Quote Originally Posted by MacG View Post
I read a book awhile ago called "The Singer" It is more a poetic narrative than a novel by Calvin Miller. In it was a line that rang true to me "Would you ever send me to hell?" "No. But if you should choose to I could not stop you."
If that makes sense to you then, if the robber did kill you for refusing to give him your money, his attorney could defend him against a charge of murder by claiming that you chose suicide. I don’t think a jury in the real world would fall for that, do you?

Another part of what makes this so difficult is that scene is so tightly framed that it does not allow other facets such as aforementioned motives. If all there is is what you present without taking anything else into account like a Judge barring evidence because of the poisoned tree doctrine then God and the robber are equals in every way. But you ask us to make a moral judgement without knowing the morality of the players.
I never implied they were equals in every way. I‘m only highlighting the similarities between their methods of operation. In that, they are equal.

Since you are really, really, intent on knowing their hypothetical motives, I’ll provide them for you, although I still maintain that they are irrelevant to the OP.
The robber’s motive is to help his buddy quickly make up the shortfall on his rent in order to avoid an imminent eviction.
God’s motive is what it always is--to get whatever results in his own pleasure and glory.

... This seems like a hobson's choice or a straw man to me.
It isn’t a straw man to you unless I’ve misrepresented your arguments and then argued against those false arguments. I don’t think I’ve done that but, if you think I did, please point it out for me.
It isn’t a Hobson’s choice either because neither the robber or God is telling you “this is your only option; take it or leave it.” They’re saying, “do this or I’ll hurt you.”

Like you said, it is not germane what he has in his gun it is what he made me believe.
Right. I was merely pointing out that the robber may have also “ensured a way out for [you]” as you said God had done.

I had it always heard it as a story, a modern allegory but I wondered if maybe what I had heard was a retold story based in reality. That has not yet turned out to be true but I found this:

http://benbyerly.wordpress.com/2008/...s-womans-fine/ and there are other as well.
Much of the story, at the link you provided, has been edited out. The embedded link, within the article, goes to a site where the item is “Not found.”

How do you know whether he has qualms or not?
The God character in the Bible demonstrates, over and over again, that he has no qualms/misgivings about hurting/killing people when he doesn‘t get his way. It stands to reason, he would send people to hell without compunction.

Interesting read about fic***ious folks who have made their choice.

Ever read 'Mere Christianity'?
No. But, I’ve heard Lewis’ lord, lunatic, or liar argument.

Since we no nothing of the morality of the players it is hard to say.
If your friend has a torture chamber in his basement to be used to punish his children, that should give you a clue about his morality.

If it is just then I am ok with it, if it is not I am not.
Why would you contact the authorities upon finding out your friend built a torture chamber in his basement for the purposes of “punishing” his kids if they don’t respect him as he thinks they should? Isn’t your friend doing virtually the same thing that God does/will do?

You may find my following at***ude appalling. I lost my mom when I was 15 and my Dad when I was 18. By the time I was 18 I had committed my life to Christ. As I thought about it became worried about my parents spiritually - were they in heaven or hell?!! I began to fear for them actually. What if they did not have the chance to make their choice? What if?!! It was not until I settled on God's judgements are just that I realized that they would have had a chance to choose and it is my hope that they are with Him. I have to say that this is a faith/trust thang.
I don’t think you’re a bad person. I just think you’re willfully ignoring your own moral “measuring stick” whenever God “does something” that you‘d condemn if it were done by anyone else.

That was a throw back to an earlier reference I made about giving someone a choice between the two. 'Presumably' the one receiving the instruction would understand the consequences of which they were informed.
I wonder how many children are taken to the hospital each year because they didn’t heed the warnings from their parents about what will happen if they eat something they shouldn’t.

It is interesting to me that you would think that they who were made in God's image were child like in there thinking. What makes you think so?
For one, prior to the ‘event’ A&E were both naked and didn‘t notice. It wasn’t until after the ‘event’ that they realized that they were naked and covered themselves. God even asks them who told them they were naked. Secondly, neither of them knew anything about good and evil before they took that fatal bite. How could they know God would consider their disobedience to be as bad/evil as it turned out to be? This suggests to me that they possessed an innocence similar to that of a child at the time God warned them not to eat from that tree.

As I said earlier, the Robber threatens that which I know and by virtue, threatens my family. God 'threatens' to use your term, to do something in the future life which I cannot see and no threat to my family.
I was only pointing out that the afterlife would be there regardless of when or how you died. What you wrote made it sound like the timing of your death had some significance re the afterlife.