“God provides for all of our needs. He is a good father and knows how to take good care of his children. Yet there is famine and suffering. How can this be? Is it that God does not provide? No. It means God’s provision for us is not always what we expect. God cares for our souls, not our stomachs.”
My mouth dropped open when my pastor said this. That is his answer to why God lets poor people starve and sends natural disasters upon them? Because God cares for their souls more than their stomachs?
Christians, you must do better than this if you want to convert anyone with an IQ over 50 in your churches.
Too bad that He doesn’t seem to take care of our souls, either. Starving people tend to concentrate on survival instead of spirituality (although, merely being poor seems to make one more religious), and there are plenty of people whose souls are not taken care of.
And if the Christian God really exists, it’s odd how some of the more extremist Christians seem to be soulless and yet filthy rich. Or is it just me that thinks this?
This is exactly the kind of thinking that made Mother Teresa such a humanitarian disaster area. Check out Christopher Hitchens book, Missionary Position for examples. The one thing Christianity ever had going for it was its charitable work – now even that is a cover for covert evangelism.
Clearly he hasn’t read the promises in Matthew 6:25-34 or maybe he’s conveniently forgetting them. Cherry picking and mental gymnastics are all part of being a good Christian.
I agree Dan, but what else could he say without admitting that god either doesn’t exist or doesn’t care?
My favourite cop-out is when they say, “god always answers prayer… it’s just that sometimes the answer is no”.
@Brian: Well I don’t think there is a better response either — that’s one of the reasons I’m an atheist. But it’s such a pathetic explanation it makes me frustrated.
Of course there’s no good response to it. Frankly this is why atheism makes more sense than theism. If you’re an atheist you know this is a cruel, harsh world to live in, and we only get the one life, so we need to do the best we can with it. Good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people, because that’s just the way things work out sometimes.
But a theist sees all the harshness and cruelty and has to reconcile that with their notion of caring and benevolent gods. So you end up with nonsensical platitudes like “God cares for souls, not stomachs,” and “God works in mysterious ways.” Meanwhile it’s all focused on death. “Good people will be rewarded in the afterlife and bad people will be punished.”
Theodicy is idiocy.
There are christian homeless shelters here in my city that make starving people listen to a sermon before they get their meal. Turns my stomach. (South Park had a great episode about this – missionaries in Africa trying to save the souls of the heathen, and how one little boy tried to escape. Absolutely inspired)
Why just by looking at them you can tell their main concern (besides swiping away pesky flies) is with their soul’s nourishment…well at least while their still conscious.
These priveledged Christian assholes, that have never experienced anything more than nutritional inconvienence (at best), haven’t a clue about the horrors of starvation. Starvation is one of the most painful and miserable ways to die, and beyond a certain point, results in permanent brain damage, especially in children.
This makes me sick to hear someone say this. So far from truth.
I believe in God and wonder why the christian church is so messed up…If I may Daniel I’d like to share my beliefs on what people call the great commission…because most people seem to really be the great confusion. Go to my blog and read “Great commission or great confusion?” – livinginreply.blogspot.com
Last, as a christian, I would personally find more joy and purpose in giving a starving person a meal to eat than telling them about Jesus…because I know that is what it really is all about – helping those who are down.
Yoo – “And if the Christian God really exists, it’s odd how some of the more extremist Christians seem to be soulless and yet filthy rich. Or is it just me that thinks this?”
So true my friend, so true.
We share a similar background. I have also thought it funny that Christians would talk about how awesome god is amongst each other and clap and amen how powerful god is on Sundays but when this power is questioned they, typically, are quick to water down god. They say things like “Oh, well god didn’t mean it that way” or “You are reading it out of context” (as if they somehow know better) or “Well only if it’s god’s will” etc. They have all these excuses on why god doesn’t do what he promises in the Bible he is going to do. My opinion is, if god doesn’t do what he says and when he is questioned his followers water him down, then he is unworthy of worship and does not have the attributes and qualities assigned to him, i.e. omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, etc.
Josh Lanning – I’m glad you are not an ignorant evangelical and you seem to think for yourself (an example on your blog when you discuss why you don’t hate homosexuals) and I am glad for that. Now if you will actually research early Christianity and where the Bible came from and how Judaism was formed. Check out Zoroastrianism… Ezra was a Zoroastrian and I believe Nehemiah was as well.
I think you can steal a loaf of bread, kill your neighbor, and run over your dog. As long as you ask jesus into your heart on your deathbed.
Um, Daniel, you’re presuming they want people with an IQ above 50 sitting in the pews.
I wonder: If I’m starving and I steal a loaf of bread from another starving person to feed my starving kids, do I still run the risk of hell?
Because if so, wouldn’t a god who cared about souls do a reprise of the whole “manna from heaven” business in order to save me from eternal damnnatiion?
But since god planned that I should be starving, the whole mess is his fault anyway.
I find it odd how a guy who cares so much about souls goes to all the trouble of sending them to Earth where, according to the Bible, they a have a 99.99% chance of screwing up and burning for eternity.
The point is that churches often completely miss the meaning of a “soul”. For example, my christian parents beat me as a child when I did something sinful. They said it was ok – it was only my body – doing it to save my soul. What happened to me was complete “poverty of soul”. I became depressed and addicted, partnered with abusive men (big surprise). Now I found out what soul means – it is the balance of wellness in our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual life. It is about balancing our brain chemicals so we are not prone to depression and addictions. It is about enjoying life, loving others without judgment, and seeing the connection among all people. It is about appreciating nature and animals, and working to preserve the health of our beautiful earth. Christians are sadly demented when they separate “soul” from the person. To the detriment of all christians and those who hear them.
Before I start, know that I am a Christian. I’m truly sorry if the only interactions you’ve had with a Christian has been so cruel. Know that all Christians are not like that. They’re called radicals. Also, if my preacher said this during his sermon, I would have walked out. Maybe that’s why I am currently searching for a church. It is true that God’s provisions for us are not always what we expect, but I believe he cares about all of our body, including the soul and stomach. A better example and explanation can be found in the book of Job in the Holy Bible as to why this happens.
The book of Job? You mean the story where God has a bet with Satan and lets Satan kill Job’s family and torture him just to see if Job will still love God? You’re pointing to THAT story as a “better example”?!?
But Daniel, God gives him a whole NEW family. With a prettier wife and better behaved kids and everything. See how much God cares?
Oh yeah, forgot about the “happy” ending — what a kind, loving, generous god!
Daniel and VorJack have the whole “good example” thing pretty well covered above. What I’m confused about is the “good explanation” part. The whole point of the God & Job dialogue towards the end there is that there is no satisfactory explanation that God can give Job, because it involves issues beyond the ken of humans.
Daniel and VorJack have the whole “good example” thing pretty well covered above
We’re a tag team!
The whole point of the God & Job dialogue towards the end there is that there is no satisfactory explanation that God can give Job
That’s my interpretation as well. Job is a response to the Deuteronomic understanding of his time, but it’s not much help in the modern argument over the problem of evil.