69 million page views

To Ken Besig

Reader comment on item: Did Divine Intervention Fell Ariel Sharon?
in response to reader comment: For a religious Jew, every act and event is by the Hand of God

Submitted by Abijah (United States), Jan 5, 2008 at 13:11

Your point of view comes dangerously close to fatalism. While i agree that everything, without exception, that happens must pass before God first, God does not change and He reveals His plans to His friends. As He did to Abraham, so He does today. Abraham was a great man because He believed God; he took God at his word before circumcision and before the Law was given. But Abraham was a just a man like you or i am, aside from God's promises. He was called a "friend" of God and God said, "Shall I keep from Abraham the thing I am about to do?"

God loves each of his children, Jew and non-Jew with an unqualified and total love that can't be comprehended. Every man has the potential to be as great as Abraham and a friend of God by taking God at His word. God is not the impediment to such a friendship: it is our individual decision and choice to hold God at what we deem a comfortable distance choosing a measure of autonomy over loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, strength, and our neighbor as ourself.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Comment on this item

Mark my comment as a response to To Ken Besig by Abijah

Email me if someone replies to my comment

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

See recent outstanding comments.

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2023 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)