Zone1 The Bible tells us that his world is evil and that it is ruled by Satan

[Blues Man]

You believe in Satan? Weird. Why?

I don't Satan is just another religious fiction invented to keep people like you afraid

 

[Blues Man]

Entertainment?
The Cosmos is a lonely, boring place?

That fits with my idea of a god being like a kid frying ants with a magnifying glass

 

[Meriweather]

None of it really makes sense.

Genesis explains that mankind wanted the knowledge of both good and evil.

If it was an experiment, then it is an experiment mankind desired for his own edification. Our belief is that we are children of God. God brings good out of evil, and perhaps that is one of the reasons mankind chose to have knowledge of both good and evil.

God did not choose to wipe out anyone. Natural disasters (such as the flood) are part of what of the evil we chose to experience and come out of.

 

[K9Buck]

Would not an all knowing God already know the propensity of his creation to lean to evil or not?
And to what end?

Yes. I think this experience is for our education and development.

 

[Bezukhov]

Satan and his dark, spiritual, forces, work against us to persuade us to sin and to reject God. God told us so. Let me show you.

1 John 5:19 esv
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

Ephesians 6:12 esv
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Satan has blinded many to the truth of God.

2 Corinthians 4:4 esv
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

The world loves its own and hates those who are not of the world but who are, instead, of God.

John 15:19 esv
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

1 John 2:15-17 esv
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

John 17:14 esv
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Jesus despised the religious leaders of Jerusalem and told them they don't understand him because they are NOT "of God"

John 8:47 esv
Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.
Jesus calls for ALL of us to follow him, including YOU.

Matthew 7:7 esv
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Our infinitely loving and merciful father in Heaven sent Jesus to lead us out of darkness and death and into light and eternal life. Jesus is the good news of your salvation for eternity!

John 3:17 esv
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

But, but, but... I thought that if every elected office in America were held by Bible Thumping Republicans then Jesus' Kingdom will now be established on Earth.

 

[Meriweather]

But, but, but... I thought that if every elected office in America were held by Bible Thumping Republicans then Jesus' Kingdom will now be established on Earth.

God's kingdom is always within reach of everyone, and it matters not who, if anyone, occupies the White House. It also matters not if you are a person of faith or one who holds no belief. God's Kingdom is offered to all.

 

[Likkmee]

I never understood why a god would create evil.

God created and mastered the science of mathematics. Everything MUST have an opposing force. Period.
It's a simple mechanical law of nature. God created all nature. Simple science.
There must also be male and female of every animal. Science.

 

[notmyfault2020]

The good news is that Satan is knocking your lad around at will and soon the fight will be stopped as it is getting too one sided .
4/7 The Bringer of Light , 10/1 The God Boy .

Hopefully then your boring posts will cease to be relevant , a bit like Titloser and his nut job posts supporting the Nazis in Kyiv .

if they're so boring, why do you respond??

 

[notmyfault2020]

God's kingdom is always within reach of everyone, and it matters not who, if anyone, occupies the White House. It also matters not if you are a person of faith or one who holds no belief. God's Kingdom is offered to all.

what?

it doesn't matter if there is a usurper in the WH?

well... with an attitude like that, assuming even 20% of the population has that attitude (and maybe it is more than 20%), it's no wonder we have all the problems we have... no wonder why even 86% of young people are saying our country is headed in the wrong direction.

 

[notmyfault2020]

God created and mastered the science of mathematics. Everything MUST have an opposing force. Period.
It's a simple mechanical law of nature. God created all nature. Simple science.
There must also be male and female of every animal. Science.

How can it be said that God mastered something He invented?

 

[notmyfault2020]

None of it really makes sense.
Seems if anything, we are just an experiment.
God created beings then committed to give them free will.....then allowed evil, in order to test whether these beings would choose him or evil ???
Would not an all knowing God already know the propensity of his creation to lean to evil or not?
And to what end?
To come to a point where God decides to end the test and wipe out those who chose evil over him?
Why not just "Fix" those who chose "evil" at that point rather that punish them for making a choice contrary to his desires if it was really "free will" ?

And why allow so much suffering? I don't know, but to me it seem more like entertainment.
As I have grown older I cannot reconcile the overwhelming suffering and pain in the world God created. Seems mean spirited or callous at best.

I can't say I haven't had similar thoughts. But I keep telling myself.. and who can argue w/ this? ... that God is too big for us mortals to question (much). We can do that, but it seems like a futile endeavor.. waste o'time

 

[Meriweather]

what?

it doesn't matter if there is a usurper in the WH?

well... with an attitude like that, assuming even 20% of the population has that attitude (and maybe it is more than 20%), it's no wonder we have all the problems we have... no wonder why even 86% of young people are saying our country is headed in the wrong direction.

