I’m 72 and I guess you can say I’m a lapsed Catholic. Born and raised and attended Catholic school for 12 years. One thing that still bugs me is why would the all powerful, all knowing God create beings he knew were imperfect, would sin, and then condemn them to eternal suffering?
Peace to all,
To me, Adam and Eve created from choice to love or to love not becoming to love only and to love with only the most love in all through The Christ becoming again in all One Holy Spirit Family One God in being.
Peace always,
Stephen
That is Molinism, which is opposed to Thomism. Thomism should be held by all since St. Thomas Aquinas, who is a saint and doctor, has a higher theological sentencia (more theological weight) than Luis de Molina, who is neither a saint nor doctor.
May the Lord’s Countenance be upon you.
Welcome to the forum : )
God created perfectly, but it was the fall that corrupted creation. God created free-will, for had He not, how can there be love? Robots are incapable of love. But, He did not create us robots, but rather in His own image (with the ability to love, create, and reason).
God is order and God is love. Without Him, man is disordered and cannot love in the way in which God intended. For without God, man’s love becomes disordered.
I would like to recommend a book to you that I have recommended to many others in this forum. The book is titled, “A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God’s Covenant Love in Scripture” by Dr. Scott Hahn. In it, Dr. Hahn points out the many chances our God has given us throughout Salvation History (like a Father often does). I think it will give you a better understanding of God’s vengeance and justice, as well as His love and mercy.
Thank you for you genuine and honest question. My Grandma also struggled with this, and she was/is a saint. Christ’s peace! And if you ever want to come back to Church, know that you are always welcome! When I felt God calling me back, I had many thoughts like, Would I be welcomed back and How much have things changed since I fell away. But, God assured me the day that I returned that I was indeed welcomed back and that His love for me has not changed!
The Old Testament God: Warring tribes and humans in Old Testament times seemed to closely emulate the Old Testament God (e.g. war, jealousy, smite, killing, etc). It’s argued that the similarity between Man and God was not that Man was emulating God…but that God was emulating Man (ie God is a human construct modeled after human behavior).
Related to this topic, I’ve also seen the argument raised that animals, wild animals, the natural world experiences a tremendous amount of suffering and why would a loving God subject animals to undo and an untold level of suffering? Collateral damage perhaps, but some seem to still beg the question.
This Sunday’s First Reading shows the mercy of God in the Old Testament and also shows how annoying we can be at times, but God encourages us to be persistent in our Prayers (even if we think we are annoying Him ; )