From Newsgroup: alt.bible
On Tue, 30 Sep 2025 02:24:07 +1000, Kitten <kitten@localhost> wrote:
Many Christians love to push out cliches! Here is a list of them: https://christiancliches.com .
***01: God will provide: This one can be well-meaning or can function
as a type of convenient dismissal of the person's needs (especially
financial). Basically, it's like saying "I don't want to give you any
money, it's God's problem not mine". Not very helpful! There is
actually no rule that God will necessarily provide anything. Even
Christians can, and do, live and die on the streets, in abject
poverty.
The Bible doesn't claim to protect you from anything bad, right now.
But that will become a reality in the future.
-- King James
1 John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he
that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
But true Christians know that things right now, can get bad:
-- New King James
Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned and saw under the sun that The race is
not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise,
nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but
time and chance happen to them all.
***v02: They're in a better place now: There is nothing like
bereavement to get the cliches flying! This is a common one in that
context and needless to say, is scarcely comforting. To some extent,
people seem to use it for lack of anything better to say.o use it for
lack of anything better to say.
When you die, you go into your grave. And that's it, till the
resurrection.
-- New King James
Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they will die; but the dead
know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.
Notice, "the dead know nothing,". That wouldn't be true if right after
death the person lived on somewhere.
-- New King James
Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your
might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the
grave where you are going.
When you die, you just go to your 'grave'. In that place, there is no
knowledge or wisdom. All your knowledge has been erased.
-- King James
Psalms 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in
that very day his thoughts perish.
Try to think of things without any knowledge. That is the state of a
dead person. Jesus referred to the dead as "sleeping". That wouldn't
be true if the person lived on after death: Luke 8:52,53.
"52. And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is
not dead, but sleepeth.
53. And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead." (KJV)
That is why the dead CANNOT praise God.
-- New King James
Psalms 115:17 The dead do not praise the Lord, Nor any who go down
into silence.
That wouldn't be true if the dead lived on right away.
So what is the hope for the dead?
-- King James
Acts 24:15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also
allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the
just and unjust.
Why isn't the dead "unjust", not burning in a hellfire? That is
because they are in their silent graves awaiting the resurrection.
***03: God will heal: This one often comes out when someone is
seriously ill or in hospital. Thing is, God does not necessarily heal. Therefore, it can amount to trying to support someone with vacuous
hope.
Not always true. Recall that Scripture above:
-- American Standard
Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is
not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to
the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men
of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
***04: The Lord is in everything: Sometimes also stated as "Everything
that happens is God", it implies that absolutely every occurrence is
caused by God. Some people even go so far as to think God appoints
times for light bulbs to blow around the house! If your Internet goes
down, it's because God is knocking you offline! This cliche can also
have an unfortunate, darker side, such as implying that if someone
successfully commits suicide, it was God's will (otherwise God would
have intervened to block it). In this sense, it absolves the one
saying it of any responsibility since in that view, their failure to
act was only God's will playing out. This is a pretty dreadful thing
to say under such circumstances! It can also be stated as "God allows
evil". This cliche is similar to the next o
Again "but time and chance happeneth to them all." (KJV)
God let's random chance to occur.
***05: Everything happens for a reason: This overused line (like the
previous one) often gets trotted out in times of crisis. Simple fact
is, the world is full of random occurrences that don't necessarily
have a reason. Also, evil is a very real force in the world and it
sometimes makes its presence felt in rather ugly ways! While good may
sometimes come from a terrible event, it isn't necessarily part of any overarching master plan. Sometimes bad things just happen for no good
reason at all! Another version of this line is "Bad things happen to
good people". (See item #81).
***06: Life isn't fair!: This one-liner likes to surface when bad
things happen, whether minor or major. It doesn't help much. A far
better idea is to try to make the world a fairer place instead.
Christians should work to address all forms of unfairness in the
world.
Again, this one answers both of the above:
"but time and chance happeneth to them all." (KJV)
41 Happy is anyone who shows consideration to the lowly one Jehovah
will rescue him in the day of calamity. (Ps 41:1; NWT)
There is too many to answer this morning like I did above, so I will
cut it short.
***08: You can be pitiful or powerful:
Mark 12:31.
"How Can the Bible Help You?
Find out with our free interactive Bible study program."
Go to: jw.org (9/26/2026)
zebrabible@proton.me
Help put the fire out in Hellfire.
God is not a sadist but a God of love. (1 John 4:8)
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