Psalms 118:1-2, 14-24 NIV

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.”

The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things! The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”

I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done. The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter. I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.

  • surewhynotlem
    11·
    1 year ago

    Sounds like his hesitance doomed us to centuries of war and death due to misinterpretation.

    • Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
      11·
      1 year ago

      Yes, he could always keep us from ourselves and control things so that everything would be peaceful and serene. But that would be a very different human existence.

      • surewhynotlem
        11·
        1 year ago

        Yes. It’s much better to let us fail and burn literally forever and ever and ever.

        • Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
          11·
          1 year ago

          Autonomy be like that. Both God’s and ours.

          Romans 9:19-20

          One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?”

          But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’

          BTW, I appreciate the conversation. Very civil, and you didn’t even downvote me. It’s a breath of fresh air.

          • surewhynotlem
            11·
            1 year ago

            Eh… most religious folks don’t deserve a downvote. It doesn’t help them think clearly about the topic.

            And maybe it’s all true. But if it is, then god is kind of a dick. He didn’t need to make a hell be eternity of torture. He could’ve just had us stop existing. Or an eternity of boredom. Or an eternity of having to make pancakes for kids who won’t stop asking when it’ll be done. Why hell? Why create us to burn?

            I know, you’ll just say it’s a mystery. But it’s not. If god made everything, then he could’ve made anything. It didn’t need to be that.

            • Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
              11·
              1 year ago

              Personally I’m not at all sure dead humans are tormented forever and ever. I think it could be that the fire or place is eternal, or that the Devil and his angels’ torment is eternal, since they are eternal.

              There are a couple of verses that counter that interpretation, like Revelation 14:9-11 or 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, but it certainly seems to me possible that hell is the fire of destruction for humans, the “second death” which equals the end of existence.

              Either way, I don’t make the rules. Whatever things are, they are. Wanting them different or saying they’re unfair or unjust or that God is a dick doesn’t really change anything. It would be like complaining about entropy. It just is.

              • surewhynotlem
                11·
                1 year ago

                It just is.

                By your own word, you don’t know what it is. You’re at best guessing based on interpretation.

                But based on interpretation, it’s just as possible there’s nothing. Eternal life, as promised, might include a brain wipe and then you’re effectively dead.