power topic

[WeilderOfMeteor]

ok this thread is to discous a topic i ask a lot of people to get their opinions just because i'm curious Why do you think God doesn't grant people supernatural powers. well just opinion away.

[Slater]

He does

The Bible calls them "gifts" tho.

[WeilderOfMeteor]

yes i'm very awair of spiritual gifts but think more simple when coming to powers like super human strength, ability to levitate, lazer vision, ect.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

WOOAAAHHH

because like... God was like "if every human had laser vision! Then... the next thing they would want would be coldheat vision! Which to humans is physically impossible!"

....

nevermind

[WeilderOfMeteor]

i'm not saying giving thies abilities to every person just a chosen few.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

okay... well then the few elite people would want MORE superpowers! and they would be hungry for every power! than their stomach would explode because kryptonite randomly appeared

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

There's no reason for God to grant super powers of the type you are talking of. In this fallen world people would only abuse their powers. Also God made us to have a spiritual relationship with Him and if He gave super powers people would have even less of a reason to rely on Jesus for their salvation and for life itself.

When I was young I did want to be able to turn invisible though.

[agasfas]

Well, because we are impure and if many had certain powers we would more then likely mis-use them. I would assume people would start thinking of themselves as equals to God... quite blasphemous indeed. Satan thought himself to be smarter and more clever then his Creator and look where that got him.

Plus, a key role for me in appreciating God and His awesome power is to look up and see how much talent and power it took to make such a world...

[LorentzForce]

A better question is why do we need them anyway.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

to cut things with precision

other than that... bleh laser vision is lame!

(ok i guess im half-joking there... i think)

[Slater]

God gave us the ultimate power... the ability to think, to reason... to utilize technology. Without this, what would our existance be? Not much greater than that of a dog or something...

[cbwing0]

Based on the amount of evil the people have shown themselves to be capable of without superpowers, I think that it is easy to see why God has not given them to us.

Giving only certain people superpowers would also create the problem of dividing people between "normal" and "super." What is to stop the super people from subjugating everyone else? Maybe a few people would use them like comic book superheroes, trying to help others with their powers; but I think that they would be the minority.

[Fsiphskilm]

[quote

[WeilderOfMeteor]

ok i like all you opinions and i agree with all of them but as stubborn as i am i'm going to continue this topic. it's true that people would misuse their powers if they had them but what of some of the biblical deciples. One of them showed super human strength through god by terring off and carring to his house for miles a giant iron ate that had to weigh a few tons. Not to mention another who pulled of a yoda by levitating a axe head from lake. I now them being men of god but still sinfull men why not grant that power to people now adays

[Slater]

Samson's power came straight from his faith in God pretty much. Once he screwed that up, his "superpower" was out the window.

As for the prophets who lost the axehead and had it float, nowhere in the Bible does it say that the prophet made it float. Rather, he simply knew how God was going to take care of the situation and it happened.

[shooraijin]

I think that's a very good contrast to point out. They knew *of* the miracle, because God told them He would do it, but God was the one who actually did it.

[Nate]

At the risk of echoing others in this thread, I will state that there simply isn't a reason why God would grant us these powers. What would be the purpose? There wouldn't be one, really. Everything we need to do as Christians can be done without these superpowers, and giving them to us would merely increase the risk of them being abused.

God could make the sky purple if He wanted. He could make the oceans bright orange. He could make the sun grow a face and put two scoops of raisins into everyone's breakfast cereal.

But, like the superpowers thing, there really isn't any reason for Him to do so, so it isn't done.

[Photosoph]

I agree with a lot of what's been said in this thread.
Also, look at what happened to Samson! He ended up destroying himself. He lusted after a Caananite woman who ultimately got him killed, ate forbidden honey, and ended up blind and a slave. And he was someone who God chose to give amazing strength. I often wish I could fly, or be super-fast, but I this is best kept in the realms of the imagination.
If there were super-powered people, so many new problems would arrive -jealousy, perhaps people trying to wipe 'super-people' off the planet, fear, destruction, etc. In movies, comics, and books it all seems good enough -if you're someone with power. Imagine what it must be like for the poor everyday guy stuck running from the crossfire. Imagine how he must feel -weak and worthless.

