On July 5th, the only animal that ever loved me (and I her) died next to me in my bed.  She was sick for a while, and I had prayed for her healing.  However, your god took her from me peacefully.  I am so angry at your god that I am cursing him with as much anger as I can stand.  He has really hardened my heart against him.  If there is a god, why doesn’t he hear me, and why didn’t he heal my baby?  I may never believe in him again, and this was all his fault.  If he cares so much for us, then why did this happen?  I just can’t pray on his deaf ears anymore.  I can’t explain the anger that I have against him… if there is a him up there.  I have been a believer all of my life, and this is changing my mind to go over to the other side and start over again.  Maybe the worship of a cow or a monkey isn’t such a bad idea.   All of those people can’t be wrong, could they?

Sincerely,
Grieving

Dear Grieving,

We are so sorry for your loss.  Losing a beloved animal is a very difficult loss.  We often have people write into the site after a great trial in their life and ask us, “Why?”.  We wish we could give you a specific answer, but we can’t.  We can tell you that God didn’t bring death into our world – sin did.  In the Garden of Eden, all life was blessed, and everything was perfect (Gen 1:31).  It is only after mankind sinned that death and suffering were introduced (Gen 2:17).  All of creation was affected by sin (Gen 3:17-18).  The devil would have us blame God for our suffering, but he is the one that created all the chaos and hurt (Gen 3:13).

Our hearts go out to you in your time of suffering.  We cannot imagine how you must be feeling (Pr 14:10), but we hope your hurt eventually draws your heart nearer to the Lord for comfort (2 Cor 1:3).  If you are in need of a congregation in your area to edify and encourage you at this time, we would be happy to help you find one (our e-mail is askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org).

If God is omniscient (knows the past, present, and future things to come), how come He created people that He knew would only end up in Hell to suffer forever and forever without ever being able to repent or escape… and yet says He loves people?

Even if you say, “it is each person’s choice on whether or not they go to heaven or hell”, set that aside and ask yourself: what loving, caring couple, if they knew in advance, that a child they could conceive, raise, etc. would only ultimately end up in an eternal hell would go ahead and procreate that child?  I don’t think any good, loving parent would do that.

Also, how come we think God is “pro-life” when He condoned the killing of men, women, and children (including infants) in the Old Testament?  Whatever the excuses or rationalizations are… they would just be making excuses for acts of atrocities.

Sincerely,
Where’s The Good?

Dear Where’s The Good,

God could have made us without the freedom to choose, but then we wouldn’t be “in His image” (Gen 1:26)… we would be automatons.  You told us to set aside human choice, but setting aside the freedom to choose isn’t as easy for us as it is for you.  If every parent had the choice between having a child that may break their heart or purchasing a robot that would obey their every command… well, the choice is obvious.

God has to make complex decisions that allow individuals the freedom to choose while still keeping the rest of mankind safe.  Every time that God has destroyed a nation, He has done it for the safety of other nations and because that nation had become so corrupt that it was unsalvageable (Gen 15:16, Gen 6:5).  God knows that infants will be safe in His arms when that nation is destroyed.

In short, your argument makes perfect sense – if people weren’t people and freewill wasn’t important.

“God so loved the world…” that He drowned it.  How is that a loving act?

Sincerely,
Flooded With Emotion

Dear Flooded With Emotion,

Because God loved the people of the world – not the physical planet.  The Great Flood of Genesis 7 was an effort to give mankind a second chance.  God took the last righteous people on the planet and saved them from the corruption of a completely wicked generation (Gen 6:5-6).  God saved the eight people of Noah’s family through those floodwaters (1 Pet 3:20).  The rest of that generation was beyond redemption, so God (in His infinite love) saved those who could be salvaged.

(This post is a follow-up to “Bullycide”.)

Sorry, I disagree on a couple of points.  I’ve been in the line of fire, so I know from firsthand experience that some kids are sinners of the worst kind.  I believe some kids ARE aware of what they’re doing, and if God let evil people like that into heaven, it wouldn’t be heaven anymore.  Kids who drive other kids to their grave are guilty of MURDER in the sight of God.  You can’t let the wicked off the hook.  Jesus put no age limit on repentance.  He said, unless you repent, you shall ALL likewise perish (Luke 13:3-5).  Paul says in I Cor.7:14: Else were your children unclean, but now are they holy.  Merely being a child doesn’t bring holiness.  There are clean children and unholy children.

