The answer to this question would depend on who you asked. From the general Christian perspective, if you were baptized when you DID NOT believe, you should - in obedience - get baptized again. This includes infant-baptism, or if you feel that you were too young to truly dedicate your life to Christ.
If you were baptized Catholic when you had given your life fully to Christ, there is no need to be baptized again; baptism is a symbol of being crucified and resurrected with Christ. You only need to die and be raised once.
If you were once Catholic, but are now interested in a different denomination, I would say that it all depends if you think you were a true believer in Christ at the time of baptism. The Roman Catholic church is certainly Christian and therefore fully-able to provide a righteous God-sanctioned baptism.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
If God is real, why does He make children suffer?
The issue of this question is an issue of perspective; God clearly does not view life and death the same way that we do. We view issues of human suffering from a very temporal, in-the-moment way. This comes naturally because we are IN the scene... We cannot see the big picture.
As an example, if a child is suffering in this life, but goes on to receive eternal life and live with God forever, is this really "unfair"? Compared to eternity, our life is infinitely smaller than the blink of an eye. We need to keep perspective in mind when talking about these things... God knows what He is doing! We need to remember that He loves us and DOES care about us deeply... The fact that human beings are capable of enjoying eternal life with God is enough to right all of the wrongs and injustices done by mankind.
As an example, if a child is suffering in this life, but goes on to receive eternal life and live with God forever, is this really "unfair"? Compared to eternity, our life is infinitely smaller than the blink of an eye. We need to keep perspective in mind when talking about these things... God knows what He is doing! We need to remember that He loves us and DOES care about us deeply... The fact that human beings are capable of enjoying eternal life with God is enough to right all of the wrongs and injustices done by mankind.
If God is all knowing why does he create murderers?
God is all-knowing, so doesn't this mean that he knows which people will turn out to be murderers? How do we justify this?
We need to remember that although God is omnipotent (all-powerful), He decided to create human beings with a volition independent of His own. This means that we are entirely free to make our own decisions to either obey God, or obey our own desires. God always gives us a chance, and if you mess it up, it is not the Creator's fault.
The issue of Free-will must be held in a balance with God's ultimate sovereignty. God is ultimately in control of everything in the universe, but He appears to give us quite a bit of room in our own personal decisions. We know that man does indeed have choices, but we also know that God is somehow orchestrating everything to work out for the better.
We need to remember that although God is omnipotent (all-powerful), He decided to create human beings with a volition independent of His own. This means that we are entirely free to make our own decisions to either obey God, or obey our own desires. God always gives us a chance, and if you mess it up, it is not the Creator's fault.
The issue of Free-will must be held in a balance with God's ultimate sovereignty. God is ultimately in control of everything in the universe, but He appears to give us quite a bit of room in our own personal decisions. We know that man does indeed have choices, but we also know that God is somehow orchestrating everything to work out for the better.
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