If god is all knowing, then god knows the future and what will happen to each of us.
Therefore, there is no free will, as everything has been planned out.
I sat next to my dog whom I've known all my life and I just knew that if I put a treat in front of his nose, he would eat the treat. Did my dog lose his free will simply because I knew he would eat it? That is absurd. Knowing what people will do with their free will does not deprive them of it.
If god has to PLAN everything out, then god is NOT omniscient, and therefore cannot BE a god.
If God is working with beings who do not have omniscience, making a plan for them to follow would be for the benefit of those who are not omniscient. Besides, why would you lack omniscience by planning to do what you know needs to be done.
God couldn't stop a murder of "his children" when there were supposedly only 4 people on earth.
That is because God gave them free will to choose either good or evil, obedience or disobedience, etc. This life is not the end all be all but a temporary existence where man can experience good and evil to learn to choose the good. If a person glories in evil, that is their choice in this temporary existence. However in the eternal existence the murderer will not gain the glory he could have gained had he learned to choose the good.
If earthlings are supposed to be "god's special creatures", then the rest of the universe is wasted space.
Have you been everywhere in the universe?
Moses 1:27-35
27 And it came to pass, as the voice was still speaking, Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God.
28 And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore.
29 And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof.
30 And it came to pass that Moses called upon God, saying: Tell me, I pray thee, why these things are so, and by what thou madest them?
31 And behold, the glory of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and talked with him face to face. And the Lord God said unto Moses: For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me.
32 And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth.
33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.
34 And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.
35 But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.
If god wants nothing but praise from his creations, then why isn't the universe cram packed with planets of people worshiping??
God does not only want praise from his children but he wishes for them to learn to choose good over evil and seek to become more like Himself. As the post above states, He has created worlds without number. Man on this earth does not have a perfect knowledge of things as they really are.
Virgins cannot get pregnant. That would throw out all logistical concepts of science as we know it.
Like I said, with God many things unknown to man are possible. Sometimes Science needs to be thrown out when it is proved to not be true.
Isn't it weird how your god seems to agree with everything YOU say. And is it coincidental that all Christians claim their god disagrees with you, when THEY also disagree with you?
Read this one a couple of times and still don't understand what you are saying.
If you wrote a book with THAT many contradictions in it, filled with hypocrisy and double-dealing........the publisher would never publish it.
I am assuming you are referring to the Bible. Through the process of many translations some errors do occur but overall, the Bible is pretty accurate. If you wish to discuss perceived contradictions, then list them for us to go over.
If humans are made in gods image, then why are we physical beings that all have different physical traits, colors, and emotions? We should be invisible entities that live forever and do as we please.
I believe that God is an exalted man. I also believe that He has a wife with whom he is sealed to forever. I believe that he procreated our spirits before we ever came to this earth. So God did make man in his own image and likeness. Jesus Christ is in the express image of the Father.
Hebrews 1:1-3
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and
the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
So when Jesus said that if you have seem him, then you have seen the Father, he wasn't kidding.
John 14:8-9
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Most all of the lifeforms on this planet that have existed, have been wiped out for a very long time. How many "do overs" does god need?
He doesn't need any do overs. It is the will of God that this life is a temporary existence in the flesh. We are sent here to experience good and evil and all manner of experiences which give us greater understanding and are for our good. We are even sent here to experience death. Eventually we all, including other species will live in eternity and look back on this life as a great learning experience.
"God does not exist because I SAID SO".
Don't like that? It's the SAME reasoning parents and preachers/priests give their kids that god does exist.
We all are given free will to believe whatever we wish. However, I personally do not believe that simply because you said so.
War. The Holocaust. (which should be enough in itself)
Man has his free will in this temporary life to do many good or bad things. However, in eternity, things do not die a physical death and therefore we will not experience it there. God created this temporary life for our learning and experience. those who learn to choose good over evil and become a good person will have much more the advantage in the world to come. War is an evil thing where mankind resorts to killing one another. God allows us the freedom to self defend ourselves and protect ourselves from evil and harm. Conflict should be resolved without resorting to killing one another. But at times, God allows it to help his people survive or accomplish his designs.
