From: exudtn@exu.ericsson.se (Derek Nelson, xt-dL)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Questions about the Bible
Date: 30 Sep 92 05:42:45 GMT
Reply-To: exudtn@exu.ericsson.se
Organization: Ericsson Network Systems, Inc.

In article 5795@athos.rutgers.edu, cabezon!kapila@uunet.uu.net (Kapila Ranasinghe) writes:
>Greetings,
>  I am a Buddhist who has been subjected to a couple
>of conversion attempts by some (very dear) Baptist 
>friends ...
>For instance, when God created
>man he obviously had the expectation that man would heed
>his advise.  We all know that the prototype (Adam and
>Eve) themselves malfunctioned.  Now since God is all
>knowing he must have known that this was going to happen.
>Therefore, it seems like that he created the man in a
>form that would sin and therefore get punished.
>What am I missing here?

Hi Kapila!

I have been reading this group for the last few weeks, 
but have never felt compelled to respond until now.  
Also, the following is only my opinion which may not 
be shared by other Christians and heck, when it gets
right down to it, may not even survive close examination
by scholars, but I'm willing to discuss it.

As for your first point about Adam and Eve MALFUNCTIONING. 
(Hmmm. Sounds like your an engineer brother! HaHa)  I would 
ask a simple question.  If you were a creator and you 
wanted to have a satisfying relationship with your creations
would you create robots to do your every bidding?  Perish
the thought!  Can you image how incredibly BORING creation 
would be in that case?  What VALUE would such a creation
have? God created man with a free will so that man could 
interact with God in some meaningful way. Not to be a 
meaningless little bauble.

The next point is the question of a loving God and punishment.  
Again I answer with a question. (I can't help my Lord always 
did too.)  If you had a child who was errant would you 
discipline for the sake discipline or for the sake of 
correction of the errant behaviour?  Of course it is because 
you love the child and want what is best for them.  You would 
recognize that the actions that they had chosen would bring 
unwanted consequences later. Thus, by making the actions that 
are displeasing unpleasant for the child you hope to show the 
child the error.  Additionally, the child certainly has 
cogniative powers and will realize the LOVE behind the 
discipline. Discipline without love is useless and breeds 
contempt from the individual being punished.  Discipline with 
love provides the only hope of truly raising a good child
or species.

Your next question was about God's soviergnty over Satan. 
I will use an analogy and as most analogies are, its holey.
(sorry for the pun) 
Imagine, if you will, a King and His court.  One day a  
knight declares himself equal to the King.  He demands that
he have all the rights and privedges of the King.  Does the 
King accept this outrageous claim?  Of course not! The King 
trys to reach him and return him to the fold.  How could this 
be accomplished? By the knight accepting the Kings rule once 
again.  However, the Knight, through greed, pride, power 
or whatever, is unwilling to accept the rule of the King. Does 
the King destroy the knight to show his absolute power? No, 
the King does not.  Why?  Because the King wants his other
subjects to see the knight and decide for themselves
who is the most fit to be King.  That way the King knows 
truly which subjects are his body, mind, and soule.
I humbly submit, so goes the relationship between Satan 
and the KING.
   
Now the next of your observations that I wish to comment on is
the one about the drive inside a person to use his religion
to become good.  I belive that most Christians would take the
tack that we are created in God's image.  Therefore, the good
that is inside a human being is a mere shadow of God. 

As for your apologies for offending others I say this to you
and all others.  As long as a question is asked in the earnest
pursuit of truth one need not apologize for it.  Those who are
offended by it may, unknowingly believe,  that their position
cannot withstand the scrutiny of doubters.  Imagine how 
threatening it is to have a believe questioned if you have 
not spent the time building a firm foundation for it. There are  
many Christians who don't know why they believe what they
believe.  They have been spoon fed through Sunday school and
have never reasoned for themselves.  To them I say, build a 
foundation.  Then, it will support you and hopefully bring 
others to believe in Christ or Lord.

Derek Nelson