The prophet Elisha was teased (apparently, only verbally) by a gang of youths for being bald in 2 Kings 2:23-24.  Elisha pronounced judgment on those kids.  He didn’t absolve them of blame just because they were young.  NO WHERE in scripture does God say you’re automatically innocent if you’re below the age of 18, 13, or whatever.  What’s missing in modern pulpits is good, old-fashioned, fire-and-brimstone preaching.  God’s love is so overemphasized to unrepentant sinners that they never suspect there might be a fiery hell awaiting them on the Day of Judgment and God’s righteous wrath against sin.

Sincerely,
Done Being Bullied

Dear Done Being Bullied,

We appreciate your points and think there might be some miscommunication.  There is an age where a child reaches young adulthood – often known as the “teens”, and children do begin to be responsible before God for their choices.  There is a point where a child ceases to be simply a product of their environment and transitions into being a culpable adult who has chosen a path of righteousness or wickedness.

However, children are not born in sin as you seem to be stating.  1 Cor. 7:14 is being used out of context.  In 1 Cor. 7:14, the children are ‘holy’ because they are purified by their believing parent’s influence.  Otherwise, 1 Cor. 7 would be literally saying that a child is bound for hell or bound for heaven based off of whether or not their parents are christians.  Jesus died to save the whole world (Jhn 3:16), and every human has an opportunity to obey Him.

2 Kgs 2:23-24 is dealing with teenagers (or young adults), not small children.  Yes, many of today’s youth exhibit the same hateful and rebellious attitudes that are shown by that gang of young adults that Elisha interacted with.  Children that rebel against parents and show a lack of respect for authority are clearly condemned in the Scriptures (Col 3:20, Deu 21:18-21).

We couldn’t agree more that there is a need for preaching on hell and the judgment to come (if you read the answers to many of our questions, we think you will see that we don’t shirk our responsibility to that topic).  Once we reach the age where we are old enough to make decisions and repent of those decisions on our own – we must prepare ourselves, so that we won’t perish (Lk 13:3-5).  Children eventually become adults, and as adults, we must be prepared to meet our God.

(This post is a follow-up to “Eyeing Everest”)

You wrote, “The story is not directly applicable to us today because we can’t perform miracles like the apostles could – but there is an important principle being taught.  Faith makes a difference.  Faith is one of the greatest elements of Christianity (1 Cor 13:13).  If we trust God, great things can happen.”  You gotta be kidding, right? (Of course you’re not – you are serious).  Why must you say such ridiculous things such as this; we can’t perform miracles like the apostles?  Why can’t we?  Because you can’t?  Because you are a supposed man of God and haven’t this authority to perform the works of God?  God is, was, and will be.  He hasn’t changed; if He wills me or someone to do His will with that of His miraculous ability, He is free to do so.  To claim that God doesn’t do this anymore is the equivalent of the Jehovah’s Witnesses saying angels don’t give messages like in the Bible anymore!  Who are you to make such claims?  You have not got the authority to be so pompous to state that as TRUTH!  However, you have freedom of choice, and you may continue to say what you will, but, friend, I tell you this, you could say anything, but that in it of itself means nothing.

Sincerely,
Who Do You Think You Are?

Dear Who Do You Think You Are,

Yes, we are serious – and we’ve got the Scriptures to back it up.  God clearly said that there would come a time when miracles would cease (1 Cor 13:8).  A miracle is something that breaks the laws of physics (such as raising someone from the dead, supernaturally healing leprosy, etc.).  Miracles were needed to prove that Jesus and His apostles were sent from God (Acts 14:3, Acts 2:22, Jhn 9:16).  Now that we have the perfect and complete Bible, we no longer need those miracles – which was Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians.  When the “perfect” of 1 Cor 13:8-10 happened, the church no longer needed miracles to further the message of Christ.  After the Bible was completed, the church was able to fully see God’s message of salvation (1 Cor 13:12) without further need of prophecies and miracles.

