Re: Making money from Java


Judson McClendon wrote:
> "Alistair" <alistair@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > And how often do church congregations pray for those who subsequently
> > die, without remark? I would like to see the x-rays, as I suspect that
> > if the cancer had indeed gone then it was the scar tissue left behind
> > which was on the scans and x-rays.
>
> I do not know why God heals some and does not heal others. I do not know why
> God heals a person of one thing, but does not heal the same person of
> something else. I only know that He does heal prople, even miraculously.

Perhaps this is nature taking its' course and not anything to do with
God? Why would a God choose/not choose to intervene? Why would we, as
individuals, be of any interest to God? The question is rhetorical.

> God
> is not some "black box" that we can push button 'A' and always get response
> 'B'. God is a Person, and the Bible says God has feelings and emotions

and therefore failings too?

> He definitely has an agenda. But apart from what He tells us in the Bible,
> or in direct revelation, we can only speculate about reality from God's
> viewpoint.
>
> If you email me, I will get you in contact with my friend. But I do not
> think the surgeon would have told my friend "Well, you got your miracle"
> when he woke after surgery, if what you suggest was a possibility. :-)

Thanks Judson, but there is no need to pursue this further. I know that
"miracles" do occur, but usually for a logical reason.

>
> > But if God is all-knowing then he knows our futures and, by definition,
> > free will does not exist.
>
> Not so. There is a difference between *knowing* what will happen and
> *making* it happen.

No. If you are God and know the future and do nothing to change an
undesirable outcome (such as my failure to believe) then you are by
inaction directing the future as much as if you did something to direct
the future. God is therefore guilty.

I once arrived at a busy junction and, knowing that traffic coming from
the right was unsighted and that people near me were similarly
unsighted, I looked right to see if there was a car coming. There was.
There was also a woman about to step into the road (she hadn't checked
for traffic and had not slowed). I did nothing to stop her from having
what could have been a fatal accident. Fortunately, the car driver was
able to stop in time. Now, if she had been hit and died, would I have
been free of blame knowing that I could have stopped her from stepping
into the road? That one has dogged me for years and although I was not
at fault by action, I was at fault by inaction.

> But in one respect, I agree: our futures are fixed, not
> because they are imposed on us by Divine fiat, but because we will make the
> decisions we will make, and that goes for everybody, and God knows all this.
> God does not force our decisions, but He does have the power to deal with
> the decisions we do make.

See my answer above. If God is all knowing then he is, by inaction,
responsible for my actions. The Chines had the belief that if you
rescued a drowning man then you were responsible for him for the rest
of your life. I believe that if you could have rescued the drowning man
but chose not to do so, then you are as responsible for his death as
you would have been if it was you holding his head under water.

To get back on topic ;-)

If I am the head of the strongest nation on earth and idly sit by
whilst a despot gases, tortures, rapes and murders innocents, am I free
of blame?

> > Britain was condemned for the practice of deporting thieves to
> > Australia. A punishment that did not fit the crime. God's punishment of
> > Adam and Eve by banishment, does appear to be excessive.
>
> Do you remember why God banished them?
>
> "So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden
> of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the
> tree of life." (Genesis 3:24)
>
> Adam and Eve were banished from Eden to keep them from eating from the tree
> of life and living forever, here in this mortal life, as sinners, apart form
> God. This was done in mercy, not as a judgment. From the beginning, God knew
> that man would sin, and planned all along to prepare a way for men to be
> reconciled to Him. If God had permitted Adam and Eve to live forever here,
> they would never be able to live forever with God in Heaven. I don't know
> about you, but I don't want to live in this corrupt, painful world forever.
> If I had my preference, I would be outta here before lunch. :-)

None of which justifies or mitigates so severe a punishment. Such a
punishment is as that imposed by a tyrant or despot acting without
restraint.

.