Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 10)
I think this is a biblical basis for this saying. The idea that struggles imply anything about the sufferer's own inherent strength or weakness is a misinterpretation. Instead, suffering offers a chance to rely on the grace of God. As we draw nearer to Christ, we can be strengthened in Him and borrow His strength to endure our trials with patience and love.
As to the greater discussion, my sect believes that God is NOT omnipotent in the sense of just making up a world and rules for us to follow. He loves us and wants us to be purified and refined that we may dwell with Him and learn about Him, but no unclean thing may dwell with God--we believe that isn't a rule He made up but an irrefutable law inherent in the concept of "goodness" and "God." It is a conundrum any parent can relate to. What He HAS (freedom from sin and misery and sickness and death) He can give us, but what He IS (perfect light and truth) cannot be given, but must be earned. The Garden of Eden offered no sickness or death, no mortal weakness nor temptation. It also offered no freedom to choose. If there is no evil or sin, then there can be no goodness nor righteousness. When Eve partook ofthe Tree of Knowledge, she wasn't punished because God wanted her to suffer for her choice, she was given the inherent consequence of that choice. She introduced into the world the ability to choose, and that means that along with a true understanding of good, we also get evil. The world is no longer static, but mortal. Mortality includes the natural world and all of the sickness, death and decay that are so inherent in that natural order. We are born with a propensity to live as the natural man--selfish, weak, seeking our own gratification and pleasure, but also with The Light of Christ inside each of us and we are given the ability to choose what we become. We can follow Christ and His teachings and our suffering will be sanctified as we are perfected in Him, or we can follow the weakness of men and our suffering will be for nothing.
You don't have to answer but are you Quaker?
No, I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am glad that others found the post helpful. I am sorry to hear those who bring such animosity to this discussion. Ultimately, you either believe that there is a path to knowledge and knowing outside of sensory input or rationalization, or you do not.
1 John 4:1
"Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they are of God."
The difference between madness and spirituality is in the path trod by a true believer. God does not ask that we follow Him blindly. He asks that we trust and try His word. Each day is an experiment. As I excersize faith (meaning act as though a doctrine were true), I will see that it brings me inner peace and happiness and a deeper spiritual knowledge, or it brings me inner turmoil and fear and a sense of confusion. As we try His word, we either see the result, or we seek after new knowledge. I like the analogy of consuming the dross. It is HARD work to seek His path, but each step draws us more closely until him that we may know Him and in the proccess our sin and weakness is burned away and we are made pure, like unto Him.
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