Loss
Have you ever read Job?
The idea of God and Satan watching Job. And God and Satan actually Wagering? on Job’s Faith.
Never was there a more perfect Man and Life than what Job had. ANd God was proud of him. Job praised God on the Highest.
Satan tells God no wonder Job loves God and praises him, God has given him everything. A fine Wife, Many Children, a fine house and home, Friends and family that love Job and Job is prosperous.
If he did not have these things, Job would not praise God, Satan Tells God.
So, God grants Satan Leave to do as he will to Job, asking only that Satan does not Harm him.
A very intriguing story. Also one of the sources cited when discussing free will.
It is not God or Satan for that matter that do us harm it is other people that have the free will to make the choice to do us harm.
Anyway I was just wondering if you had read Job.
Kind of unrelatedly, a beautiful young person I know, she was thirty, was shot and killed by her boy friend. The poor kid. She had a hard life. I wish I could have helped her. I wish I knew she was having problems.
My apologies that all my blogs have been dark and somber lately. But all I can do is write about life and try to make sense of it. And life is often dark and somber. And life is a struggle. and there is pain with the smiles.
I cannot offer you a magic remedy for your infinite sadness here Roscoe, nor can I offer you words of solace that would calm your mind in the troubled sea of humanity around you—
I can offer my eyes and heart to read and try to understand the pain of that road you walk upon, and hopefully help shoulder the burden just by the act of the simple humility of reading your words, sir.
😕
I would be interested in hearing more as to how the story of Job relates to the discussion of Free Will versus Determinism.
See, I’m a strict determinist. A theological determinist, at that.
My POV starts with a pretty easy concept to agree with: anything that happens is caused by something previous. Whether it be an apple falling from a tree, your wife passing or a whale eating you, there are some set of circumstances that exist in the empirical, physical world immediately preceding the event you’re trying to explain that lead to that event. Gravity. Cancer. A hungry whale. Whatever it may be.
Furthermore, there is yet another set of circumstances that lead to that preceding set of circumstances…and on and on.
It’s not hard to believe that events have causes. It’s not that much harder to think that any particular set of circumstances can only cause one particular outcome. The physical world is entirely determined.
Now, lets say we are physical beings. Our brains are products of biochemistry. The same laws that apply in the world of physics apply to the world of neurochemistry. Our “free will” is illusionary, the very belief in free will deptermined by our brain’s bio-chemistry.
I think there’s a God piece in the equation too… but I’ll refrain from embellishing on that now.
Life does have some hard knocks, don’t it? Most of us know about those. I suppose the smiles wouldn’t mean as much without them. Yes, because of my unique path I am quite familiar with Job. I am afraid these days I take that allegory as one of those… “So God and Satan walked into a bar”… Jokes. As a probable Deist rather than Theist I think the discussion of “free will” vs “determinism” sets up a false dichotomy? One right answer, pick one from a predetermined menu? It is an interesting exploration but the framing insists on either or, and I am not sure the question does anything but lead to different sects that claim to know the “Will of God” better than the others…. I find it the height of irony that these attempts to better “know the will of God” lead to division.
Just my thoughts.
On a personal level? I send all my good wishes and support. :love:
Hi Roscoe! :love: