Board Thread:Bible Questions/@comment-35576995-20180513184349/@comment-1777104-20180602192227

I am going to close this thread, so any more "discussion" will have to be with me directly. Your responses seem to be circular reasoning, starting and ending at the same place. Please read the articles on Sin, Salvation and Jesus Christ and get back to me on my talk page. I will answer your questions from the Bible there.

But, before I go, I will try to answer your objections/questions above.

God is not a man, so when he punishes it is not "wholesale" but purposeful and personal. He knows the condition of the souls of each person dealt with. Whatever the treatment, it will be in line with the "crime" against His law.

The relationship between providence and free will is a tricky one, but essentially it comes down to the omniscience of God. He knows the beginning from the end and works things out so that the right thing is done in all cases to come to the "endgame".

"Cruel and unusual" punishment is a relative thing. But our sense of what that is comes from the conscience attuned to the Law of God. God's Law sets a standard for us which He also keeps. It is "an eye for an eye" -- meaning the punishment fits the crime. Though many are punished, the punishment always fits the crime.

Your "take" on the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus is a false one. In Christ, God did not just "show up". He had a job to do and he finished it. After over 4000 years of dealing with humanity, "showing up" in various ways along the way, God kept his promise to Adam, Noah and Abraham. The "seed of the woman", a new start after sparing mankind, and finally the Messiah who descending from Abraham to be a blessing to the whole world, were all acts that God did for us.

No, God's punishment is not "equivalent to a parent" with a child. God's punishment is that of a King to an enemy combatant. Those who stand against the King of the universe should not expect to get away with it. However, the trials and difficulties to those who are children of God are like the punishment of a parent to a child.

The problem with your a premise is that in is false. Everyone is given sufficient evidence of God's existence. It is all around them and within them. The fact that anyone "doubts" has no bearing on this. Doubt does not diminish the evidence.

Finally, the Abrahamic faiths do not present the dichotomy you think they do. It is not that people decide for or against God, but that God chooses between people. Left to themselves, all people would live for themselves. It is quite natural to doubt when you don't trust anything beyond our own senses and condition. That is why something supernatural must first happen. God chooses and changes those who end up following Him.

Please, click on the "talk" link on my signature and let's continue this elsewhere.

SouthWriter (talk) 19:22, June 2, 2018 (UTC)