[WeilderOfMeteor]

the super strengh person i was reffering to wasn't sampson just for the recored. also i alwas said that god would grant us thies powers for his puposes just as he did with the desipels

[Slater]

He does give us powers... great powers... As Jesus' disciples looked upon His miracles, Jesus told them that those who had faith in Him would be able to do even greater things than what He was doing. It's just that... in today's day and age, people have totally forgotten the power of faith... faith in Jesus and faith in ourselves. People either don't believe that Jesus can use them to do great things, or they have faith that He can do it but not themselves.

[cbwing0]

the super strengh person i was reffering to wasn't sampson just for the recored. also i alwas said that god would grant us thies powers for his puposes just as he did with the desipels

The important point to keep in mind with these examples is that they are very different from the concepts of super powers that we have. These were not abilities that the prophets/disciples/judges in question could use at any time, according to their own needs and whims. They were specific, purposeful manifestations of the power of God.

In contrast, superheroes have complete control over their powers. They can use them for good or evil.

Even the best of us (including the great figures of the Bible) have sinned at one point or another. If any of these people had had superpowers, it would only have magnified the suffering caused by the acts of evil that they committed (even if it was only rarely). If the greatest men and women of faith cannot be trusted with superpowers, how can we think that any of use would be worthy of such trust?

[Slater]

although one must admit... prophets did have a lot of "power" in their day. Either Elijah or Elisha it was who was sitting in the pressence of the king when they were pretty much in the middle of a battlefield and just kinda randomly asked for a harpist of the king and got it. lol

[TurkishMonky]

I agree entirely, but humans do have superpowers, if you think about it:

Strength enough to crush small insects
Vision that can distinguish objects miles away through many gaseous substances
Agility to control fighter jets minutely
Ability to think and create those fighter jets
Artistic functions to create somthing entirely out of your head, out of nowhere
Bodies that replace skin automatically when it gets cut, scraped off, etc.

and, most importantly, the ability to communicate with our creator whenever we want to!

I'm happy with my superpowers.

[Nate]

In response to what frwl said earlier, the Bible does indeed state that "faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains."

And we can do all things through He who strengthens us.

So as TurkishMonky said, we DO have superpowers. Just not superpowers like you see in the comics.

[Cap'n Nick]

The reason we don't have superpowers isn't the potential for abuse. People abuse all of their abilities, yet God still allows us to have them. He even allows some people to have exceptional abilities such as powerful bodies or brilliant minds that are capable of hurting thousands or millions of people, so it's not a matter of equity, either. I think what it boils down to is there are very few spiritual needs that are best served by spectacular self-glorifying violations of common physical knowledge.

[shooraijin]

Interesting point. I suppose when you get right down to it, even the most mundane talent has abuse potential.

[Kaligraphic]

God grants us superpowers in the world to come, and we use them here and now by faith. (See Hebrews 6, where it mentions "And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come") Given that these powers are in the world to come, and that they are active in this world through faith, a large part of the reason why we don't see them is that preachers say that we don't have superpowers. Faith, as the Bible says, comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God, so without the word being spoken there's rather an impediment to faith there.

And, of course, there's the issue that in the media and all, it's the evil types who get superpowers, while the good guys have to use their brains and outwit the villains. You don't see too many characters getting holy powers to heal people, raise the dead, banish demons and all that - not nearly so much as you see people getting dark powers to kill and destroy. Even where people do get their powers from god, it's a twisted god who is either blind, so rule-bound as to be little more than a machine, or either possibly or definitely a villain. Thus, the idea of being given superpowers by a more powerful being puts in people's minds thoughts of being pawns in some giant game, uncertainties about God, and stuff like that.

But as Cyclops from the X-Men shows, having laser vision isn't always a good thing.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

^_^ i like being a superhero!

SUPER REGENERATION POWERS! It'll take about a couple weeks to heal though, mwaha

and mirroring what others said, excellent point TurkishMonkey ^^