XPost: alt.atheism, alt.fan.jesus-christ   
   From: OccupiersDumberThanDirt@invalid.net   
      
   Divine retribution is supernatural punishment of a person, a   
   group of people, or everyone by a deity in response to some   
   action. Many cultures have a story about how a deity exacted   
   punishment on previous inhabitants of their land, causing their   
   doom.   
      
   An example of divine retribution is the story found in many   
   cultures about a great flood destroying all of humanity, as   
   described in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Hindu Vedas, or Book of   
   Genesis (6:9-8:22), leaving one principal 'chosen' survivor. In   
   the first example it is Utnapishtim, and in the last example   
   Noah. References in the Qur'an to a man named Nuh who was   
   commanded by God to build an ark also suggest that one man and   
   his followers were saved in a great flood.   
      
   Other examples in Hebrew religious literature include the   
   dispersion of the builders of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-   
   9), the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20-21,   
   19:23-28), and the Ten Plagues visited upon the ancient   
   Egyptians for persecuting the children of Israel (Exodus,   
   Chapters 7-12). Similarly, in Greek mythology, the goddess Hera   
   often became enraged when her husband, Zeus, would impregnate   
   mortal women, and would exact divine retribution on the   
   children born of such affairs. In some versions of the myth,   
   Medusa was turned into her monstrous form as divine retribution   
   for her vanity; in others it was as punishment for being raped   
   by Poseidon.   
      
   In most cases, the Bible refers to be divine retribution as   
   being delayed or "treasured up" to a future time.[1] Sight of   
   God's supernatural works and retribution would mitigate against   
   faith in God's Word.[2]   
      
   Divine retribution is aligned with divine vengeance.[3]   
   Almighty God alone is a just judge.[4] Delayed judgment will   
   eventually become eternally displayed.[5]   
      
   The wrath of God is aligned with God's nature where He loves   
   righteousness and hates wickedness.[6] The wrath of God is   
   closely associated with Divine administration of justice. The   
   wrath of God is commonly contrasted with the love of God.   
      
   Some religions have no concept of divine retribution, or of a   
   god being capable of expressing such low human sentiments as   
   jealousy, vengeance, or wrath. For example, in Deism and   
   Pandeism, the Creator has no need to intervene in our Universe   
   at all, and so exhibits no such behavior. In Pantheism (as   
   reflected in Pandeism as well), God is the Universe and   
   encompasses everything within it, and so has no need for   
   retribution, as all things against which retribution might be   
   taken are simply within God. This view is reflected in some   
   pantheistic or pandeistic forms of Hinduism, as well.   
      
   The concept of divine retribution is resolutely denied in   
   Buddhism. Gautama Buddha did not endorse belief in a creator   
   deity,[7][8] refused to express any views on creation[9] and   
   stated that questions on the origin of the world are worthless.   
   [10][11] The non-adherence[12] to the notion of an omnipotent   
   creator deity or a prime mover is seen by many as a key   
   distinction between Buddhism and other religions.   
      
   But Buddhists do accept the existence of beings in higher   
   realms (see Buddhist cosmology), known as devas, but they, like   
   humans, are said to be suffering in samsara,[13] and are not   
   necessarily wiser than us. The Buddha is often portrayed as a   
   teacher of the gods,[14] and superior to them.[15] Despite this   
   there are believed to be enlightened devas.[16] But since there   
   may also be unenlightened devas, there also may be godlike   
   beings who engage in retributive acts, but if they do so, then   
   they do so out of their own ignorance of a greater truth.   
      
   Despite this nontheism, Buddhism nevertheless fully accepts the   
   theory of karma, which posts punishment-like effects, such as   
   rebirths in realms of torment, as a consequence of wrongful   
   actions. Unlike in most Abrahamic monotheistic religions, these   
   effects are not eternal, though they can last for a very long   
   time. Due to nontheism, these are not punishment as in   
   something imposed by an authority from above, rather they are   
   regarded as a natural consequence of wrongful action.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)