Did God send this virus into the world

[Dan1988]

God still loves us sinners.. us filthy rags of bones.. He loved us so much that He sent His son to die for us even before we had accepted Him.


God does love the whole world.. He killed all but 8 because they had rejected Him. Noah preached for 100 years as he built the ark... nobody listened... All flesh was corrupt.. all thoughts were evil all the time.

That's why He killed them all off.

God set it up so that every single human soul has the chance to be redeemed and get pardoned through His Son and have eternal life...

It is simply the choice people make that determines their eternal placement... It's of no fault of God.

God isn't saying that He doesn't want you in heaven..People are saying that they don't want to be in heaven and God is granting them their desire.

What kind of God would put a soul in heaven if it didn't want to be there?

Just wondering what your view is about Gods hatred towards some and love towards others.
There are many passages in the Bible, where it speaks of His hatred towards individuals and entire ethnic groups.
God said, He hated Esau and He also said He hated the Nicolodians. He also commanded His people to kill entire ethnic groups, including all of their children and animals. That doesn't sound like a God who loves everyone, just as they are.
My understanding is, He loves all of those in Christ and those whom He has chosen to join the body at a later time. He chooses people before they're even born.
To say that God loves everyone unconditionally, just as they are is not supported by Gods Word as we have it in the Holy Scriptures.

 

[Dan1988]

I respect your view.. However, we have different views of this.

I think God was well aware that the virus would arise.. I don't think He caused it... I don't think He made it and released it..

I think it is His will that it runs it's course... He allowed it..

As we know, the Church is divided into two camps on the question of God's sovereignty.
I believe that God is sovereign over all things, and that He preordained all things that come to pass.
There are just too many passages of scripture that affirm this, for me to ignore them or gloss over them.
If man determines his destiny, then God is not sovereign and He doesn't have full control of His creation. It would also mean that He's not all mighty and not all powerful.
I used to be of the view, that God created everything and just sat back and let it all unravel randomly. But after some years of Bible study, I found that this view didn't line up with scripture.

 

[dms1972]

How do we answer unbelievers who ask Christians, why our loving God would (allow or send) this microscopic enemy to reek such devastating havoc on the world.

There's a lot of disagreement among professing Christians on, whether God sent this virus or whether it was manufactured in a lab and sent out to be used as a weapon of war. Or whether it's neither of those and it's just a random quirk of nature.

I'm not claiming to know the exact origin, but I do believe that God is sovereign over all of His creation. And nothing happens apart from His predetermined will.

So even if it was created by someone will evil intentions, God still uses evil to accomplish His good purpose. I found this very hard to accept, until I realized that I was trying to conform God to my own image.

I can't think of the Bible passages right now, which say that God has only revealed a very limited amount about Himself to us at this time. But He will reveal a lot more in eternity so as hard as it is, we just have to keep trusting in Him.

God is Holy first of all, and his holiness informs every other attribute including his love. The Bible tells God is sovereign over events in this world, nothing will ultimately thwart his purposes. He can use events like this to His glory, just as he used the death of Lazarus.

What matters is our soul and that we are rightly related to God through Jesus Christ.

I believe its not inconsistent for God to use a disease as an instrument of discipline or judgement and on the same time in Providence provide medical care also.

We are enjoined to pray for this time of sickness to end. The Book of Common prayer has this prayer also:

O ALMIGHTY God, who in thy wrath didst send a plague upon thine own people in the wilderness, for their obstinate rebellion against Moses and Aaron; and also, in the time of king David, didst slay with the plague of pestilence threescore and ten thousand, and yet, remembering thy mercy, didst save the rest: Have pity upon us miserable sinners, who now are visited with great sickness and mortality; that, like as thou didst then accept of an atonement, and didst command the destroying angel to cease from punishing, so it may now please thee to withdraw from us this plague and grievous sickness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.​

There are things humans can do to be better prepared for this sort of eventuality, as we are seeing with South Korea.

