This is so disheartening... We need to come to God now.

Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Then why call it all-powerful? Is God able to prevent evil but not willing? Then why call it good?

Are we able to stop our evil? God is not a cleaner. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Ultimus:
Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Then why call it all-powerful?
Is God able to prevent evil but not willing? Then why call it good?

peggywebbs:

Are we able to stop our evil? God is not a cleaner. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

So natural disasters or cancer are caused by people actionably?

Or what do people do to deserve that?

Yes.. please just google to cause of cancers. Also research on the cause of earthquakes, hurricanes, and the rest.


Why would you keep hearing them say save the environment, the atmosphere, not to pollute the sea and waters.

All of the negative things are man-made. Unless you want to deny the truth

Ultimus:


So natural disasters or cancer are caused by people actionably?

Or what do people do to deserve that?

peggywebbs:
Yes.. please just google to cause of cancers. Also research on the cause of earthquakes, hurricanes, and the rest.


Why would you keep hearing them say save the environment, the atmosphere, not to pollute the sea and waters.

All of the negative things are man-made. Unless you want to deny the truth

Are you being clever by half?

Tectonic plates shifting are man-made?
Volcanic activity is man-made?
Solar flares are man-made?
Tsunamis caused by volcanic activity or earthquakes are man-made?
The typhoons and hurricanes are man-made?

There are believing Christians that go to church and never use illicit substances or wrong their neighbour in anger, yet they get cancers. They brought it on themselves, yes?

Also, the earth cyclically goes through warming and ice ages, human pollution/activity is only speeding up the process. The earth is bound to warm and cool.

Perhaps you need to do research yourself.

Anyway the argument is about a supposedly good and all-powerful God that does nothing to prevent evil. Admittedly, humans purposely do evil and suffer the consequences; there are others who mete out these consequences too. But only after the fact.

This God has sat by and watched as children are molested or die of hunger. If you have ever cringed at suffering and wished you did something about it, surely, a good and all-powerful God should be moved to prevent evil.

Earthquakes

There are many ways in which induced seismicity has been seen to occur. In the past several years, some energy technologies that inject or extract fluid from the Earth, such as oil and gas extraction and geothermal energy development, have been found or suspected to cause seismic events.
Beyond common energy industry practices leading to the most human-made earthquakes across the globe, other quake-causing activities include building construction, carbon capture and storage, nuclear explosions, geothermal operations and research experiments that test fault stress.

Hurricanes

Our activities, whether it's by warming the climate or building concrete jungles, are intensifying rainfall and raising the risks of flooding. The human contribution to heating up the planet by burning fossil fuels is already nudging up the destructiveness of hurricanes like Florence and last year's Hurricane Harvey in some ways, and will have even greater effects over time: “Climate change is expected to make intense hurricanes more intense,” said Andrew.

Human-made global warming creates conditions that increase the chances of extreme weather. In some ocean basins, the intensification of hurricanes over time has been linked to rising ocean temperatures. Since 1970, sea surface temperatures worldwide have warmed by about an average of 0.1°C per decade.

Cancers

Smoking and Tobacco.

Diet and Physical Activity.

Sun and Other Types of Radiation.

Viruses and Other Infections



Yes the all powerful God can wipe all of these with a snap of his fingers. But why would he do it? Have we any intention of stopping our evil activities any time soon.

Lets list them, we aren't even sure if Covid isn't a lab grown virus, murder theft, kidnapping, fraud, terrorism, arson, rape, pedophiles, unnatural sexual activities, destroying the environment, wars, nuclear waste, and I'm sure this is just a few.

You want a cleaner but you don't want to be good. Well God isn't a cleaner. As you lay your bed, so you lie on it. In as much as people continue to be wicked, there will never be sanity.

Now what is God doing? He is calling us to be good. To turn away from evil. He is calling us to have a good heart and to stand for everything holy. Now imagine a world where criminals begin to retrace their steps, and the all the crimes against humanity seizes, and the world is full of love for one another, no wars, no brothers killing their blood to inherit, no love for material gain or power. The world will be a better place. The world will be sanitized.

The earth will be clean, but will that ever happen? You want a cleaner but don't want to pay the price.

Think to yourself, and be honest, how much have we damaged the earth. Even looking at Nigeria alone. Will you blame God for what is happening in our country? Or will you hold man responsible for their actions?

Ultimus:


Are you being clever by half?

Tectonic plates shifting are man-made?
Volcanic activity is man-made?
Solar flares are man-made?
Tsunamis caused by volcanic activity or earthquakes are man-made?
The typhoons and hurricanes are man-made?

