What about the free will of the 6 million that were murdered? Was it God's will that they perish in a most heinous way to fulfill prophecy? Did those that were murdered petition the lord with prayer for a different fate? What about their free will?
Many Jews saw the signs and used their free will to get out of Germany, however, the exercise of free will doesn't guarantee an outcome. As for prayer, a person's free will is not denied if they don't get the answer they want. A parent not letting their young child play with power tools doesn't deny that child their free will, only their free action.
As for this notion of murder, all lives belong to God and He sets the number of each person's days. By the definition of some on this thread, God setting the number of a person's days is murder. If so, that leads to the absurd notion that God has murdered everyone. You can't judge God's actions as if He were a man.
Originally Posted by carbon12
For who is Biblical prophecy for anyway? If for Man, couldn't a merciful God do something else to achieve the same effect with a lot less mayhem?
Fulfillment of Biblical prophecy demonstrates the authenticity of scripture being the word of God. The fulfillment of many OT prophecies by Jesus demonstrates His authenticity as the Christ. "And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts," -- 2 Peter 1:19
As for God doing "something else to achieve the same effect with a lot less mayhem", the answer is no. There is a perfectly coherent explanation for the mayhem, but you would have to apply your God given brain to long hours of study. What are the odds of that?
All that verbiage and it boils down to this:
MacLorry argues that Hitler�s murder of 6 million people was a God mediated plan. The days of the murdered were already numbered. The murders were sanctioned by God from the beginning of the beginning.
If this is the case, shouldn�t Hitler get a free pass? Why should Hitler bear any responsibility for the Holocaust? Hitler was but an actor in a series of inevitable events for the recreation of Israel as Biblical prophesy demands.
Nazi apologist comes to mind.
MacLorry�s version of Man�s relationship to God resembles a liberal political philosophy.
Why should there be personal responsibility when a higher power is in charge?
It's funny how you've gone into broadcast mode rather than addressing me in the first person. Maybe there's something to it, so I'll give it a try and see.
carbon12 argues spiritual questions like free will and destiny, but has an obvious lack of biblical knowledge and understanding. If that were not the case he would have realized that the Apostle Paul rhetorically posed and answered the vary question about someone getting a free pass if their actions were part of God's plan. If carbon12 were sincerely interested in gaining such understanding he would only have to read the Bible.
carbon12 greatly underestimates the wisdom, power, and love of God. Little does he realize that he too is part of God's plan. Specifically, God's plan is that the world through its wisdom cannot come to know God. To accomplish that God created the world in such as way that the intellectually proud would be fooled into thinking they found some natural mechanism that explains creation.
On the last day carbon12 and others will ask why they don't get a free pass being it was God's plan to set aside the wisdom of man by sending them on a wild goose chase. God may tell them "I gave you free will and it was My hope that you would use it to humble yourself and simply accept the Gospel message on faith. It's the one thing every person can do, so you are without excuse." Even Hitler could have turned from his ways and been saved in the end, such is the power of what Jesus did on the cross.
