God Is An All Loving By Michael J. Murray And Kurt Myers

Theists, people who believe in the existence of God, often are required to pray to God in order to obtain certain benefits and provisions. It is believed that these things wouldn’t come to God’s believers unless they take the role as a petitioner and pray. These believers know God to be an all-loving being. However, if this is the case, a major problem arises for both atheists and theists alike; â€Å"Why would God bestow the good only if asked to bestow it† and â€Å"Why does God not grant the good irrespective of whether some person ask for it?† Michael J. Murray and Kurt Myers attempt at answer these questions in support of theism through â€Å"Ask and I Will Be Given to You.† Although they do a great job showing the benefits that arise from the use†¦show more content†¦They do this through a peculiar example of a very dirty child who obviously has not had a bath in a while. When a teacher speculates why this child is so dirty they are s urprised to find out it is because the parents will not give their children anything unless the children directly ask for it. So, unless the child asks for a bath, they will never receive one. Why do the parents, our in our case God, require requests for certain benefits? Murray and Meyers explain that there are two major reasons as to why petitionary prayer is required. Firstly, they explain that there is good that comes from petitionary prayer that would not come about otherwise. Secondly, they explain that there is harm that would come about without petitionary prayer that is worse then any harm caused by it. Firstly, Murray and Meyers proposed that there are some serious benefits that come as results of petitionary prayer that couldn’t come about any other way. The first positive effect discussed in this article is that petitionary prayer keeps the petitioner from worshipping idols. This is because, even if the petitioner’s needs, such as the need for food, could be met by sources other than God, such as a grocery store, God still is the ultimate provider. This is true given that God created the foods that the grocery store provides. Therefore, the petitioner cannot look solely at nature and other resources of provisions as their providers, but at God. Secondly, petitionary prayer allows