The earthquake in Haiti was not an act of God. Hurricane Katrina was not an act of God. The tsunami in Japan was not an act of God
How do you know? Some people have said they were acts of God. At best you can say the Bible is silent on them.
Kolibri said:
By definition, when God acts, he is not indiscriminate. Miraculous Judgements might use natural forces, but they are not natural disasters; when I am speaking of natural disasters, I am specifically speaking of things that are not directed by God. Perhaps it was a clarity of concept that was missing.
But that's entirely the point - how would you know if a natural disaster were caused by God or not? This strikes me as a very artificial distinction you're making - when God does it they're "judgments using natural forces" - those "forces" include storms, floods, droughts/famines, thunder, lightning, fire, earthquakes - but when God just "permits" it they're "natural disasters." You see how this is problematic, I hope? One man's natural disaster is another man's judgment from God for sin. (See: Westboro Baptist Church)
Kalibri said:
God does not plan everything out in detail. He does not use his ability to see into the future indiscriminately. If he did there would be no free will. Instead the Bible shows he holds back, and he even has hopes that do not get realized.
For the vineyard of Jehovah of armies is the house of Israel;
The men of Judah are the plantation he was fond of.
He kept hoping for justice,
But look! there was injustice;
For righteousness,
But look! a cry of distress.
- Isaiah 5:7
At best you've got a mixed bag:
"From the beginning I [Jehovah] foretell the outcome, And from long ago the things that have not yet been done. I say, ‘My decision will stand, And I will do whatever I please." Isaiah 46:10
"For [Jehovah] looks to the ends of the earth, And he sees everything under the heavens. When he set the force of the wind And measured out the waters, When he made a regulation for the rain And a path for the thunderous storm cloud," Job 28:24-26
"Do you know how the clouds float? These are the wonderful works of the One perfect in knowledge." Job 37:16
"There is not a word on my tongue, But look! O Jehovah, you already know it well." Psalm 139:4
"By this we will know that we originate with the truth, and we will assure our hearts before him regarding whatever our hearts may condemn us in, because God is greater than our hearts and knows all things." 1 John 3:19-20
Kolibri said:
"So there really are 'unexpected events', events that God has not technically caused, but permitted. Though one could argue that by permitting he "caused", he is not the source of all calamities, nor the source of people's stubbornness."
Whether he is the source of ALL calamities is one thing, but again, how do we distinguish the calamity he DID directly cause vs. the calamity he just "permitted?" Heck, there is even a Bible passage that ties all this back to prayer:
"Elijah was a man with feelings like ours, and yet when he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, it did not rain on the land for three years and six months." James 5:17
People's stubbornness is a whole 'nother issue, as again, the Bible says in several places that actually God DOES cause people to be stubborn and not believe.
Kolibri said:
Regarding Job 14:7, Byington also uses "if".
By Byington I assume you mean The Bible in Living English - a very loose "translation" that is more a paraphrase.
Kolibri said:
Children are the responsibility of the parents. If you are a parent, would you want that responsibility taken away from you? As long you are their legal guardian, their future rests in your choices. (De 6:6,7)
I'm not seeing the relevance to our conversation?
Kolibri said:
You are right, that would be a terrible way to guilt trip someone. But you asked how can one solve the conundrum regarding if prayers being heard by God is unfalsifiable. We know the Bible speaks clearly that not all prayers are heard. But how do you convince someone that their prayers are being heard or not heard. The only way to do that is to reason on God's standards for prayer. Just because a star athlete prayed for the gold metal and won it does not mean that God heard or answered that prayer. But the 'believer's heart' can be deceptive and cause him to believe something that is not true. It is a matter of self-deception that can only be fixed going to the written word and reexamining ourselves in relation to it.
The problem, of course, is that "the written word" is subject to one's preconceptions and interpretations. So its usefulness for discerning reality is limited to one's own assurance that a) the Bible is worth listening to in the first place, and b) that one is actually understanding it correctly and applying it one's own life correctly.