GOD OR NOT?

[DAWNCUROLE]

I have Protestant friends are always contributing when then things go wrong to either the devil trying to stop something or God saying don’t do something. My question is, How do I judge what is of God and what is of the devil and what is just the way things happen.Example,
When the car won’t start before Sunday morning Mass is the devil trying to keep me from that Mass, Does God want me at evening Mass, or did my son just forget to turn off the overhead light and drain the battery?

 

[Marie]

I vote for :

Your son forgot to turn off the overhead light and drained the battery.

Your Protestant friends seem to have to find an excuse for all things. If anything is of the devil it is when people buy into the excuse…the devil made me do it. That is a bit of bad theology at the very least. It takes the onus off the person but does not grow faith and truth nor foster personal responsibility.

People blunder and cause problems. Is the devil involved? Maybe, but the son is the one who did not take the time to turn the light off. God does not allow things to keep you from attending Mass. Satan, may influence your son’s action just so far and in the end it is your son who chose to be careless. He could have chosen not to be careless just as easily.

 

[Charles]

I’m not comfortable with the attitude expressed by your friends either. Yes, the Devil certainly does put trials in front of us, God allows us to be tested (though not beyond our means to resist, the devil can’t make you do anything). And God certainly prefers us to make certain decisions over others. However, I believe the way he almost always tries to direct us away from sin is through the Church. We have the Tradition of our Fathers, given to them by God, to guide us.

The attitude expressed by your friends seems to, as the previous poster stated, try and excuse actions that are still ultimately the free choice of the individual.