Many of the dead are over 70, threescore and ten is said in the Bible to be mans allotted time on Earth (see Psalm 90)

The Media coverage sometimes distorts the reality.

Facts about Covid-19

On Corona, the Media, and Propaganda

Until we have randomised tests done how do we put the deaths in context, of the real spread of the virus.

Francis Schaeffer has a good section on this in one of his books and in particular in reference to Camus's La Peste (The Plague). I don't have the book at hand at this moment, but I think its in The God Who Is There.

 

[Dave L]

Sin = death.. at the end of your life on earth.. an eternal death.. Born once... die twice. Born twice... die once....

Sin doesn't cause one to get sick... Sin in this world broke it.. now sickness, disease, sadness and pain exist in this world.

Are the wages of sin death? Did God create the plagues means of existing in history? Have you read Romans 1 that tells us what to expect when sin takes over? Revelation with wars, famine, pestilence (plagues) and such sent by God on the world?

 

[Dave L]

Asking an epic question like "Did God create evil" is way beyond.. "Did God send COVID-19 to earth"?

Why doesn't God prevent it if he is all-powerful?

 

[Dave L]

Yes, these were all part of life on earth due to the sin that was brought into it by Adam and Eve. The flood ended up with all thoughts evil constantly and all flesh corrupted. All due to sin.

God could of just let it go until there wasn't even 8 people.. in fact none.. Then the end would have came.
The Canaanites were genetic remnants of the Nephilim. They worshiped idols and were not of God.

Aids happened due to improper work or actions between man and monkey's did it not? It was spread by homosexuality... It wasn't a punishment for homosexuality but it was spread by it.

Is homosexuality sin according to the bible?

 

[Dave L]

I understand that.. it was you asking why pray "if God isn't behind everything good or bad"?

Prayer places us in the position of receiving from God. He causes us to pray and then receive.

 

[Dave L]

Really? I know some really bad dudes and they are jacked and healthy as a horse... I also know some solid Christian people that suffer from fribro, asthma, crohn's, diabetes, heart disease, migraines, mental illnesses, lyme disease and many other illnesses and states of poor health..

Sorry, your theory falls flat.

They all get weak and die.

 

[Dave L]

The OT and Revelation are two very unique times in history.. I already stated that God used to punish the Hebrews... In revelation... which is mostly after the end of the days of grace.. times will be different again.

Revelation is world history viewed from the new heavens and earth back to Jesus' birth and more.

 

[Dave L]

An answer at last. So God planned to have all those people die when the Titanic sank. I presume that you think He also planned for all the deaths on 9-11 and in the current pandemic.

Very sad.

I don’t believe that God makes mistakes, but I also don’t believe that he causes disasters and pandemics. I think He was saddened when the Titanic sank, but He was there when the passengers knelt on the desk and offered prayers and when the band played Nearer My God to Thee. I believe that He was with the people trapped in the towers and with the firefighters who tried to rescue them on 9-11. I think He is with the people who have the virus today. Their families might not be in the hospitals with them, but God is.

It's true, not even a sparrow drops dead without God. All have a date with death at a precise time through a precise means.

 

[Dave L]

You cause things every day. Every action has a reaction.
Does God cause some people to have same sex attraction, for example? Does God cause murderers to kill for pleasure?
We are all under a lot of various influences.
We choose which ones to listen to, and our actions cause others to react according to what they choose.

Now on to viruses:
They contain DNA or RNA that are found in all living things. This is packaged in a protein coat. Despite this, viruses are not usually considered living because they are not made up of cells and cannot reproduce by themselves.
Viruses vary considerably in their ability to cause disease. Many known viruses are not associated with disease at all.
Given our current knowledge of viruses, it is quite reasonable to believe that disease-causing viruses are descended from viruses that were once not harmful. It has been suggested that they have played an important role in maintaining life on Earth—somewhat similar to the way bacteria do.

