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> Many religions say that the times when a person should be born and when a person should die are up to God's purposes and plan for that person. By this reckoni

> Many religions say that the times when a person should be born and when a person should die are up to God's purposes and plan for that person. By this reckoning a murder causes a person to die BEFORE the time that God appointed for them to die. I can't see how to reconcile this belief with an all-knowing and all-powerful God. If murders were disruptive to his plan, wouldn't he just prevent them from happening? Are all non-murder deaths part of his plan? If I am hit by a car while in the crosswalk by someone who looked down at their phone, is that part of God's plan for me, but if the driver maliciously ran me down, it isn't? What if it was an accident, but they were drunk? Is God somehow frustrated or annoyed when a murder happens? Does it surprise God?

bombcar 4y ago
This is one of the oldest theosophical questions and much has been written about it. The quick and dirty answer is that God can permit things he wouldn’t do himself because he deems people having free will as more important basically. But this is a really crappy analogy. The term of art is “the problem of evil” - https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1049.htm#article2 https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1049.htm#article2
thesuperbigfrog 4y ago
>> I can't see how to reconcile this belief with an all-knowing and all-powerful God. If murders were disruptive to his plan, wouldn't he just prevent them from happening? Are all non-murder deaths part of his plan? If I am hit by a car while in the crosswalk by someone who looked down at their phone, is that part of God's plan for me, but if the driver maliciously ran me down, it isn't? What if it was an accident, but they were drunk? Is God somehow frustrated or annoyed when a murder happens? Does it surprise God? It depends on how a religion views free will and God's role in governing the universe. Some religions hold that free will exists and that God allows people to act freely according to their own will and choice. In this view, God is all-knowing and all-powerful, but God lets people act freely. In the afterlife, God judges people based on their actions during their lives and rewards or punishes accordingly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will discusses many of the concepts around free will.
- rich_sasha 4y ago
  "Messing with God's plan" is only one way to arrive at this conclusion; I agree with your objections. As I see it, killing people simply isn't in the gamut of options we should choose with our free will. Ten Commandments state "thou shall not murder" but without an immediate justification; just don't.

bombcar 4y ago

This is one of the oldest theosophical questions and much has been written about it. The quick and dirty answer is that God can permit things he wouldn’t do himself because he deems people having free will as more important basically. But this is a really crappy analogy. The term of art is “the problem of evil” - https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1049.htm#article2 https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1049.htm#article2

thesuperbigfrog 4y ago

>> I can't see how to reconcile this belief with an all-knowing and all-powerful God. If murders were disruptive to his plan, wouldn't he just prevent them from happening? Are all non-murder deaths part of his plan? If I am hit by a car while in the crosswalk by someone who looked down at their phone, is that part of God's plan for me, but if the driver maliciously ran me down, it isn't? What if it was an accident, but they were drunk? Is God somehow frustrated or annoyed when a murder happens? Does it surprise God? It depends on how a religion views free will and God's role in governing the universe. Some religions hold that free will exists and that God allows people to act freely according to their own will and choice. In this view, God is all-knowing and all-powerful, but God lets people act freely. In the afterlife, God judges people based on their actions during their lives and rewards or punishes accordingly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will discusses many of the concepts around free will.

rich_sasha 4y ago
"Messing with God's plan" is only one way to arrive at this conclusion; I agree with your objections. As I see it, killing people simply isn't in the gamut of options we should choose with our free will. Ten Commandments state "thou shall not murder" but without an immediate justification; just don't.