Different in degree or kind; language (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Wednesday, December 24, 2014, 14:05 (3622 days ago) @ dhw

TONY: You seem to expect to be able to just sit down and have a chat, a two way conversation with God, perhaps over tea, where you ask questions directly and he responds directly, in spoken words in your given language. 
> 
> No, I am talking specifically about prayer.
> -I personally think of prayer as a mental letter, more than a direct conversation. I trust the the intended recipient reads it and acts appropriately.-
> TONY: Yet, that is not the end all be all of communication. You would recognize communication in the written word if it were written by anyone else, but you fail to set that same criteria for him. Jehovah (YHWH) is described as "the hearer of prayers". The question then is, how does he answer.
> 
> That is indeed the question. If I address someone directly, yes, I expect an answer. If I consult an instruction manual, I hope to find the answers. I accept the latter as a parallel to your bible but if, for instance, someone prays to God to cure their child of an illness, I would not expect to find the answer in the bible. My guess is that sometimes such prayers are answered, and sometimes they are not. And my next guess would be that the outcome would depend on the nature of the illness rather than the direct response of God. In any case, no matter whether it's thumbs up or down, the faithful can always respond, “It's God's will.”-They could respond that way, but they would be wrong, and it would demonstrate a lack of biblical knowledge on their part. (Ecc 9:11) "I have seen something further under the sun, that the swift do not always win the race, nor do the mighty win the battle,+ nor do the wise always have the food, nor do the intelligent always have the riches,+ nor do those with knowledge always have success,+ because time and unexpected events* overtake them all."-God does not promise (at this time at least, though he does promise to do so at a future date) to cure every ill, rescue every victim, or spare every life from the effects of sin, illness, or "time and unexpected events", or that we would be wealthy, powerful, influential, or anything else. Quite the opposite, actually. We are told that his followers would be hated, reviled, persecuted, and possibly even murdered on his account.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.