Friday, February 3, 2012

A Question for my Theist Friends

A common thing I see in my daily news feed is something like this:

"[insert good things about one's day or life here]. God is good!"

What -- in as much detail as possible -- do you mean?

6 comments:

  1. Not much detail needed.. Basically we believe God created everything and is ultimately in control of everything so those posts are just giving thanks for the things God has provided since we recognize them as gifts from God.

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  2. I'd think there ought to be more to it than that. Assigning the good things in life as gifts from god... does that mean that god is choosing to help you while choosing not to help others that need the help? (aka rape victims, natural disaster victims, amputees, minorities etc.)

    To me it's something that sounds humble but is really quite the opposite. I don't mean to be a downer, I really don't; I just wonder if any of that stuff crosses one's mind as these thanks are given, and wonder what the justification is.

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  3. You've been reading through the bible..so I will use the story of noah from genesis. See the thing is that all people are sinners deserving of death, for the wages of sin is death. The answer your looking for I think is God's Grace explained. See in the time of Noah it says "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." Noah was one of these men...but he found God's grace. through noah's faith he was saved from the judgement of the flood. God provided noah with the wisdom and knowledge to build an ark. For which he would be thankful. God gives people what they want most even if thats freedom from himself. So the rest of the people faced the judgement of the flood because they did not want God. Therefore those issues you listed are bad things...but thats where sin leads to. You've got to understand that sin will lead to death. And there are enough people living that do not accept God's grace that there are such things that are unpleasant.
    However, some people that are thanking God for what ever may be taking the humble approach, but that does not mean that they are selfless to share the blessing that they've been given which is what God has called us to do which would help counter the affect of such things as poverty or whatever else.
    So to answer your question more directly, their thankfulness is only half of the equation, it also takes people to recognize their blessings and share that not holding onto it selfishly.

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  4. So let me get it straight, you start with the premise "that all people are sinners deserving of death" and then go on to explain god's grace? As in we somehow have to apologize for having been created in the first place?

    Now, the story of Noah is not a true one, but the very message is immoral as far as I can see. It seems less about being grateful for our fortunes and more about assigning credit to a god that doesn't deserve in fear of his wrath. How is there any grace in that?

    Your second problem with that line of thinking is that you must necessarily assume that all the victims are guilty of evil. What about the god fearing Christians that get wiped out by floods and hurricanes? Do we have to make a special plea for them as well?

    In order to thank god for your own blessings in life, you must explain away the misfortune of others, lest you be left arrogant in the idea that he chooses to help you because you are special. In that case, wouldn't "God is good to me" be more sufficient than "God is good?"

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  5. You lack understanding of grace and accepting it. But teach me why you disbelieve the account of Noah

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  6. The reason I don't accept god's grace is not necessarily by misunderstanding, but if that be your interpretation, you're welcome to help me understand if you feel so inclinded.

    As far as Noah goes, not only do we have no geological evidence for such a flood, you'd also need an unreasonably large and complex boat in order to perform such a task as the ark.

    A friend of mine did a little math on the subject: even if you assume that every single millimeter of space on the ark is used exclusively for animals, here's what you get:


    Total known animal species: 1 367 555
    ^ This is limited to animals only ^

    Noah's Arc Dimensions
    Length = 300 cubits = 137.2 meters
    Width = 50c = 22.87m
    Area = 3131.8m square * 3 stories = 9 395.5m square

    1 367 555 species / 9 395.5m square = 0.0068m = 6.8mm
    (Props to Jamie for the math)

    Each animal gets 6.8mm. This doesn't take into account the space you'd need for the refridgeration system to keep the polar bears cold, the space you'd need to seperate predators from prey, or the food storage you'd need to keep the animals alive. Pretty damned implausible.

    The old testament has so far been filled with crazier stories than even that, but the fact that this particular one is so widely believed based on no strong evidence is enough to pay a bit more attention to it.

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