“Prophetic voices that challenge the people of God to live ‘in accordance with the scriptures’, scriptures that are especially vocal about care for the poor, the suffering, and the disreputable have never received cordial treatment from people who use religion to cocoon themselves from reality.”
Eugene Peterson
.
"We have come to believe in God's love: in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction."
Pope Benedict XVI in his first Encyclical "Deus Caritas Est" ["God is Love"] January 25, 2006.
"The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause of everything which happens in the mortal world, nothing is left to chance...logic can be happily tossed out the window."
Stephen King, Author
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
Epicurus (341–270 B.C.), Greek philosopher
http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com
"There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris allows to live."
"Chuck Norris was the fourth wise man, who gave baby Jesus the gift of beard, which he carried with him until he died. The other three wise men were enraged by the preference that Jesus showed to Chuck's gift, and arranged to have him written out of the bible. All three died soon after of mysterious roundhouse-kick related injuries."
"Scientists have estimated that the energy given off during the Big Bang is roughly equal to 1 CNRhK (Chuck Norris Roundhouse Kick)"
"On the set of Walker Texas Ranger Chuck Norris brought a dying lamb back to life by nuzzling it with his beard. As the onlookers gathered, the lamb sprang to life. Chuck Norris then roundhouse kicked it, killing it instantly. This was just to prove that the good Chuck giveth, and the good Chuck, he taketh away."
When God said, "let there be light", Chuck Norris said, "say 'please'."
"In a recent survey it was discovered that 94% of American women lost their virginity to Chuck Norris. The other 6% were incredibly fat or ugly." (This last quote may not be "spiritual" per se.)
Mark Twain:
"Man is a marvelous curiosity … he thinks he is the Creator's pet … he even believes the Creator loves him; has a passion for him; sits up nights to admire him; yes and watch over him and keep him out of trouble. He prays to him and thinks He listens. Isn't it a quaint idea."
"Custom is custom: it is built of brass, boiler-iron, granite; facts, reasonings, arguments have no more effect upon it than the idle winds have upon Gibraltar."
Originally posted by The Chess ExpressYou are admitting that he allows a certain amount of evil to go unchecked in preparation for a greater amount of good? How is this possible? If he is all powerful there is no need for him to do this, the greater good could be accomplished without any need for evil. Therefore he is malevolent to allow ANY evil to exist if he is able but unwilling for any amount of time.
I’ll go with this but say that he is sometimes willing and is still benevolent. The greater good in relation to our reason for being here has to be considered.
For I am the first and the last.
I am the honored one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin.
I am the mother and the daughter.
I am the members of my mother.
I am the barren one
and many are her sons.
I am she whose wedding is great,
and I have not taken a husband.
I am the midwife and she who does not bear.
I am the solace of my labor pains.
I am the bride and the bridegroom,
and it is my husband who begot me.
I am the mother of my father
and the sister of my husband
and he is my offspring.
I am the slave of him who prepared me.
I am the ruler of my offspring.
But he is the one who begot me before the time on a birthday.
And he is my offspring in (due) time,
and my power is from him.
I am the staff of his power in his youth,
and he is the rod of my old age.
And whatever he wills happens to me.
I am the silence that is incomprehensible
and the idea whose remembrance is frequent.
I am the voice whose sound is manifold
and the word whose appearance is multiple.
I am the utterance of my name.
THE THUNDER, PERFECT MIND (extract)