[Pistias]

Power for certain. And right, no doubt.

And yet, does it not seem cruel to create a being destined for eternal torment without chance of salvation? Is it cruel for God?

[ultima ratio]

The Adam and Eve story was a dry- run for Hebrew mystics who contemplated the problem of evil. Read the Book of Job. The Voice from the Whirlwind says to Job who had been complaining about his unjust treatment by God: "Am I wrong because you are right?" In other words, as Job himself realizes, he has "tried to understand the Unknowable and tried to grasp the Infinite". In the end he is struck silent with awe.

In one amazing passage God describes the violent world he has created, the lion cubs with their muzzles red with the blood from some carcass. It reminded me of Blake's poem, "Tiger, Tiger" in which he asks, "Did He who made the lamb make thee?" The poem is full of wonderful fierce dynamic energy. And that is the point: God is beyond human morality. His ways are not our ways.

[A.J.Armitage]

But it's not as if humans sin through some sort of automatic movement, like a robot. People choose sin, and choose to reject God, because that's what they want, which is why we're guilty, and why the lost will be damned.

[rwfromkansas]

Who are you, O man, to reply against God????

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

And yet, does it not seem cruel to create a being destined for eternal torment without chance of salvation? Is it cruel for God?

God did not create anyone destined for eternal torment without chance of salvation? We all have a chance at salvation. We all have a choice. Is it cruel to give your children rules with a clear understanding of what will happen if they don't follow the rules.

Becky