The creation model predicts that degenerative changes can occur because mankind sinned and brought death into the world (Genesis 3)
It also predicts that adaptive changes could occur because God cares for His creation and intends for the earth to be inhabited.

This all gets quite complex, if you have studied anything about the genome, and so, on, but basically, the question at hand is whether illness and sin are connected. The New Testament rejects this (St. John 9:3).

I stand by my original analysis: a sickness causing virus is a corruption of something God created originally to be good.

Every choice you make is a reaction to a reason God used to control your free choices. You produce nothing he didn't plan.

 

[Archivist]

It's true, not even a sparrow drops dead without God. All have a date with death at a precise time through a precise means.

God knows what is going to happen. That doesn’t mean that God sends disasters and pandemics to kill people. The Titanic, 9-11 and the current virus are the doings of man not God.

 

[JacksBratt]

Just wondering what your view is about Gods hatred towards some and love towards others.
There are many passages in the Bible, where it speaks of His hatred towards individuals and entire ethnic groups.
God said, He hated Esau and He also said He hated the Nicolodians. He also commanded His people to kill entire ethnic groups, including all of their children and animals. That doesn't sound like a God who loves everyone, just as they are.
My understanding is, He loves all of those in Christ and those whom He has chosen to join the body at a later time. He chooses people before they're even born.
To say that God loves everyone unconditionally, just as they are is not supported by Gods Word as we have it in the Holy Scriptures.

God's hatred is righteous. It is always based on the actions and hearts of those He has been stated to hate. They are already opposed to Him and His ways.
To understand why God asked to have entire tribes and people and animals killed... you have to look into who they were and what they were doing. God was preparing a nation, Israel, to bring our savior into the world. The Hebrew nation needed to be pure in it's generations and the people that He asked them to wipe out would have corrupted the Hebrew nation. Look at Haman... this is a good place to start when you want to see what happens when a tiny thread is left for Satan to pull on.. He almost succeeded in wiping out the people of Israel

 

[JacksBratt]

God knows what is going to happen. That doesn’t mean that God sends disasters and pandemics to kill people. The Titanic, 9-11 and the current virus are the doings of man not God.

Agreed.

 

[ZNP]

Why doesn't God prevent it if he is all-powerful?

This is the question of evil, it is certainly relevant to this thread but will completely derail the thread if we address it. I suggest you start a new thread, just for Christians (atheists will be drawn to this thread like flies to honey and make it very unpleasant to have a biblical discussion). If you do that I think it would be a very interesting thread.

I have created a thread to answer this question "How could God allow this?"

 

[renniks]

Every choice you make is a reaction to a reason God used to control your free choices. You produce nothing he didn't plan.

Where does scripture say this?

 

[renniks]

This is the question of evil, it is certainly relevant to this thread but will completely derail the thread if we address it. I suggest you start a new thread, just for Christians (atheists will be drawn to this thread like flies to honey and make it very unpleasant to have a biblical discussion). If you do that I think it would be a very interesting thread.

The question should be why does God pour so many blessings out on us, not why does he allow evil to exist.

 

[Dave L]

Where does scripture say this?

Have you ever made a choice for no reason at all?

 

[Dave L]

This is the question of evil, it is certainly relevant to this thread but will completely derail the thread if we address it. I suggest you start a new thread, just for Christians (atheists will be drawn to this thread like flies to honey and make it very unpleasant to have a biblical discussion). If you do that I think it would be a very interesting thread.

Is this because you will shoot your own foot if you answer it?

 

[ZNP]

The question should be why does God pour so many blessings out on us, not why does he allow evil to exist.

The "problem of evil" is a logical argument created by Atheists to deny God exists (you can google it, there is a wikipedia page for it). I highly doubt they would phrase their question the way you have.

However, I have created a thread "How could God allow this?" to address this question. It is for Christians only in the apologetics forum.