Is God kind?

[marco]

Some Christian varieties sing:

"Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for he is kind."

This is easy to say and sing.

In what way is the Lord "kind"?

Can we find instances from the Bible where the Lord demonstrates that he is kind?

[Avoice]

[Replying to post 16 by marco]

God is very kind. He is allowing those (Christians)who denounce his laws to live out their days free of guilt. BELIEVING paradise awaits them beyond the grave. They die with a smile on their face. He let them enjoy life even though they rejected him. How kind is that!

What way was he kind to those who died in the Holocaust? We should have let the land of Israel have it's Sabbaths. We were warned. We knew the law but we ignored it. Foolish. But the world is more foolish. They have seen with their eyes what happens to those who disobey God. Yet a religion springs up that is all about ignoring his laws.
Yeah, God is kind. The world has been warned and the world has witnessed the consequences. Weve all been warned. And we also see how God takes care of Israel. Just as he promised to unsheath the sword after them he promised to return them to Israel - NEVER TO BE UPROOTED AGAIN. Christians have no reason to believe that God rewards those who disobey him. The Hebrew scriptures say the opposite. So how they arrive at this idea is without a any basis of Truth.
Christians have been given written warning and a visual on the consequences. God is fair and kind. Christians know God gave laws. And they've seen what happens if they try and skirt them.

" As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool."

[Menotu]

[Replying to post 1 by marco]

I'm not sure attributing human attributes to something that's supposed to be perfect is logical. Having said that, if there's only one thing that's perfect, you can't legitimately compare it to something else. Thus, the only thing you have to compare it to is other, imperfect things, which means any comparison should be accompanied by an * with a footnote attached.

Also, we should define 'kind'.

No matter, as the biblical God doesn't seem too kind, gentle or understanding, particularly in the Old Testament. He seems grouchy and mad almost all the time. Which is very tiring.

[marco]

God is very kind. He is allowing those (Christians)who denounce his laws to live out their days free of guilt. BELIEVING paradise awaits them beyond the grave. They die with a smile on their face. He let them enjoy life even though they rejected him. How kind is that!

It is never kind to allow people to believe lies when you can put them right, if indeed this is the case with Christians, as you say.

What way was he kind to those who died in the Holocaust?

The Holocaust was not a divine punishment on Jews for anything they had done wrong. And even if one supports the idea that some Jewish omission led to chastisement, it would have been unjust and cruel to punish babies. This is a an example of the very reverse of kindness.

Yeah, God is kind.

So you say, while offering examples of brutality.

God is fair and kind. Christians know God gave laws. And they've seen what happens if they try and skirt them.

You are making a good case for God being unkind. It would seem, then, that we can find no acts of kindness, except through irony and sarcasm. So the Christians who sing, with a gladsome mind that God is kind, are wrong. Even if we find, somewhere, a few solitary acts that might, with a push, be called kindness, the general picture is cruelty, coldness and contempt.

[marco]

[Replying to post 1 by marco]

I'm not sure attributing human attributes to something that's supposed to be perfect is logical.

Faith has little time for logic; the wisdom of men is folly in heaven. Biblically God can get upset, and invariably does. As I quoted from Genesis::


"The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. " (A rare instance that shows God has a heart.)

Humans have to live with their mistakes and perhaps suffer punishment but lucky God can reverse what he's done in a rainfall.

No matter, as the biblical God doesn't seem too kind, gentle or understanding, particularly in the Old Testament. He seems grouchy and mad almost all the time. Which is very tiring."

Perhaps the hymn singers are doing what the ancient Greeks did with the terrifying Furies. They called them the Eumenides, or kind ones. Despite God's rages, his killings, his infanticides, his plagues, his floods.... it is maybe wise to call him kind, not sarcastically, but out of fear. Fear of the Lord is a gift from the Holy Ghost.

[Stelar_7]

If an attribute of god is goodness, which I see claimed, and if this god created the universe and was not opposed by an entity of equal or greater power, then the words goodness and kind lose their meaning. Everything is good, and by deduction all actions and events are kind.

However that would indicate that the words as applied to god can't be comprehended by humans, we would have to abandon all our ideas of morality since it sure was kind and good that <insert horrible thing here>.

Using the human definition, this seems to be a restatement of the problem of evil, and I'll defer to the amazing words of Stephen Fry.

[Avoice]

If you want god to think like you then Christianity is best for you.

If you arent always crazy about what God does but believes only he is God and ge makes the rules the maybe Judaism is right for you.

If youd rather he not even exist then maybe atheism fits you best.

If youd like to contribute to increased airport security then perhaps being Muslim is for you

If you like koolaid..........ahhh forget it

[marco]

Everything is good, and by deduction all actions and events are kind.

In heavenly terms, but as hard-working humans we have to go by the ordinary dictionary. Whatever "kind" means in God's territory is none of our business.

I like Stephen Fry who apparently is the new Messiah. I thoroughly enjoyed his autobiographical: "Moab is my Washpot." His portrayal of Wilde was excellent too. I await his apotheosis.

He comes over as kind, even if Yahweh doesn't.

[marco]

If you ….

If you arent always crazy …..

If youd rather …..

If you'd like to contribute to increased airport security ……

I feel it's a pity God doesn't have a sense of humour, as you have. We build on sand if we build on "if". I guess that avoidance means there is nowhere you can find instances of God being "kind". It does not surprise me. He isn't.

[Elijah John]

If youd like to contribute to increased airport security then perhaps being Muslim is for you

Moderator Comment

I don't think you are being anti-Muslim here, because in another post you referred to them as "cousins". But it is not exactly clear what you mean here, and it is best to avoid statements like this which could be taken the wrong way.

Please review the Rules.


______________

Moderator comments do not count as a strike against any posters. They only serve as an acknowledgment that a post report has been received, but has not been judged to warrant a moderator warning against a particular poster. Any challenges or replies to moderator postings should be made via Private Message to avoid derailing topics.

[EarthScienceguy]

How are you defining "kind"?

Are you defining kind as a noun? " a group united by common traits or interests". Then I would have to say that God is not kind because "His thoughts are not our thoughts neither or His ways are ways.

Are you defining kind as a Adjective? "of a sympathetic or helpful nature"

Then I would have to say that God is kind. He is sympathetic in the way that He waits to bring His judgment on people until their inequity has reached a specific tipping point. In many cases God waits hundreds or thousands of years.

Take for example those who are reading this right now God's is kind because He has given each of us a another day to glorify Him.