Sunday, November 30, 2008

God: All-Powerful?

Q: I may not have mentioned that I'm probably a much more liberal Christian than most --- I'm strictly New Testament, except for a few of the psalms and such. I 'm so liberal that while I believe God is all loving and all knowing, he is not all powerful (at least not in this world). If he could end the suffering, why wouldn't he? Even I have that much compassion, and I'm not God.

A: Earth is a place of trial…………. Health, wealth and material comforts are as much a trial as disease, poverty, hunger and pain……….. all get their own exam paper to solve….. for some the trial is more difficult than others…… they will be marked accordingly. Then again, those with an easy: healthy, wealthy and comfortable life will be judged more severely as they were made custodians of resources and how much of it did they use of it to ease the pain and suffering of fellow human beings. God is Most Compassionate, He gives life and provides sustenance to all those living… he does not discriminate between muslims, jews, christians, hindus, pagans, atheists, and so on. Our compassion is based on our ‘perceived narrow world view’ whereas God’s compassion is based on a cosmic view of everything………. We do not know so much, and we are so insignificant, we cannot even begin to comprehend Him, let alone judge Him. He is, indeed, All-Powerful! Saying that if He could, He would have solved all problems, is like saying if the Examiner knew all the answers, He wouldn’t make the students take the exam.

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