Is God non interventionist

Getting to know more about a specific belief

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
psychdave
Student
Posts: 60
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:49 am
Location: UK

Is God non interventionist

Post #1

Post by psychdave »

OK, so in my opinion, Christian's always focus on the positives and forget the negatives. Take a typical church service, somebody will go forward and testify to something great God has done for them, however, they don't ever testify to the 98% of times when things haven't gone so great.

Take healing, a 3 year old Pastor's son is prayed for and dies, an atheist's son may recover, it's just life, nothing to do with any intervention from God. I'm sure statistically the chances of somebody with a serious illness recovering are the same Christian, Muslim or atheist, however, the ones that do, are the ones that will be testified about to the church and the world, giving the illusion that "most are healed", which we all know is certainly NOT the case.

In my opinion, life just happens, people live, people die, some are born with learning difficulties, some are born intelligent but God does not intervene in any of it. Prayer may work as a placebo or a form of meditation, but I can see no substantiated evidence of it being anything else.

DPMartin
Banned
Banned
Posts: 127
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2018 4:58 pm

Re: Is God non interventionist

Post #2

Post by DPMartin »

[Replying to post 1 by psychdave]

well if the Almighty don't hear you, then you will not experience anything that those who God hears, (meaning the God of Israel in the Jesus' name)

so that's really your problem isn't it? the sun shines and it rains on the wicked as well as the righteous. that doesn't disprove or prove anything in this case.

those who were once in dire circumstances like maybe Israel and witnessed His deliverance of them is no different then those who call on the name of the Lord and are delivered from dilemmas beyond their control. all they can tell you is they called on the Lord in their distress and they were delivered. read Psalms King David has many stories of such.

thing is does God hear you?

puddleglum
Sage
Posts: 685
Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2009 12:35 pm
Contact:

Post #3

Post by puddleglum »

God hasn't revealed to us why he sometimes answers prayers and other times doesn't. He is in control of all that happens. If you want to understand God the best way is to read the Bible and try to follow its teachings. Jesus said, "If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority." God reveals his will to those who are willing to obey it.
His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.
Romans 1:20 ESV

steveb1
Scholar
Posts: 330
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2018 10:57 pm
Been thanked: 6 times

Re: Is God non interventionist

Post #4

Post by steveb1 »

psychdave wrote: OK, so in my opinion, Christian's always focus on the positives and forget the negatives. Take a typical church service, somebody will go forward and testify to something great God has done for them, however, they don't ever testify to the 98% of times when things haven't gone so great.

Take healing, a 3 year old Pastor's son is prayed for and dies, an atheist's son may recover, it's just life, nothing to do with any intervention from God. I'm sure statistically the chances of somebody with a serious illness recovering are the same Christian, Muslim or atheist, however, the ones that do, are the ones that will be testified about to the church and the world, giving the illusion that "most are healed", which we all know is certainly NOT the case.

In my opinion, life just happens, people live, people die, some are born with learning difficulties, some are born intelligent but God does not intervene in any of it. Prayer may work as a placebo or a form of meditation, but I can see no substantiated evidence of it being anything else.
My own God-definition excludes God as a creator, intervener, or judge.
For the simple reason that God did not create the world, God can neither be praised for the world's goodness or blamed for its evils. God and world are two separate non-overlapping domains.

Because God is not responsible for the material world's creation, maintenance, or "moral condition", and because God does not miraculously intervene in a world God did not create, in that sense, God does not answer prayer - at least prayer defined as prayer of petition.

Contemplative or centering prayer is a different matter because the one who prays does not ask for miraculous interventions, but rather asks for the in-breaking of the divine Presence, which theistic meditation states seek to cultivate. The divine Presence itself is contemplative prayer's only "answer". The divine Presence's only "intervention" is to heal, transform, and lead the seeking soul toward Itself. To my personal view, the presence of the Presence is true prayer and the answer to prayer and is much more impressive than any miraculous intervention could ever be.

Post Reply