If this universe and the life that is found here on Earth was created
and is sustained from the birth and death of stars, plants, and
animals... Has this universe ever been without the pain and suffering
and death that life cycles, food chains, floods, fires, meteor impacts,
etc. require?
If in the end...
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with
the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little
child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will
lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant
will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand
into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy
mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the
waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11)
...why has the beginning been so screwed up before mankind ever appeared
on the earth? Apparently Adam and Eve's choice to disobey God and the
Fall of Man had little to do with bringing pain, suffering, and death on
the earth... natural disasters, predators and prey were included in the
design long before we were around. I can't count the number of times I
was told that the Fall of Man is the cause of why the world is so far
from what God had planned. Apparently this world has never been "full
of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."
And for that matter... God being unchanging in His ways and in who He
is... why design a world and life in it based on the instinct of
self-preservation... "kill or be killed"... when He is all about
self-sacrifice? Turn the other cheek. Love your brother as you love
your self. Lay down your life if you must. If the taking of life, even
animal life, is ultimately wrong.... why would He have incorporated it
into His design?
What I'm looking for here is some continuity in the logic behind what I
find in the Bible and who God says He is compared to what I see of His
creation. Seems to me there is another "agent" involved in the way this
universe works ...and he is very worried about self-preservation.
Questioning some answers,
Ryan