Some (more) thoughts on God and Suffering

[mahf]

My friend recently raised the question of why God let the Israelites suffer in slavery for 400 years before rescuing them. God did tell Abraham basically what would happen, but I don't think that means there were no other reasons. My immediate suggestion would be that the text indicates that the Israelites didn't cry out to God till then, since it

Comments

[shaptastic]

I appreciate your response. I appreciate a different point of view. Similarly, I hope you can appreciate mine. I wouldn't mind your responses to my questions, of which I anticipate asking many

[mahf]

I also appreciate your responses and your questions are good ones, and I admit the answers aren't easy. I'll give my answers, and you can take them for what they're worth

[mothwentbad]

What follows is somewhat random, but they're a few points that have been in my mind for some time and they surfaced while reading this

[mahf]

I know most parents lie to their kids, but I don't think that actually flows from the text. I'm starting to think that when I have kids I'm going to go out of my way to tell them the truth... I actually really appreciated it when I read an essay by this preacher guy (reallivepreacher.com) who, when asked by his oldest daughter if there was a God, answered honestly that he didn't know. He told her what he believed but that at the end of the day no one can definitively answer that question.

I suppose its needless to say, but I do think God displays plenty of faith in people in the biblical text. But this sort of thing always depends on how you look at it.