God's will

[Dogdoctor]

I am working my way through a book by Micheal Shermer (the Science of Good and Evil) and came across an apparent miss in discussing the use for the phrase 'God's will'. While I assume on this list there is no need to go over the illogic involved in invoking God's will. However I believe Shermer missed an important concept of invoking God's will. That is that it removes the randomness or feelings of being unlucky from random events. Instead of fretting over how unlucky a person was they keep a positive outlook and this allows them to return to function better than a person not blinded by "God's will". So while it does nothing to add to knowledge it does help those who invoke it by diminishing nonproductive or destructive behaviors. I have no scientific proof of this. I base this idea on my experience with religious people.

 

[c4ts]

What, you think think they all want to be Job?

 

[Dogdoctor]

If that was a serious question I am not sure what you mean but if it was a sarcastic remark then I do understand.

 

[Kopji]

I would think that claims to know or understand 'God's will' are simply human attempts to maintain a sense that somewhere, somehow, things are in control.

 

[FreeChile]

Here is a guote form a talk by Ramana Maharshi and one of his devotees on the subject of suffering. In it, he invokes God's will in a similar way to most believers.

D.: Why then is samsara - creation and manifestation as finitised - so
full of sorrow and evil?
M.: God’s will!
D.: Why does God will it so?
M.: It is inscrutable. No motive can be attributed to that Power - no
desire, no end to achieve can be asserted of that one Infinite, Allwise
and All-powerful Being. God is untouched by activities, which
take place in His presence; compare the sun and the world activities.
There is no meaning in attributing responsibility and motive to the
One before it becomes many. But God’s will for the prescribed
course of events is a good solution of the free-will problem (vexata
quaestio). If the mind is restless on account of a sense of the
imperfect and unsatisfactory character of what befalls us or what
is committed or omitted by us, then it is wise to drop the sense of
responsibility and free-will by regarding ourselves as the ordained
instruments of the All-wise and All-powerful, to do and suffer as
He pleases. He carries all burdens and gives us peace.