There are believing Christians that go to church and never use illicit substances or wrong their neighbour in anger, yet they get cancers. They brought it on themselves, yes?

Also, the earth cyclically goes through warming and ice ages, human pollution/activity is only speeding up the process. The earth is bound to warm and cool.

Perhaps you need to do research yourself.

Anyway the argument is about a supposedly good and all-powerful God that does nothing to prevent evil. Admittedly, humans purposely do evil and suffer the consequences; there are others who mete out these consequences too. But only after the fact.

This God has sat by and watched as children are molested or die of hunger. If you have ever cringed at suffering and wished you did something about it, surely, a good and all-powerful God should be moved to prevent evil.

peggywebbs:
Earthquakes

There are many ways in which induced seismicity has been seen to occur. In the past several years, some energy technologies that inject or extract fluid from the Earth, such as oil and gas extraction and geothermal energy development, have been found or suspected to cause seismic events.
Beyond common energy industry practices leading to the most human-made earthquakes across the globe, other quake-causing activities include building construction, carbon capture and storage, nuclear explosions, geothermal operations and research experiments that test fault stress.

Hurricanes

Our activities, whether it's by warming the climate or building concrete jungles, are intensifying rainfall and raising the risks of flooding. The human contribution to heating up the planet by burning fossil fuels is already nudging up the destructiveness of hurricanes like Florence and last year's Hurricane Harvey in some ways, and will have even greater effects over time: “Climate change is expected to make intense hurricanes more intense,” said Andrew.

Human-made global warming creates conditions that increase the chances of extreme weather. In some ocean basins, the intensification of hurricanes over time has been linked to rising ocean temperatures. Since 1970, sea surface temperatures worldwide have warmed by about an average of 0.1°C per decade.

Cancers

Smoking and Tobacco.

Diet and Physical Activity.

Sun and Other Types of Radiation.

Viruses and Other Infections



Yes the all powerful God can wipe all of these with a snap of his fingers. But why would he do it? Have we any intention of stopping our evil activities any time soon.

Lets list them, we aren't even sure if Covid isn't a lab grown virus, murder theft, kidnapping, fraud, terrorism, arson, rape, pedophiles, unnatural sexual activities, destroying the environment, wars, nuclear waste, and I'm sure this is just a few.

You want a cleaner but you don't want to be good. Well God isn't a cleaner. As you lay your bed, so you lie on it. In as much as people continue to be wicked, there will never be sanity.

Now what is God doing? He is calling us to be good. To turn away from evil. He is calling us to have a good heart and to stand for everything holy. Now imagine a world where criminals begin to retrace their steps, and the all the crimes against humanity seizes, and the world is full of love for one another, no wars, no brothers killing their blood to inherit, no love for material gain or power. The world will be a better place. The world will be sanitized.

The earth will be clean, but will that ever happen? You want a cleaner but don't want to pay the price.

Think to yourself, and be honest, how much have we damaged the earth. Even looking at Nigeria alone. Will you blame God for what is happening in our country? Or will you hold man responsible for their actions?

Good attempt at shifting the goal post and sermonising. In any case, there are man-made disasters and there are natural disasters, while people suffer for both, there are always innocents. Are we to excuse God of meddling in the affairs of men when this same God has promised punishment for evil?

God wants to punish people for doing evil but won't lift a finger to prevent innocents from suffering evil. That is quite an absurd priority for a good and powerful God but it is also convenient when you consider the contentiousness of God's existence - I suppose it is harder to prove you exist now by saving innocents from evil than leaving your existence in contention and promising to deal with evil later.

You have made up your mind to blame God for man-made problems. Even failing to acknowledge alone that the natural disasters are attributed to human activities.

Anyway, it is up to you. We all have free will. You should be honest with yourself if all of this problems will stop even if the slates were wiped clean.

People won't change, people won't change. You attribute God to poverty and those innocents that have been unfortunate. How about you look at the things that put them in such predicament. Insecurity is man made. Poverty is man-made.

How do you explain the mentality of the poor man who can barely put food on his table but will produce millions of children around the world with nothing to eat.

You should be truthful yourself. The problem we have today is that we are not truthful. We have the blame game. You blame God when you see the root cause of the problem starring in front of your eyes.

I pray that the Holy Spirit ministers to you and reveal the truth of this life. I pray that he opens the heart of your understanding to see the bigger picture and understand the things around you.

Ultimus:


Good attempt at shifting the goal post and sermonising. In any case, there are man-made disasters and there are natural disasters, while people suffer for both, there are always innocents. Are we to excuse God of meddling in the affairs of men when this same God has promised punishment for evil?