Reasons for god's existence given by believers are always based on personal opinions, never fact.
that is true because God wishes us to learn to walk by faith in this Life and does not present himself before us until we are ready and able to received him. But your observation also holds true for the thoughts of those who do not belief in God. It really comes down to their personal beliefs or opinions.
People who read the bible and practice what it "preaches", makes life WORSE for everyone else.
I don't believe that at all. I actually believe that many of those who do not believe in God and his teachings but do many of the evils listed in the Bible, cause way more harm to others than those who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.
God worshipers screaming at the top of their lungs "YOU'RE GOING TO HELL" if you don't do EXACTLY as they SAY, EXACTLY as they DO, and believe in EXACTLY what they TELL you to believe in.
No civilized human being with a grain of humanity or sentience would ever do this to a fellow human being. This is something akin to what Hitler did.....and we all know how THAT turned out!!
The teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ allow all mankind the right to free will. That is how he designed this earth life. I don't see many screaming at the top of their lungs to obey what they say, but they do teach the gospel and express the eternal punishments that man will suffer if they do not learn to do good in this life. The way of Jesus is not to impose his will on anyone but to teach them principles of truth and let mankind choose for himself whether or not he will follow. We do have laws however, in this country that are set to protect society from murderers, thieves, abusers, etc. They are there to protect the people in society. Jesus and his way is in no way akin to what Hitler did to the Jews. If find that quite ridiculous.
Science vs Religion
So far:
Science facts - MILLIONS
Religious facts - 0
If god wants to talk to me, WHY the middleman? Why not just come down and talk to me in person? Why all the 'cloak and dagger'?
Faith is an important principle and God wishes that we learn to walk by it. He doesn't want us to have proof of his existence because we are being tested to see if we will become a good person in and of ourselves. Once we reach a high degree of Faith, it is possible that the Lord might reveal himself unto you.
There is an old saying that when the cats away the mice will play. Many children will do bad things when not under direct supervision of their parents. God wants to know who those of his children are who will be a good being even when the cats away. He doesn't leave us totally without a knowledge of him but he does require that we learn to have faith and desire to do his good will and be a good being in and of ourselves.
God worshipers have been claiming "Jesus is coming back" in their lifetime.........for centuries. It has never happened. Not once. To anybody. Anywhere.
Jesus does teach that no man will know that day nor the hour of his coming. However, he has given signs and prophesies of things that will occur that will be evidence of the closeness of his coming. It requires alot of study and faith to understand the teachings of God concerning his coming. A belief in his true prophets and an understanding of what they have written will give you a greater knowledge about his coming. One such prophecy is that two prophets of God will begin teaching with great power and authority in Jerusalem for 3.5 years. They will do many mighty miracles. After 3.5 years God will allow the wicked to kill these two prophets. Their bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for 3.5 days and then they will arise to meet Jesus in the clouds of heaven upon his coming. When you see this prophesy fulfilled, know that the time of Jesus' coming is very, very close. There are many other things that must occur according to prophecy before Jesus will come. They are all in the scriptures. Those who have expected him have done so before all is fulfilled.
"God works in mysterious ways" means
"shut up and go away, I don't have any answers for you".
As mortal men, we do not have a perfect understanding of God, who knows all things. Jesus has raised many from the dead and healed many people which is beyond the understanding of the greatest doctors and experts on life. The ways are mysterious because we do not understand how these miracles are accomplished. God has also caused some to not suffer death. We as mortal men do not have the knowledge of how this is accomplished and it goes against our mortal experience. God is simply way more advanced than mortal man.
When someone dies in an accident or is murdered, or suffers a death by disease.......the religious claim it is the will of their god. Not one single word about the devil....the one who is supposedly evil enough to kill, maim, and destroy for pleasure. But yet they claim their god did these dastardly deeds.....to his own "children" he supposedly loves?
Uh huh. Try again.
