Questions
Last week I was asked to visit Year 6 at the school, because they had some questions to ask me as vicar. I don't know what they thought of my answers, but I really enjoyed the 40 minutes or so I had with them. Their questions were very profound! Here are some, and my answers as far as I can remember:
1) If there is a God why do bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people? Why was Hitler put on the earth?
Bad things are usually good things that have gone wrong. Hitler wasn't a bad baby, and when he was at school he probably wasn't any worse than you! But he chose to do bad things. God wants us to be free to choose; he does not want to force us to love him or obey him. But that means we are free to choose bad things, and bad things are bound to happen. When bad things happen, the big question is how do we react? We can either be defeated by evil, or overcome evil. God wants us to win. Jesus was the Son of God. Very bad things happened to him - he was crucified. But good came of that: his death made it possible for us to be friends with God.
2) Who was right - Charles Darwin or God?
I studied science at university, and I don't have a problem with it. I believe God made the world we live in. He could have made it all at once, or slowly through evolution. I don't think the Bible is trying to tell us what we would see if we had a video recording of the beginning of the world. It is telling us that God made us, that we're not here by accident, and that we are very important to him. God made us with brains, and he wants us to use them to discover the truth about the world he made. He wants scientists like Charles Darwin to look for answers to scientific questions. I believe God invented Charles Darwin.
3) What proof is there that there is a real God?
We can only prove things by mathematical argument or scientific experiment. We can't prove answers to the big questions in life, like does my wife love me, or what happened in the past. We can only go by the evidence. I believe in God mainly because of the evidence of Jesus Christ's life, death and resurrection. It seems to me that the evidence is so strong that it must have happened, and if it did, then the only explanation is that Jesus was right and there is a God who is loving as well as powerful.
4) Is God male or female?
No. (I did expand this answer!)
There were many more questions....!
1) If there is a God why do bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people? Why was Hitler put on the earth?
Bad things are usually good things that have gone wrong. Hitler wasn't a bad baby, and when he was at school he probably wasn't any worse than you! But he chose to do bad things. God wants us to be free to choose; he does not want to force us to love him or obey him. But that means we are free to choose bad things, and bad things are bound to happen. When bad things happen, the big question is how do we react? We can either be defeated by evil, or overcome evil. God wants us to win. Jesus was the Son of God. Very bad things happened to him - he was crucified. But good came of that: his death made it possible for us to be friends with God.
2) Who was right - Charles Darwin or God?
I studied science at university, and I don't have a problem with it. I believe God made the world we live in. He could have made it all at once, or slowly through evolution. I don't think the Bible is trying to tell us what we would see if we had a video recording of the beginning of the world. It is telling us that God made us, that we're not here by accident, and that we are very important to him. God made us with brains, and he wants us to use them to discover the truth about the world he made. He wants scientists like Charles Darwin to look for answers to scientific questions. I believe God invented Charles Darwin.
3) What proof is there that there is a real God?
We can only prove things by mathematical argument or scientific experiment. We can't prove answers to the big questions in life, like does my wife love me, or what happened in the past. We can only go by the evidence. I believe in God mainly because of the evidence of Jesus Christ's life, death and resurrection. It seems to me that the evidence is so strong that it must have happened, and if it did, then the only explanation is that Jesus was right and there is a God who is loving as well as powerful.
4) Is God male or female?
No. (I did expand this answer!)
There were many more questions....!
posted by Tim @ 15:19
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