In other words, forcing them to learn. 
Whether or not they are edified by their education is another question.
Well that’s just it. God can’t force anyone to learn. He can hope that they do so… Indeed God
“wills that all will be saved”, but apparently some choose otherwise out of their freewill.
And then there’s John 17.
Shall we talk about the relationship of God to time. 
It’s not only what I really think, it’s what some (of the more honest) atheists admit to … atheist philosopher Thomas Nagel, for example:
“I speak from experience, being strongly subject to this fear (that God exists) myself: I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God and, naturally, hope that I’m right in my belief. It’s that I hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God; I don’t want the universe to be like that.”
From The Last Word, 1997
Okay, you cannot force someone to learn, but you can passively coerce and force someone into a ‘learning situation’, the proverbial ‘learning opportunity’.
Most children enjoy learning without coercion, but there is such a thing as mandatory school attendance. Isn’t there some forceful learning happening? I can hypothesize that a kid could be stubborn enough not to learn anything, but really?
Some very foolishly don’t care. Insisting that all do is silly.
The point is, of course you know what you think. How would I know your thoughts better than you? Likewise, when atheist’s say they think that the evidence is weighted against the existence of God, I accept that is not a cover for some other ulterior desire. They may be wrong, but what they really think is their conclusion to draw. Not taking people at their word, and attributing motives, is one reason people get so turned off at Christians.
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Atheists are always looking for some excuse to reject God and to reject Christianity … such excuses serve to reinforce their heart’s desire:
“The fool says in his in heart, ‘There is no God.’”
Psalm 14.1
Hmm … some might say your two comments amount to hypocrisy. But I say, “Nay! Perish the thought!”
Some atheists will come to faith. I’m not referring to those.
No, GOD did not send the Holocaust on the Jews, The Nazis did, and in as far as Christians failed to prevent it, we Christians were also responsible. Allowing something does not make one responsible for it, unless one allows for the wrong reason, which GOD did not.
GOD is not our nursemaid. We need to act like humans and take full responsibility for what we do and do not do. GOD do3e4s not lack the power to prevent evil, but GOD does not create evil. GOD has given us humans the power to make choices and GOD cannot contradict GODSELF just because GOD disagrees with our choices.
GOD allows sin and death because humans cannot be human without them. In this sense they are good, but GOD does not mandate that we sin or dictate how we suffer pain. .
Evil is not a thing. It is a relationship. Evil is hate. Goodness is love. GOD is Love and not hate. GOD is also relational. Death is the result of our limited nature, not because of our sinfulness.
StRoymond,
Please correct your terrible statement that that God is responsible for the Holocaust.…
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We’ve been over this before, and your position was shown to be wrong. Repeating it is not a counter-argument.
The only way to sustain your position is to assert that many atheists are lying, which is not good Christian behavior.
What about Job? God allowed Satan to afflict Job with disease, the death of his family and the loss of all his possessions.
What about the ten plagues God cursed Egypt with? Sounds like a clear case of God orchestrating disease and affliction on people.
God punished Israel with 70 years of captivity in Babylon. Isn’t that “orchestrating … affliction”?
God afflicted Jezebel with illness (Rev 2:20).
God drowned the entire Egyption army in the Red Sea, instructed Israel to kill every Canaanite who lived in the Promised Land and struck dead Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). If God sees fit to kill people, then surely God sees fit to visit less serious fates on people, such as illness and affliction.
God not only “hardened” the heart of Pharaoh, Romans 9:17-18 implies that God raised Pharaoh up, just to bring him down and that God “hardens the heart of whomever he wills.” And no consent involved.
2Thess 2 says God will send “a strong spirit of delusion” to “those who are to perish” in order to “make them believe what is false”. And there’s nothing in that passage about “consent”.
I believe God tests the faith of every believer with some kind of suffering (1 Peter 1:7-9, James1:2-3) … without their knowledge or consent … for if you know it’s a test, it’s not much of a test.
I also believe that God will send suffering your way if he thinks you will benefit from that suffering … again, without your knowledge of consent.
You know what’s best for me, Lord, so by all means, please send me a benefit … you don’t need my knowledge or permission!
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Scripture?
Not you as well!
You need to distinguish between biblical viewpoint and reality.
Richard
“they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false”
2Thess 2:10-11
Sorry, bro!
Scripture (“biblical viewpoint”) is reality; it tells us a lot about how God operates viz-a-viz suffering.
Well, again, “passive coercion” is just an illogical term to me. I wouldn’t call giving someone free will to refuse God “coercion”. It is simply allowing them to experience the inevitable consequences of reality.
Or more precisely, Satan inspired the Nazis to commit the Holocaust, in an attempt to prevent the fulfilment of prophesy … the prophesy that says the Jews must return to their homeland (Israel) before Christ returns.
If the Nazis killed all the Jews (they managed to kill a third of the world’s Jews), the prophesy would not be fulfilled, thus preventing the return of Christ. Satan and his demons are desperate to prevent Christ’s return, for it means their eternal damnation (Rev 20).
But the Lord ensued that the demonic plan to prevent the fulfilment of prophesy backfired severely, for it hastened the re-birth of Israel (1948) … exactly what Satan hoped the Holocaust would prevent.