God did place us here on this earth to temporarily experience good and evil. This mortal life was not designed to be for eternity. It is a schoolground for his children to advance in knowledge and understanding by experiencing much good and much evil. Most all of us are to go through the experience of death and learn from it. Eventually we all will be resurrected, thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and live forever in immortal bodies to never die again. It is unfortunate that accidents and murder happen but this life is not the end all be all of our existence. It is temporary and God allows many wicked and evil experiences to occur to give us eternal wisdom and knowledge. However, murder is brought about by evil beings. The devil cannot physically kill you but he can influence those of us in the physical world to kill. We ourselves can also contribute to our own deaths by abusing harmful substances or doing things that are dangerous for our well being. Death is not an eternal principle and through the resurrection, we will all be brought to life again and live forever in eternity. This life however, is a temporary existence that through our free will, we are allowed to do many good and many evil things. Eventually the kind of being we become in this life will determine what kingdom we will find ourselves in in the world to come.
There sure seem to be a LOT of natural disasters happening in places that god's followers claim he loves.
God made this world not to be a heaven but a temporary experience for us to choose for ourselves what manner of man or woman we would become. He at times has caused natural disasters and has wiped many of the living off this temporary existence for his own reasons. We do not know all that God knows and why he does all that he does, but he does have his reasons for doing so. He is the overseer of this temporal existence and it is his right to put us here and take us from here as he sees fit. We don't have the wisdom and understanding to be able to judge God for the things he does. In the eternities we will all come to know that it was his will and purpose and that it was good for our eternal existence.
When non-believer speaks to a believer, the supposed "Christian" spouts hate, animosity, bigotry, racism, and a dangerous psychotic tendency.
I have actually seen that from both sides and we should be much more respectful of each other and if we disagree, we should simply agree that we have free will and the right to choose as we individually choose as long as it doesn't do serious harm to others.
Christians pretend to be virtuous and noble inside the church.....but when outside the church, they are sanctimonious liars, cheats, frauds, and murderers.
Obviously lying, cheating, defrauding, and murdering are against the teachings of Jesus Christ. If such Christians are doing these things then they are not following the teachings of Christ. They stand in judgment of God as much as non-Christians do. God the Father and Jesus knew before sending us to this earth that we were imperfect beings that need a way to find forgiveness for the bad things we do if we repent of those things and change into a good person. For this reason Jesus taught us to repent of our sins. His atoning sacrifice was done so that we would be able to have mercy for the bad things we do. But if we don't repent and choose to be evil, those bad things will secure our damnation.
There are more than 2500 different bibles on this planet, giving homage to 28,000,000 different gods.
If there is only ONE god, then WHY isn't there only ONE bible?
And WHY aren't all religious people worshiping this ONE god?
WHY is it that YOUR god is the only one that exists???
Will the REAL "slim shady" please stand up!!!!
I think God wants us to spend our time on earth figuring out what is right and what is wrong. He wants us to learn how not to be deceived. God has allowed Satan to reside here on this earth to tempt man to do evil and God wants us to learn to overcome deception. The devil never teaches man to do good. He is diabolically opposed to doing the will of the Father. From the days of Adam and Eve, God has sent angels to reveal his will and teach man what is good and right. He even sent his Son to teach us and to bring mercy to us as we repent. Satan, on the other hand, is allowed to spread lies and deception in the world to try and drag us down to hell with himself. Through these two opposites man is able through his free will to choose whomever he lists to obey. Man, however, seems to find like souls to coddle them in their wickedness and try not to allow the remorse of conscience to bother them when they do evil. Some actually become a child of Satan and love him more than God. All kinds of falsehoods exist in this life and there are many churches with whom God is not well pleased. It is critical for those who wish to find themselves in the kingdom of heaven to study and understand the word of God so as not to be deceived by that wicked one. So my best advise is to know and understand the word of God and pray unto God to have the wisdom and knowledge to choose what is right and true. Christ is the good shepherd. His teachings are true and faithful. Give it a try.
