Sand Dancer
Crazy Cat Lady
How are we supposed to know if something happens because it is answered prayer or just coincidence? So confusing.
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How are we supposed to know if something happens because it is answered prayer or just coincidence? So confusing.
How are we supposed to know if something happens because it is answered prayer or just coincidence? So confusing.
How are we supposed to know if something happens because it is answered prayer or just coincidence? So confusing.
You're a pantheist, right? That means that you think divinity lies within and without, correct?
So if you prayed, wouldn't such an outcome, by default, be an answered prayer?
In this context I would say no, because the outcome for the pantheist would be a natural outcome regardless of what you prayed for.
How are we supposed to know if something happens because it is answered prayer or just coincidence? So confusing.
You wouldn't. I will try to answer it in a slightly weird way, that might make sense or not. But maybe ask yourself what would define an answered prayer and how we decide whether it were or notow are we supposed to know if something happens because it is answered prayer or just coincidence? So confusing.
In this context I would say no, because the outcome for the pantheist would be a natural outcome regardless of what you prayed for.
I agree, but some people "believe" that they know.Not confusing. We do not know.
We have to stop meeting like this @ NimosYou wouldn't. I will try to answer it in a slightly weird way, that might make sense or not. But maybe ask yourself what would define an answered prayer and how we decide whether it were or not
In a lottery in which you pick 6 numbers from a possible pool of 49 numbers, your chances of winning the jackpot (correctly choosing all 6 numbers drawn) are 1 in 13,983,816. That's 1 shot in almost 14 million.
The odds of becoming a lightning victim in the U.S. in any one year is 1 in 700,000. The odds of being struck in your lifetime is 1 in 3,000.
The annual risk of being killed in a plane crash for the average American is about 1 in 11 million. On that basis, the risk looks pretty small. Compare that, for example, to the annual risk of being killed in a motor vehicle crash for the average American, which is about 1 in 5,000.
So imagine you pray for something and it happens, how would you know that it was not just a coincidence just as the odds are above for the varies things?
Aren't Baha'is supposed to accept the Will of God, whatever that is? So if we prayed, wouldn't the outcome, by default, be an answered prayer, since whatever happens is the Will of God?I thought I would add that my response is in the pantheist context only. The Baha'i view of prayer does not preclude praying for things, but not in self interest.
Aren't Baha'is supposed to accept the Will of God, whatever that is? So if we prayed, wouldn't the outcome, by default, be an answered prayer, since whatever happens is the Will of God?
But can we? If, as Baha'u'llah said in Gleanings (p. 209), "the world and all that is therein is held firmly in the grasp of His Will" doesn't that mean that whatever happens is God's Will? How can we oppose God's Will? Are you saying that we can choose to do what is against God's Will and it is God's Will to allow us to do that?Humans have free will to a degree that they can oppose the will of God.
But can we? If, as Baha'u'llah said in Gleanings (p. 209), "the world and all that is therein is held firmly in the grasp of His Will" doesn't that mean that whatever happens is God's Will? How can we oppose God's Will? Are you saying that we can choose to do what is against God's Will and it is God's Will to allow us to do that?
Okay thanks, that certainly is long article but I will be sure to read it as soon as I have time....True, ultimately, but it is acknowledged in the writings that humans may oppose the Will of God temporally.. The following reference goes into this in detail, but it is a bit long to cite here.
The Bahá’í Philosophy of Human Nature
I think you're supposed to have "faith", which is the cunning theological route to evading this kind of difficult question.How are we supposed to know if something happens because it is answered prayer or just coincidence? So confusing.
Exactly, that have actually been made studies into the effect of prayers.Imo, this comes from their need to believe the All-Loving God is always there answering prayers.
What they completely miss are all the people who say prayers and never get an answer.
The main problem with that is that there has never been a definitive hypothesis agreed by the proponents of this kind of prayer, setting out what actually needs to be done and what effects are predicted. When these experiments don’t work (or are conclusive), the believers can just say “You didn’t do it right” or “You can’t test God”.Exactly, that have actually been made studies into the effect of prayers.
Okay thanks, that certainly is long article but I will be sure to read it as soon as I have time....
I do not want to oppose the Will of God. What concerns me is whether I am "doing" the Will of God or acting according to my own will. I sure wish there was a way I could know that because it would make my life a whole lot easier, since I would simply follow the Will of God, knowing that is in my best interest and what God wants.
Does God want me to retire this year and if so when? How can I know? I can't know because God ain't talking.
And there are many more examples like this one.