The Kingdom of God is beyond the United States of America. The Kingdom of God is not headed in the wrong direction and what a US President does or does not do is not going to make the Kingdom of God head in the wrong direction.

Is the US headed in the wrong direction? Absolutely. We could be doing so much better, and if apply the grace of God to our lives as US citizens, we might be able to turn it around.

 

[notmyfault2020]

The Kingdom of God is beyond the United States of America. The Kingdom of God is not headed in the wrong direction and what a US President does or does not do is not going to make the Kingdom of God head in the wrong direction.

Is the US headed in the wrong direction? Absolutely. We could be doing so much better, and if apply the grace of God to our lives as US citizens, we might be able to turn it around.

your statements here contradict one another.

for one, I can't fathom your thought that what a president does/neglects to do is going to have no affect on the earthly kingdom of God. Maybe you refer to the heavenly kingdom? Well, the Christian's job is to do whatever he can to institute the Kingdom of God on EARTH. The reason we are in all this moral filth and corruption in govt is that we have gone far from Christ--both Christians and "men of good will" (but I don't recall Jesus using that term. It seems to me there are only those who follow Christ and those who do not)

 

[Bezukhov]

your statements here contradict one another.

for one, I can't fathom your thought that what a president does/neglects to do is going to have no affect on the earthly kingdom of God. Maybe you refer to the heavenly kingdom? Well, the Christian's job is to do whatever he can to institute the Kingdom of God on EARTH. The reason we are in all this moral filth and corruption in govt is that we have gone far from Christ--both Christians and "men of good will" (but I don't recall Jesus using that term. It seems to me there are only those who follow Christ and those who do not)

So I was right? Jesus' Kingdom will be established on Earth as soon as every elected office in America is held by Bible Thumping Republicans?

 

[BS Filter]

Fight him, and he will flee.

Wrong. Resist him, and he will flee.

 

[fncceo]

The Bible tells us that his world is evil and that it is ruled by Satan​

I beg to differ ...

 

[Clyde 154]

You god created Satan, an immortal being, and then let him have his way with the mortal creations your god supposedly loves.

It's kind of like letting a pedophile babysit your kids.

Hardly........even the angels were created with "free will" and the capacity to sin. God cast Satan and his angels/demons out of heaven. "For If God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until judgment." -- 2 Peter 2:4

"And war broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon (satan), and the dragon and his angels fought, but did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.............." Revelation 12:7-8

 

[Clyde 154]

I beg to differ ...

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Who to believe........you who have been blinded or the Holy Spirit of Truth? "Satan who is the god of this world (earth) has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News (the gospel truth)." -- 2 Cor. 4:4

Why present a picture of the natural when, God, Satan and the Angels are spiritual beings? All that is natural belongs to the god of this world.........the old dragon who was cast down. The Bible presents a truthful record of the Human Condition. We are all sinners and you lie to yourself if say you are without sin (1 John 1:8-10), sinners and saints face the same daily challenges of this reality that we are bound to in the flesh, we were born into a state of decay, all things physical expire.The Bible presents, the good, the bad and the ugly of all the heroes recorded in the scripture.........All men sin, even the saints. Abraham sinned greatly, David sinned, even Peter the RCC calls the first Pope sinned against Jesus 3 times before the cock crowed. The Bible does not paint a picture perfect history of the Judeo/Christian philosophy....it reveals everything, from a father getting drunk and sleeping with their daughters (Abraham). To kings committing adultery (David), to Moses refusing to speak for God at first......all lived a less than perfect life.

Why? Because they are OF THIS WORLD and men choose to sin of their own free will. Jesus Christ was the only Son of Man to be born that walked this life from cradle to grave without sin even though He was tempted as are all men. (Heb. 4:15). There was no method to salvage the Spirit of Man that is made in the Image of God (God is a spirit -- John 4:24)
until Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the old law and nailed it to His cross (Col. 2:14), He became the perfect burnt offering that God promised to father Abraham (Genesis 22:8).

 

[fncceo]

Who to believe.

I believe the proof of my own eyes. We live in a beautiful world, punctuated in places by ugliness and evil that we must struggle to correct -- Tikkun Olam.

But, the world itself contains more beauty that the human soul can even comprehend.

 

[ding]

I never understood why a god would create evil.

Evil isn't extant. It only exists as the absence of good. Why is this such a hard concept for people to grasp?