself can only be known by special revelation. To say that we can know that God gave us the ability to reason as a result of our own reasoning would be begging the question.

2.) Deists maintain that God created all humans equal. How could this conclusion be reached solely by reason and observation? Thomas Jefferson (a deist) stated in the Declaration of Independence that it was "self-evident" that all men were created equal, with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

How could that have been apparent solely from the observation of a world where slavery existed, and where many of the founding fathers (including Jefferson himself) owned slaves? Or where those same founders regarded the Native Americans (as Jefferson also said in the Declaration) as "merciless Indian savages"? 

3.) Deists believe that people ought to be able to worship God in their own way, as long as their beliefs do not harm the rights of others. They believe that all views of God should be respected, as long as they don’t cause harm or suppress the views of others. And yet deists reject or disrespect any religious view that involves special revelation or "miracles" that cannot be accounted for by reason or nature.

4.) If deism is true, all interpreted facts are arbitrary, because the deist must start with himself in order to try and find the truth. No one’s opinion can be more valid than the other due to the relativistic nature of the deist worldview.

April 11 2016 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report