foxey quote<<Can you explain to me why righteous people suffer>>..thats not the correct word...but recall the quote from job..made job 32;1...rightious IN HIS OWN EYES...its sort of a key thought

maybe if you read all the rightious quotes in job it will become more clear what rightiousness is...key is job 36;3

we are to make offereings of rightiousness ps 4;5
and it will be rightiousness if deut 6;25...noting as god commanded[not as the moasaic laws later ordained

thw qualoity of rightiousness is a matter of an act being for the right reason...or by quality of being just...there is a plain difference to being rightious to law or being rightous in our dealings with a living loving god...[god is not pleased by 'rightious bl;oodshed for egsample or scape goating...or labeling others sinners

<<and why evil exists in a world that is governed
by an all-powerful God?>>>..god created the world...sustains all life to live...but we should know..via christ refusing this realm..that this realm is not..governed..by the living loving god/good...but is ruled by greed fear,lust,envey,war,hate....greed is good..cant come from god..love neighbour could well have

were god ruling..this realm..then hate would not be possable....

meaning there could be no freewill...sin comes from mens freewill...thus we know for surity this cant be gods realm..its a matter of the beast knowing its masters voice...and..we know those following love...[or hate]..by their works...if the fruit is good the tree is good

god wishes only..that we chose to reject hate..[wishes we freely chose to love...[loving neighbour thus loving honouring good..[god]...gives us life that we learn to tell wheat from tares...

that we cast our seed on good ground...that we dont cast pearl before swine...that in the end../we all earn equal wages...[grace]

live love light logic life logus

Dear Foxy and others,

The Jobian God is a different kettle of fish, ‘all powerful’ maybe but possibly not an ‘all interested’ one. In a different forum I described him as a disinterested Gulliver. ‘Oops, yeah okay, I stepped on another Lilliputian, but what do you expect, I’m busy doing important ’big peoples’ business that you wouldn‘t understand. I can’t be looking everywhere I step.’

To wrestle Foxy’s question about evil can I offer a topical Jobian tale? It is very trite and contains not an iota of poetry, so my apologies to Job but it is the best I can do off the cuff.

Imagine an Afghan tribesman living a quiet but righteous life in an obscure valley in Northern Afghanistan. He is comparatively wealthy and widely respected in his small community for his generosity of spirit. On the occasion of the wedding of his eldest son his large family had come to celebrate and were gathered in this man’s impressive house. He was overcome with the blessings he deemed had been afforded him from his God and so he and his wife slipped away to go to the mosque which was close by to give thanks.

While there a loud explosion was heard but the tribesman, true to his faith, completed his worship ritual. Suddenly one of his wedding guests burst in saying "The fire of God fell from the sky and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"

The tribesman arose, tore his robe and shaved his head. He went and sat among the ashes of his house weeping inconsolably. He was shunned by his neighbours for it was thought he must have been a supporter of the dreaded Taliban which is why he was targeted. The weapons payload obviously carried something poisonous because very quickly his skin became sorely afflicted.

Four of his friends came to sit with him. They implored him to admit his wrongdoing but he told them there was nothing to confess.

Cont.

Cont.

They repeatedly said there must have been some truth in the rumour for why else would the mighty powers have sent such a devastating weapon to punish him. His reply was that he was the one wronged, a claim he repeated to all who would listen. His friends cautioned him that his diatribes would bring further retribution but the tribesman persisted.

One day a scribe came to talk to him. He had heard of this tribesman’s story and spent many hours questioning him. A friend later told the tribesman his story was being told in the capital and in other countries. He however continued to sit in the ashes of his devastated home.

One morning the tribesman looked up into the sky and saw a war machine loom large overhead. While his neighbours ran for safety the tribesman did not move. From this machine of the air came a dozen men. Most were armed and appeared bigger than life to the tribesman. There was another man who carried a case. He came and sat with the tribesman. Through an interpreter he told of his great and powerful nation who fought to bring peace, democracy and prosperity to the world, something he felt the tribesman would come to understand. He also needed to comprehend that this great nation had a responsibility to the world and that sometimes people were forced to make sacrifices for the greater good. The tribesman’s sacrifice had been noted and he expressed his country’s gratitude that the tribesman had not been lured to fight for the enemy as many others had been. He told of being instructed to give him this case which contained more money than the tribesman could hope to earn in twenty lifetimes. He would be able to rebuild his home, marry more wives and have many more children. He asked if there was anything the tribesman wanted to say.

The tribesman paused, then accepted the case and thanked the man.

So where does the evil lie?

oh dear cs..thats so full of error to be absurd...to begin with islamb means to follow gods will...such a bombing would be seen as gods will

to take payback is to under estimate these people so dedicated to god's way/...yes every religion has its black sheep,..but i note it wasn't an israelie..you made dumb and ignorant..so reverse the story into an ignorant isralie..and taste how insulting it really is

if you knew/cared.. more about these people of god..you would know a woman couldnt just slip out to go pray at the mosque,..unprotected by a male from her family..and most likely would pull out her own well worn prayer matt..and just pray facing mecca.

it comes to mind that maybe you should revise the bomb next time to be falling on a house...or maybe instead of a bomb an israerlie bulldozer...or raw sewrage running downhill from a settler camp invaDING WEST BANK farmland after stealing the olive harvest..[and tearing up the 500 year old trees

or maybe naplam from isralie jets spewing phosper onto un schools in the gaza gulags...or dropping cluster/bomblets in childrens playgrounds...seems the choice of a simple araB taking blood money...misses the very point your trying to make..oppertuinist comes to mind..propagandist even

the evil lies in the lies of the fictional situation you created
and in the truth of the correction..of the propaganda,..that is every day reality..for people kicked/tricked out of their own homes/country over 50 years ago...

buy colonising bolchovic/outsiders..stealing others lands because they could,..with the aid of britan/usa and the un..supplied arms and ursury obtained from the goy,..they in reality despise

Dear OUG and csteele,

I'm going to have to re-read all the quotes about
'righteousness,' as you suggested OUG. Thank You.
I'm not sure that I fully understand the direct
relationship between right actions and reward.

Dear csteele,

Thank You for giving me such a detailed example
in modern terms of Job's situation - I guess from
that we can surmise that humanity can question
God's will but we'll never truly understand God's
ultimate design. Just as Job accepts God's judgement
of him - even though he can't understand it.

Perhaps that's why The Book of Job is called one of
the 'Wisdom Books.'

We are nothing compared to God?

Foxy,
Job was a righteous man. He was declared righteous by the Hebrews God YHWH, to the face of all other gods, especially El (opponent - Satanas) of the Earth. The problem is not based in Job's sin see chapter 1: 8, and chapter 42: 8. Sin or righteousness is not the basis of the problems mortal man faces in being human. It is easy for gnostics to attribute disaster to the god / gods of the earth; however to believe in one God places God in the position of controlling both life and death.

Roman Christianity influenced by Zoroastrianism upholds there is a god of the Earth known as the Devil. Monotheism cannot accomodate such a god - as the glorified Christ is said to hold the keys of life and death and ALL things are under him.

Throughout the text, monotheism is recorded in the terrestrial names Aloah, YHWH, Adonai, and El Shaddai. The text is a court drama edited over several milennium eg Ch 28 is an inclusion after 400 BC as it uses the name Adonai meaning Lord that first appeared post the Persian occupation.

Job had abandoned polytheisn to worship one God. His gnostic counsellors accused him of violating the codes of El (the god of the Earth). Compare the post script to the laws of Hammaurabi and the curses it contains.

Monotheism is based in the unity and compatibility of the universe its valence Chemistry and DNA.