Expert: Pastor Don Carpenter - 12/9/2006

Question
I am 17 years old and used to be very religious. Recently though i have pretty much lost my faith in God. My reasoning---if God is god he can do anything! anything! Also he knows everything. He is also supposed to love us unconditionally and be able to forgive us for anything. If that is really true, why doesn't he just turn everyone into good little Christians and invite them all into heaven. why does he put us here on earth to suffer if he knows what the end result will be, saved or damned. Just send us to where we belong! I mean if he loves us so much why does he put us through this pain. I know you can't "understand God" but if he knows humans, he knows we want proof. Why doesn't he just come on down to earth, do a couple miracles, and have a TV show on his teachings. GOD HE CAN DO ANYTHING. It's not like he has rules he has to follow. Plus the bible wasn't even written by him. it was written by people who learned from him with much room for interpretation. Why didn't god just give man a book and tell him CLEARLY what he wants! Also, there are so many religions, you can't choose which one is right. Allah, God, Buddha, Hindu floaty thing. I mean they are thinking the same exact thing you are. They're gonna be saved cause they're right and your wrong. Done. So explain to me that, how god can possibly exist. I prayed to him one last time before i lost my faith and i said if you truly care about me i need an obvious miracle. If you really love me you will send me on. I'm not talking something that can be mistaken for coincidence. A REAL miracle. and if none come? what is god telling me. He doesn't care. He doesn't exist. I think it takes a real smart person to invent religion. If a man was truly smart he could have written a book like the bible that explains what people need to do for a perfect world. It is guidelines not for god, but for humanity to exist. I still agree and follow a lot of what the bible says, just not for god---for humanity itself.

Answer
Hi Josh,

Thanks for your questions.  There are a lot of things that I could address here, and I do not have time or space to ahndle all of your post in great detail.  I will try to answer some highlights of this post and you can feel free to post a follow up.

1.  Your assumption is flawed.  God can only do anything that is in harmony with His nature.  There are some things that the Bible says God cannot do.

2 Timothy 2:13
13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

Titus 1:2
2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;  
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

James 1:13
13 Let no man say when he is tempted,  I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:  
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

2.  God has decided not to mess with free will.  Forced love is rape!  God has allowed us to make our own decision.  It breaks His heart when we say no.

Matthew 23:37
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

3.  It is a flawed reasoning to think that miracles would help us to believe.  Jesus performed miracles on a daily basis and there were still some who did not believe.  Jesus told us that even if someone were to come back from the dead, if people do not believe moses and the prophets, they would not believe if someone came back from the dead to talk about it.

Luke 16:27-31
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

I hope that these thoughts help you.  Again, if you want further clarification post a follow up with a few pointed questions.  It is hard to answer a whole slew of Questions in one post.

In Christ
Pastor Don