Some other articles (with further Scriptures) you might want to read on the subject are “I Dreamed A Dream”, “Three Cheers For Miracles”, and “Gifts That Stop Giving”.  We completely agree with you that just saying something doesn’t make it true; that is why we wanted to show you the plethora of verses on the topic.

(This is a follow-up question to “Women Preachers” and “Women Preachers (Part 2)”)

First of all, let me state that I am a believer in God’s Word.  I do believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God; however, is it so impossible that human intervention (we are blessed with the gift of free will after all) in the compilation of the Bible did omit books?  Weren’t the four gospels chosen out of all the others to be included because of the way they were written – easy to understand, story lines, and recognizable authors, etc. – because a group of humans got together and voted?  And as for my disinformation, I have to disagree – I AM a woman, therefore I know what it is like to be treated condescendingly because of that fact.  Long hair as a covering… what about short hair; are you saying that is a sin?  Silence in church assembly… so if I let out an “Amen” or “Praise Jesus” during a sermon, I am sinning, but if a man does, he is not?  Why should a woman’s role not include leadership?  As for Mary Magdelene, by me quoting “kissed her on the…”, I meant to illustrate their relationship not as a romantic one, but as a fellowship.  Do you mean to tell me that Jesus and Mary didn’t have a relationship?  If you follow that line of logic, then it would be logical to say that He did not have a relationship with the twelve either.  She was part of His entourage, for lack of a better word, along with the twelve disciples.  Friendship/Fellowship/Discipleship is a *relationship*, is it not?  What about the paintings they have found in ancient worship sites with Mary in a teaching position with her two fingers raised that have been scratched out…by a human’s male hand no doubt…simply because of sexism?  Is it not fact that at the time the Bible was written, women were considered so second-class that to even include them in a conversation or use them as a witness, was laughable?  For example, you seem to have labeled me in a derogatory way by judging me and calling me a feminist simply because I am asking a question that perhaps is not answerable until we are able to ask the Source.  No, God does not care about our gender, on this point we agree… but we humans sure do!

Sincerely,
Would Prefer Not To Be Called A Feminist

Dear Would Prefer Not To Be Called A Feminist,

To begin with, we did not mean to offend you by using the byline ‘The Feminist’ – your question was about female rights – the title seemed appropriate because ‘feminism’ is defined as ‘the advocacy for women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality with men’… isn’t that what you are trying to defend?

Now having said that, let’s address the issue.  No, parts of the Bible are not missing.  You cannot simultaneously say that the Bible is divinely inspired and also say that God allowed necessary parts of it to be lost.  If the Bible isn’t exactly as God wrote it, it isn’t God’s Book anymore.  You can’t have it both ways.  Your whole argument is based off the idea that when you run across something you find distasteful in the Scriptures (in this case, the verses concerning men’s and women’s roles), you can simply say, “We don’t have the complete Bible”.  Jesus says that not even the tiniest detail of the Scriptures have been lost (Matt 5:18).  Jude says that we have the Word of God handed down to us “once for all” (Jude 1:3).  Regardless of what ancient paintings, manuscripts, mythology, etc. you reference – the Bible is what the Bible is.  Your frustrations with what the Bible says about hair length, women leadership, etc. are not with us… they are with the Scriptures.  No matter how many times you talk about these subjects, you will still have to contend with verses like 1 Cor 11:15, 1 Cor 14:34, Eph 5:23, etc.  These verses aren’t going away.  God, from the very beginning, designed men and women to be equal heirs of salvation (1 Pet 3:7) but to have different roles.  Men and women are different – frankly, that shouldn’t be news to anybody.

The differences between men and women are often abused by both genders.  Women tell jokes about how stupid men are, and men condescend and demean women… neither behavior is right.  In the Bible, God doesn’t ignore the differences between men and women; He explains how men and women ought to live to fulfill their fullest potential.  Until we accept that we must mold our lives as God desires, we will never truly be submitting ourselves to Him… and whether male or female, we are all subject to God (Jas 4:7).