Atheists vs Christians
Out of context: Reply #118
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- gramme0
I'm not sure Agnosticism is actually a form of faith, beyond believing in oneself. It takes quite a leap of faith to believe in God. Agnosticism is characterized by the proverbial throwing up of one's hands and saying "I don't know what is out there."
I see evidence of God in nature, but in this freakishly fast, loud world it can be difficult if not impossible to hear that still small voice.
Antonelli, I hear and understand your questions about God. If he is good, then why do bad things happen? How can we explain suffering? Hunger? Disease? Murder? The world is a corrupt place, no doubt about that. Anyone who is half awake can see that we are not moving forward in most arenas. Sure, our technology is better than ever, but who will care about the latest and greatest Blackberry or car or computer when WW3 explodes over our heads (which will eventually happen, at the current rate the world is going).
So, how can God allow this shit to happen every day? I am not sure. I believe that the world was once perfect, but that it fell because sin, or a lack of perfection (any questions about this, you should look up the writings of Augustine, particularly on the nature of evil), was introduced into the world. It was through human actions that sin was introduced. It was through our mistakes that perfection was tarnished and became something less, well, perfect. But if God, being all-knowing, -powerful and -loving, could have prevented it all, why didn't he? The best answer I have is that he has some divine purpose that is beyond our comprehension. I cannot explain away an imperfect world. But, having accepted that the world is, for the time being, imperfect, there are some things that can be answered in light of what has been revealed about God's nature. God does not desire our pain and suffering. He does, however, allow it because of our legacy of wrongdoing, because in light of pain we know pleasure this side of eternity, and because he is a God of promises who sticks to his word. He offers daily grace to all of us by allowing us to wake up and breathe and eat and walk, even though we are born with blasphemy on our lips and selfishness in our hearts, and even though we tear ourselves and each other apart every day.
Perfection is an impossible concept for us imperfect creatures to wrap our minds around. Perhaps there is something about the nature of a perfect God that requires his/its' glorification, and our knowledge of Him. I'm not sure. But because I am not struck dead every day, I know that he is good. Because of the wife, friends and family that I have been blessed with, I know that he is good. Because of the hard lessons I have learned through failure and heartache, I know that he is good. I know that he showed me mercy even when I cursed him, literally. I know that he took pity on my helpless state enough to die, and not only to die but to go to hell in my behalf. I can never repay that gift, I can only enjoy it.
Why does evil exist? I don't know. Perhaps it would be more fruitful to ask these questions: why am I spared? Why am I shown grace every day? Why am I upheld by a force greater than myself? What is my purpose in life?
It is so easy for us to be ungrateful in this age of entitlement. We spend so much time counting our curses, when it would serve us much better to count our blessings.