Does God interfere?

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NoelFitz

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This is a query about the influence of Providence vs. Free will.

Does God interfere/influence/participate in what happens to people? Do tragic events occur due to free choices of people or does God interfere? Do devils, angels, saints interfere with the course of history, and of our everyday lives?

Are our actions the results of supernatural of preternatural influences or are they the results of our free choices for which we are responsible and hence are judged suitable for heaven or hell?

Again is it a case of the famous Catholic both/and?
 
No God does not interfere. Everyday horrible things happen, disasters, death, but also good things, wonderful things. No matter what religion one does or does not believe you have the free will to do something about it. The dangerous thing happens is when people see these natural disasters or terrorist acts and think they are somehow warnings or punishment from God.
 
In the Bible God’s intervention is present. We are given free will. How much freewill we have I do not know. We do not choose where, when or how we are born. We do not choose our families, our names, or what we may witness. To an extent we do not choose our personality or even religion. If I were born to a Muslim family in Saudi Arabia I would not know Jesus the way I do now.
 
God interferes only within the context of necessity.

If everyone was perfect and did what He said then no He would have no need. However in a fallen world He sometimes has to give a nudge 🙂

People tend to put spiritual apart… but if everyone were to follow God that includes demons…

SO just as a human may come and steal/kill, Demons may interfere. etc
 
NoelFitz said:
This is a query about the influence of Providence vs. Free will.

Does God interfere/influence/participate in what happens to people? Do tragic events occur due to free choices of people or does God interfere? Do devils, angels, saints interfere with the course of history, and of our everyday lives?
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Divine providence consists of the dispositions by which God guides all his creatures with wisdom and love to their ultimate end.
NoelFitz said:
Are our actions the results of supernatural of preternatural influences or are they the results of our free choices for which we are responsible and hence are judged suitable for heaven or hell?

Again is it a case of the famous Catholic both/and?
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. The economy of salvation, God willing and working for my salvation, is God’s work, God’s free gift, and God’s grace in me. Grace is the power of God in me that enables me to express his goodness. My response to this grace within me is a free response. I can choose to negate the effect of grace, and this is sin.
 
O_lly
You seem to say God lets us go to hell. He interferes minimally then shows no interest, turning his back on us.
 
Cratus,
You wrote “How much freewill we have I do not know”. You are honest. Thanks. I also do not know how much my will is free.
 
Strydersroom.
Again you are clear, claiming “God does not interfere”. But you may be wrong, there is a thing called divine providence.

I am reminded of “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge (Mat 10:29 NAB) and
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will” (William Shakespeare, Hamlet).
 
NoelFitz said:
Does God interfere/influence/participate in what happens to people?
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“Interfere,” the term you use most often, carries a negative connotation and implies that the action taken tends to oppose what was already in place. In this sense it is not possible for God to “interfere” in his own divine plan as he would not oppose himself. He does, however, actively participate within his own creation, as most prominently evidenced by the Incarnation.
NoelFitz said:
Do tragic events occur due to free choices of people or does God interfere?
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Many tragic events occur due to the free choices of people (e.g. terrorist attacks), while others, it could be argued, were set in motion by God. I cannot say if God is standing over the universe and is dropping hurricanes and tornadoes down while time progresses or if they are simply the natural result of his work at the moment the universe was created. This distinction may be more semantic than substantive, but God is essentially the source of the “natural” tragic events.
NoelFitz said:
Do devils, angels, saints interfere with the course of history, and of our everyday lives?
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As noted above, only the devils interfere. Angels and saints participate and influence as they understand such actions to be the will of God. All three types of beings, devils, angels and saints, possess free will. The first have chosen to exercise their free will to oppose the will of God, while the latter two are pledged to support it.
NoelFitz said:
Are our actions the results of supernatural of preternatural influences or are they the results of our free choices for which we are responsible and hence are judged suitable for heaven or hell?
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Our free choices can certainly be swayed by any supernatural/preternatural influences that may have been brought to bear, the same as by any “natural” or material influences. No supernatural force has the power to overcome our free will any more than do natural or material forces. Whether individual souls are judged “suitable” for heaven or hell depends on whether they are stained by mortal sin for which they have refused to repent.
 
Matthew, thanks for a great post.
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A preliminary reading impresses me greatly, buy I need ot study and reflect on your reply, before giving a considered response.
 
Divine providence seems to be a state in America.Why should He interfere it His get out of jail card
 
Jinglebelle,
congratulations on your 500 posts.

In your opinion is Divine Providence one of the united States, like the State of Matrimony, or is it a State of Mind?

But still. seriously, my problem remains.

I am trying to resolve it by studying St Paul and Pelagianism.
 
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