Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Things I didn't know ...

or hadn't thought about.

It doesn't actually say in the Bible that there were three Magi. It mentions the three gifts but that's it. I didn't know that.

Because they were following a star, the Magi would have had to travel at night. I hadn't thought about that.

Having detailed my lack of brain power, I'll move on.

What it does say is that Herod killed all the babies, under the age of two, in Bethlehem. Blossom said it's going to be one of the things he asks God about. Why was that necessary? We know why Herod did it but why did God allow it to be part of the plan?

Of course, the obvious 'christian' answers came up: it just was part of the plan; God works on a different time scale; and God can bring good out of bad. I wonder if the parents of the babies understood that.

About ten years ago, on Christmas Eve, my friend died. She was a young mother of 4 boys. I have seen no good come out of that.
'Ah, well, God's time scale ...'
Please don't give me that.

I can accept it; I can accept there are things my titchy brain will never grasp. I still believe. But I don't understand and I don't like it. And I won't pretend to.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I never saw the slaughter of the children as part of God's plan, just the ugly response of an evil dictatorship. If it was part of God's plan then I'd have to really think hard about whether I wanted to follow him.

Anonymous said...

i dont know how to respond my heart says it was gods plan but why kill so meany inoccents but we deal with death every day and they would have gone to god its hard when we lose some one close to us we blame god but some times its just time for them to go to be with god. the storie of the wise men is very desterbing in that fact all i can say for sure is that god loves us all ............

Anonymous said...

I've heard it speculated that Jesus was actually three years old by the time the magi got to him.

Anonymous said...

You've listed just a few of the reasons why I wonder. Sometimes it's difficult for me to accept God's will without questioning. As for understanding, I don't either. Maybe we're never really supposed to figure it out.

Anonymous said...

I cope by believing God's will and Human Freewill are two different things.

Anonymous said...

In the original (both Greek and Hebrew) it also says 'young woman'. The 'Virgin' bit was a mistranslation.

Still, the Bible also claims PI=3, you just can't trust it, you know ;-)

Liz Hinds said...

Jon, I think of it more as God allowing evil to happen - as He does every day - rather than him sitting down and writing it into his scheme. Although he knew what would happen and presumably could have arranged it differently! Cor, it's a mystery. As Eifion says, all we know for sure is that God loves us.

Roxan, it is very likely that it could have been some time after the birth that the Magi arrived. The fact that Herod used a two year period as his rule suggests he had information from the magi, about when they saw the star, how long they were travelling etc. And the bible says they visited the mother and child - rather than baby - and in a house - rather than stable.

Elsie, I made the decision a long time ago to simply believe. I often have questions and doubts and it is only my - some would say 'blind' - faith that keeps me hanging in there. Wondering is fine!

Indeed, Shirl, it is our free will that makes us human. And so troublesome!

Stu, no-one is ever won over by argument. Not to faith. And anyway, everyone knows the answer is 42.

Anna said...

I would think God was crying his eyes out when Herod did that, and probably regretting his decision to give people free will.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

The suffering and killing of innocents is one of the great barriers to faith. Me, I just don't know... But isn't that what faith is, accepting that some things can't be explained?

Liz Hinds said...

Indeed, welshcakes, that is what faith is.

And, yes, Anna, I'm sure God was crying his eyes out. You have such a wise way of viewing God.

Oh, for goodness' sake, I can't even make out those letters!

Anonymous said...

I see it that God respected Adam's choice to take his own path and as the Garden of Eden was Adam's then God left him to it.
But He can be moved, by the prayer of His people.

I too believe God spends His time weeping for the pain we inflict on each other.