God wants to punish people for doing evil but won't lift a finger to prevent innocents from suffering evil. That is quite an absurd priority for a good and powerful God but it is also convenient when you consider the contentiousness of God's existence - I suppose it is harder to prove you exist now by saving innocents from evil than leaving your existence in contention and promising to deal with evil later.

peggywebbs:
You have made up your mind to blame God for man-made problems. Even failing to acknowledge alone that the natural disasters are attributed to human activities.

Not all disasters are man-made. I don't know how you are conveniently missing the point. Is it because you need humans to be solely responsible to make God smell like a rose?

Anyway, it is up to you. We all have free will. You should be honest with yourself if all of this problems will stop even if the slates were wiped clean.

People won't change, people won't change. You attribute God to poverty and those innocents that have been unfortunate. How about you look at the things that put them in such predicament. Insecurity is man made. Poverty is man-made.

How do you explain the mentality of the poor man who can barely put food on his table but will produce millions of children around the world with nothing to eat.

You should be truthful yourself. The problem we have today is that we are not truthful. We have the blame game. You blame God when you see the root cause of the problem starring in front of your eyes.

I pray that the Holy Spirit ministers to you and reveal the truth of this life. I pray that he opens the heart of your understanding to see the bigger picture and understand the things around you.

Far from it that I'm blaming God. I am saying God can't be the solution to the problem of evil and suffering because:

1. God is claimed to be everything (or more appropriately creates everything), ergo, a good God creating evil or objects of evil is a contradiction and contradictions can't be animate/exist.

2. God, as we know it, is only regarding solving the problem of evil (that came from it, mind you) as only a punishable after-the-fact occurrence. It doesn't stop evil from happening, which is the only logical thing to do in finding a solution to evil.

3. God. Doesn't. Exist.

@ Ultimus, I don't know what you have experienced that has made you come to the conclusion to deny God's existence.

This is what I can tell you. Even though there are a lot of terrible happenings all around the world even today, it does not change the fact that there is so much to be thankful for.

If you let the bad outweigh the good, you will not see reason to appreciate the God works of God. I for one am a testimony to God's goodness. If generations that lived thousands of years before us, can say there is a God, are you saying that we in this century are the more wiser?

Seek God. If you truly want to know if he exists. There are many atheists in the past who thought as you do now but guess what, they found out the truth. Search for former atheists around the world, hear what they discovered.

I understand how hard it is when we find ourselves in tough situations and wonder where God was. But I learnt how much he has always been there and always will.

There were depressing times, when I thought ok, this is it, I'm through with it all. When I least expected and not immediately, but many years after the change came. I got even more than I asked for. I had even forgotten my pain had given up but my prayers were answered.

@Ultimus, there is God. I am not a pastor, I am not a preacher, I can tell you for one that I go to church about three times in a year. I don't even have a denomination, I'm not a religious person.

I don't conform with the idea of most Christians but I read my bible, I experience God in every area of my life. I don't let people tell me what to do or how to live. But if there is anything that I have ever been sure of is God exists.

peggywebbs:
@ Ultimus, I don't know what you have experienced that has made you come to the conclusion to deny God's existence.

This is what I can tell you. Even though there are a lot of terrible happenings all around the world even today, it does not change the fact that there is so much to be thankful for.

If you let the bad outweigh the good, you will not see reason to appreciate the God works of God. I for one am a testimony to God's goodness. If generations that lived thousands of years before us, can say there is a God, are you saying that we in this century are the more wiser?

Seek God. If you truly want to know if he exists. There are many atheists in the past who thought as you do now but guess what, they found out the truth. Search for former atheists around the world, hear what they discovered.

I understand how hard it is when we find ourselves in tough situations and wonder where God was. But I learnt how much he has always been there and always will.

There were depressing times, when I thought ok, this is it, I'm through with it all. When I least expected and not immediately, but many years after the change came. I got even more than I asked for. I had even forgotten my pain had given up but my prayers were answered.

@Ultimus, there is God. I am not a pastor, I am not a preacher, I can tell you for one that I go to church about three times in a year. I don't even have a denomination, I'm not a religious person.

I don't conform with the idea of most Christians but I read my bible, I experience God in every area of my life. I don't let people tell me what to do or how to live. But if there is anything that I have ever been sure of is God exists.

Why is it always assumed that something bad must have happened for one to lack belief in God?

Fine, most people will have it tough with life but that's no reason to be irreligious or be an atheist.

For me personally, I have not seen verifiable evidence that God exists. I am sure you're a Christian. Same way you deny other Gods like Vishnu, Ahura Mazda etc because surely (for your own reasons) they don't exist, is the same way I lack belief in Yahweh/Jehovah because there is no evidence that it exists.