Quote:
Originally posted by IROC
I think the statement sprang from the idea that most Christians fully believe that god is a kind, benevolent being that cares about people and if you pray to him, good things will happen to you.
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This "God in a box" philosophy is very popular. The idea is that God is your little servant, an all-powerful Santa who can be summoned by this magic thing called "faith." If you have enough "faith" then Santa will bring you nice toys, long life, happiness, bowls of cherries, and fields of wildflowers. Despite the fact that no serious theologian can actually
defend this obviously non-Biblical philosophy, it still pervades much of modern Christianity. I suspect the reason is that most modern Christians don't bother to read their Bibles...
Quote:
Originally posted by Thom
So why do people always thank Jesus for stuff, but never blame him?
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Because they've never bothered to read Ecclesiastes. It's only 12 chapters long, and it hugely entertaining. I don't know why nobody else has ever read the thing. Anyway, check out 7:14 -- "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other."
Speaking of Ecclesiastes, there's a lot of good stuff in here. Like 5:2 -- "God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few." Direct cross-reference over to Job 38 -- he's just finished asking God "I've been so good.... why?" God's reply is interesting: "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?" The God goes off and basically says "I'm God, I don't have to answer 'Why.'"