In Reply to: Do all things always work together? posted by Miguel on August 05, 2003 at 07:02:54:
I strongly resist the notion of God's being "totally in control". It seems to me to be nothing less than Christianized fatalism; inferring that whatever happened HAD to have been God's will, or it couldn't have happened.
There's an alternate rendering of Romans 8:28 that makes a lot more sense to me (New English Bible):
"and in everything...He co-operates for good with those who love God and are called according to His purpose"
It doesn't pretend that all the bad things were "really" good, or done "for our good"; it doesn't say that God necessarily willed any of it. It just says that God is always working to BRIMG ABOUT good. He redeems even the bad things so that they ULIMATELY work for our good.