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Thinking about applying for Sunrise (3AM to 8AM) and I have some questions
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<blockquote data-quote="air_dr" data-source="post: 941095" data-attributes="member: 29929"><p>I looked up the "Bubble of Goodness" website. I think I know what you are saying and I can respect the viewpoint. French philosopher and atheist Voltaire similarly made fun of Christians with his characters Candide and Dr. Pangloss. I remember reading portions of the book in a high school English class. The problem of evil is, hands down, the toughest issue those of us who believe in an all good all powerful God have to wrestle with and explain to skeptics.</p><p></p><p>You didn't really say what it was you believed, but I would encourage you to consider some of the alternatives to what I understand to be the Theistic view: God doesn't exist, he doesn't care, he's not always on duty, he can have a mean streak sometimes, or he is not all powerful. The implications of such a reality are chilling to me. If possible, I would much rather believe God is working everything out for his redemptive purposes and my future does not ultimately rest in my unsteady hands and feeble eyesight (figuratively speaking).</p><p></p><p>Now just because I would rather believe something doesn't make the belief true, and I will be the first to argue that none of us can believe something into existence. So the question, as I see it, comes down to whether it is intellectually honest or even sane to believe that the evil we see around us is part of God's uiltimate plan of redemption that could not be brought about in another way, and that we do indeed "live in the best of all possible words" as Voltaire wrote, allbeit sarcastically. My answer would be yes, and for a number of reasons. </p><p></p><p>First of all, sometimes within our earthly life time we come to appreciate the blessing of not having received what we wanted at some earlier time. One can see this in the relationship we see between a parent (or grandparent) and a small child. The discipline and the restrictions (no you can't have chocolate ice cream for breakfast lunch and dinner) are for the child's good, even if the child GENUNINELY (key point) does not have the understanding to appreciate it at the time and TRULY feels the adult hates them and is out to make their life miserable. The teenage girl who was convinced her parents surely wanted to make her a nun, by force if necessary, in time comes to realize the guy she so wanted to date was indeed a creep. Even as an adult, I am occasionally very grateful for prayers I prayed in adult life which were not answered in the way I had originally hoped. So while it does take a step of faith, I don't think its gullible, naive, or stupid to believe "God works all things for good..." because "his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than our thoughts..." and "no eye has seen nor ear heard what God has ready for those who love him..."</p><p></p><p>The above quotes are Biblical quotes and that gets me to the second point. I don't feel what I have written above is simply my own wild speculation or personal reflection. Instead, its based on what I believe the Bible teaches and that the Bible can be trusted. I believe it contains truth that has been divinely revealed to us, and our goal needs to be to seek to discover that truth rather than think or do what is popular or seems right in our eyes at a given moment. You may or may not believe this, or perhaps you simply haven't thought much about it. Defending the idea that the Bible is trustworthy has been the subject of many books over the centuries and I most certainly can't condense what has been written into this already too long post! If someone has the interest, they can look up people like Josh McDowell, Lee Stroebel, and Ravi Zaccarias. These men, and many others like them, are Christian apologists, and no that doesn't mean they have made it their life's work to be saying they're sorry. An apologist is one who strives to give a rational defense of some belief. I have found the above men and others like them to be engaging, intelligent, and unafraid of tough questions.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="air_dr, post: 941095, member: 29929"] I looked up the "Bubble of Goodness" website. I think I know what you are saying and I can respect the viewpoint. French philosopher and atheist Voltaire similarly made fun of Christians with his characters Candide and Dr. Pangloss. I remember reading portions of the book in a high school English class. The problem of evil is, hands down, the toughest issue those of us who believe in an all good all powerful God have to wrestle with and explain to skeptics. You didn't really say what it was you believed, but I would encourage you to consider some of the alternatives to what I understand to be the Theistic view: God doesn't exist, he doesn't care, he's not always on duty, he can have a mean streak sometimes, or he is not all powerful. The implications of such a reality are chilling to me. If possible, I would much rather believe God is working everything out for his redemptive purposes and my future does not ultimately rest in my unsteady hands and feeble eyesight (figuratively speaking). Now just because I would rather believe something doesn't make the belief true, and I will be the first to argue that none of us can believe something into existence. So the question, as I see it, comes down to whether it is intellectually honest or even sane to believe that the evil we see around us is part of God's uiltimate plan of redemption that could not be brought about in another way, and that we do indeed "live in the best of all possible words" as Voltaire wrote, allbeit sarcastically. My answer would be yes, and for a number of reasons. First of all, sometimes within our earthly life time we come to appreciate the blessing of not having received what we wanted at some earlier time. One can see this in the relationship we see between a parent (or grandparent) and a small child. The discipline and the restrictions (no you can't have chocolate ice cream for breakfast lunch and dinner) are for the child's good, even if the child GENUNINELY (key point) does not have the understanding to appreciate it at the time and TRULY feels the adult hates them and is out to make their life miserable. The teenage girl who was convinced her parents surely wanted to make her a nun, by force if necessary, in time comes to realize the guy she so wanted to date was indeed a creep. Even as an adult, I am occasionally very grateful for prayers I prayed in adult life which were not answered in the way I had originally hoped. So while it does take a step of faith, I don't think its gullible, naive, or stupid to believe "God works all things for good..." because "his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than our thoughts..." and "no eye has seen nor ear heard what God has ready for those who love him..." The above quotes are Biblical quotes and that gets me to the second point. I don't feel what I have written above is simply my own wild speculation or personal reflection. Instead, its based on what I believe the Bible teaches and that the Bible can be trusted. I believe it contains truth that has been divinely revealed to us, and our goal needs to be to seek to discover that truth rather than think or do what is popular or seems right in our eyes at a given moment. You may or may not believe this, or perhaps you simply haven't thought much about it. Defending the idea that the Bible is trustworthy has been the subject of many books over the centuries and I most certainly can't condense what has been written into this already too long post! If someone has the interest, they can look up people like Josh McDowell, Lee Stroebel, and Ravi Zaccarias. These men, and many others like them, are Christian apologists, and no that doesn't mean they have made it their life's work to be saying they're sorry. An apologist is one who strives to give a rational defense of some belief. I have found the above men and others like them to be engaging, intelligent, and unafraid of tough questions. [/QUOTE]
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Thinking about applying for Sunrise (3AM to 8AM) and I have some questions
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