Posted on 04/01/2006 7:37:23 PM PST by churchillbuff
I've found the best approach to studying the topic of good and evil is to first study doctrines of righteousness and judgment while in fellowship with God through faith in Christ.
Many of the statements presented in the article are disproven by deeper study into Scripture and advanced faith.
Children and theologians have queried "Why do bad things happen to good people?" and "Why do good things happen to evil people?"
In a nutshell, the issues of sin have already been settled by Christ on the Cross. The issues of evil have not yet been resolved, for they must be solved over time. That is one reason why an angelic conflict remains.
For unbelieving men, God manifests love by enormous grace, while for believers, he also manifests His love through Divine discipline. From the perspective of the unrighteous believer, divine discipline is not love, but harsh punishment. From the perspective of an unbeliever, that love and grace is frequently confused with good and evil in worldly institutions.
Success is available through divinely established institutions when legitimately dwelled (e.g. free will, marriage, family, and government) for believer and unbeliever alike, because they are living within Divine Providence. Misery is always consequent to those who separate themselves from God by first thinking in fashions without faith in Christ. Joy is always available for those who return to God through faith in Christ as provided by Him. Enduring Divine Discipline while remaining in fellowship with Him isn't always a happy experience, though joy may be coincident with suffering.
I've often heard people make that same argument, "Well, if even I wouldn't condemn Hitler to Hell and I'm flawed, there's no way God would do it!"
The problem here is attempting to superimpose human notions of mercy on Divine Justice. There can be no mercy without justice and no justice without mercy. How God handles all that is not our problem.
Avoiding Hell is our problem and the theological math for that is plain (if unappealing to some).
Hell (whatever it really is) ... is for those which unremittingly continue to oppose God ... like Satan has.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.