This is a place to open your mind, and say what you feel..not holding back!
Hey Webmasters! New Photo Album Service Launched - Check it out!
Hey Webmasters! New Photo Album Service Launched - Check it out!Visions Of Balance Forum
This is a place to open your mind, and say what you feel..not holding back! |
||
| Search For Similar Forums · Return to Website | ||
 First |
 Prev |
 Reply |
 Home |
Next  |
Last  |
| Viewing Page 1 of 1 (Total Posts: 4) |
| Author | Comment |
|
Dodge
May 9, 04 - 10:53 AM |
Evil & Freedom
God is free in that nothing apart from God "makes" Him do what He does. Although everything He does is good, this isn't because something different than God, called good, somehow limits Him. Rather, good is what He is. Good isn't abstract, but personal.It's Him, in the triune love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It wasn't contrary to God's nature to give His created rational beings the gift of creaturely freedom, because the gift didn't make them rebel against Him; it merely enabled them to choose. True, to be able to choose is to be able to choose rebellion. But to be able to choose is also to be able to choose to follow Him — and some goods, like love, can come into their own only if they are unforced. So the gift itself was good and in keeping with God's own goodness. Even Satan (if you believe in Satan)was created with a good nature. He had existence (that was good), intelligence (that was good), various other powers for serving God (those were good), and freedom (also good). However, because creaturely freedom includes the ability to choose whether or not to follow the Creator, Satan could rebel. And he did. It makes no sense to ask what pre-existing evil "made him do it." There wasn't any, for if something had made him do it, then his doing it wouldn't have been free. The explanation of why you commit a free act is that you choose to commit it. (sorry I couldn't wait until monday..lol) Love, Dodge 
|
Blossom
 May 10th, 2004 - 3:38 PM |
Re: Evil & Freedom
Well Dodge, This is what I think... I think that God gave us the ability to choose between good and evil in order for our spirit to learn various things during our short lifetime here on this earth.. To me God, or our Source, is like, hmm.. Say a spot of oil. You know when you put oil in a cold pot of water it creates little droplets..and there is always one 'big' droplet floating there? Well we are the little droplets (created in the image of the bigger one) and the big one is God. Once the pot heated (creating warmth = love) the little ones connect to the bigger one creating one big blob of oil the the pot. So, God gave us free will in order to grow and become more and more like him and make our way back ( joining our energy to his). That way God's energy becomes larger and larger, yet never changing form. As for Satan, well I cannot say that I believe a being such as Satan exists, yet I know that Evil does... yet Evil to me is the lowest form of being, maniac killers, child predators, wars, etc.etc. Are to me, a form of evil, yet to some, Satan envelops everyting that is wrong in their view.. so I need a definition of what Evil means to you in order to clearly understand your point. What I know is that we all have a dark side that needs to be explored..which was one of the hardest things I had to do in my life. Exploring that side of ourselves is scary and to me unknown...and staying there for a brief period of time..was quite alright with me. Which brings me back to good vs evil. I think that everything that is happening in our world is all due to the collective choices we have made. Fighting Evil, or negative energy if you will, means a greater spiritual awareness for everyone. When all faiths agree, with humans decide that God is everywhere and nowhere, when all religions are tolerated... then and only then we will be able to fight against the Evil within all of us.... ...good or bad? I certainly choose good... Shining back at ya' Dodge.. Blossom p.s. I tried hard to answer such a complex debate.. ha ha.. 
|
|
Dodge
May 10th, 2004 - 4:24 PM |
Re: Re: Evil & Freedom
I really liked what you said. And also really enjoyed this part of your rebuttle: "What I know is that we all have a dark side that needs to be explored..which was one of the hardest things I had to do in my life. Exploring that side of ourselves is scary and to me unknown...and staying there for a brief period of time..was quite alright with me." I have always explored the dark side of myself, in fact I believe light and darkness is one thing not two, much like 24 hrs. It's divided into daytime and nighttime, but it's really only one thing. One day. So it is with us. That's why we can feel both things in us, knowing both the light and the dark and knowing they're one thing that makes us---"us." People are afraid of such discoveries and so stay somewhat childish and ignorant of their true selves. Life is short and so we must conduct these unknowable things on the outer edge. People who explore this often find others who have done so as well. It's like something seamless, something knitted in them as one, that they can't help but be connected to that individal. And so is evil part of the darkness? No. Never has been. There is as much evil in the light too. In fact the dark has its own light. Satan himself was an angel of it. So what is evil? There is none the way that people perceive evil. It is about choices... and the wrong ones have already been forgiven. |
|
Blossom
May 17th, 2004 - 8:58 AM |
Re: Evil & Freedom
Dodge, Although you say that the 'wrong' choices have already been forgivin, does that give us the right to make the wrong choices? I believe that God forgives us, yet I would not go kill my neighbor if he make me angry knowing that God has forgivin me. Yet, I guess people would look at the consequences of their behaviours before acting on them. Whether an act is wrong or right.. Does that depend on the intention? Wondering away... Blossom
|
| First |
Prev |
Reply |
Home |
Next |
Last |
bravenet.com