So if God didn't create evil, why does God allow evil to exist?

[buttercup]

No. I am assuming that the intelligence behind existence is logical and does have a preference for certain behaviors. An impersonal God would not be merciful given the shit we do.

I used to think that way too. Then I had my eyes opened with the death of my father in 2001. I don’t believe The Divine (as I refer to the Universal power) is merciful and I do believe we will bear the mantle of our mistakes at our Judgement.

The idea that God is not good is illogical. Assuming God exists, God is necessarily good. By definition, God is the supreme being, better than us in every way. God is where goodness comes from, God is the source, and the very standard that everything else is measured against.

So the idea that God is not good is illogical, as is the idea that God is an impersonal force.

 

[Anathema]

The idea that God is not good is illogical. Assuming God exists, God is necessarily good. By definition, God is the supreme being, better than us in every way. God is where goodness comes from, God is the source, and the very standard that everything else is measured against.

So the idea that God is not good is illogical, as is the idea that God is an impersonal force.

Personification. You assume that we are like God and God is like us. I see The Divine as a force more than a person. An impartial power set to one task only - sorting Souls and moving them on to their next place of residence.

 

[ding]

When the ancients spoke of being created in God's image they were referring to intelligence and the distinction between us and the animal kingdom in our ability to form a construct of good and evil.

 

[buttercup]

The idea that God is not good is illogical. Assuming God exists, God is necessarily good. By definition, God is the supreme being, better than us in every way. God is where goodness comes from, God is the source, and the very standard that everything else is measured against.

So the idea that God is not good is illogical, as is the idea that God is an impersonal force.

Personification. You assume that we are like God and God is like us. I see The Divine as a force more than a person. An impartial power set to one task only - sorting Souls and moving them on to their next place of residence.

The idea that God is an impersonal force is illogical too. Because that would make the effect greater than the cause. WE (human beings) are persons, we have a mind, a will, emotions, personalities. God, by definition, is the supreme being, so at the very least God is personal, but obviously so much more. To claim that God is impersonal (mindless, lacking any personal qualities) is completely illogical and absurd, because not only does that make us greater than the Creator, but you're believing that a mindless force created a universe filled with order, complexity, beauty, and beings that are intelligent. That’s basically no different than atheism… It is willful blindness, plain and simple.

 

[Meriweather]

You assume God is nice or kind. I’m here to tell you just the opposite.

Not an assumption. I can testify that God cares about each one of us.

 

[Meriweather]

So if God didn't create evil, why does God allow evil to exist?

No one really knows...

Maybe because he is seeking certain outcomes under certain conditions.

Or maybe the certain outcomes he is seeking can only be achieved through certain conditions.

Or maybe good has no meaning if one is forced to be good.

Or maybe he couldn't figure out how to make a one sided coin.

Or maybe he is testing us to see who is smart enough to recognize that the good far outweighs the bad.

Or maybe he wants us to love him for who he is and not what he can do for us.

But whatever the reason, one thing is certain, we lack complete knowledge and he doesn't. So rather than expect him to do magical things so that bad things don't happen to good people, maybe we should ask ourself what it was we were supposed to learn from our tragedies.

You have to ask Republicans. They are the party of racism and hate. They elected a liar, thief and an adulterer as their leader.

Perhaps you would like to give us your take on John 10:1 where Jesus talks about those who do not enter the sheepfold through the gate....calls them thieves and robbers.

 

[Anathema]

Not an assumption. I can testify that God cares about each one of us.

I will simply suggest that for others of us “results may vary”.

 

[Windparadox]

`
If God forced us to do only good, would It still be God?

 

[Picaro]

When the ancients spoke of being created in God's image they were referring to intelligence and the distinction between us and the animal kingdom in our ability to form a construct of good and evil.

That's a reasonable belief. but there is also nothing that precludes it is also literally true, either, re Genesis accounts. If it were important, though, it would indeed have been made a specific point, but it isn't, so it's a moot issue. Anthropomorphism is used very early on in the OT; God is spoken of a s' walking through the Garden' of Eden' and is also referenced in the plural sense when 'creating Man', which raises some interesting theological questions as well, another reason I don't have any problems with consistency and the Holy Trinity concept so reviled by many cranks.

 

[Erinwltr]

She has a sick sense of humor and constantly gets bored.

 

[Meriweather]

I will simply suggest that for others of us “results may vary”.

In what way?

 

[there4eyeM]

Given a 'God' that created humans, it is evident that 'God' created the human capacity to create. Humans create language, words, terms, building blocks for how we think. Perceptions are interpreted into thoughts. We attach words. These channel thinking. It is entirely understandable that humans reach conclusions and ask questions that have nothing to do with anything objective, 'out there' in the universe.
It is entirely understandable that humans not understand 'God'.

 

[Anathema]

In what way?

In more ways than I can count. For me the final nail in the coffin o “God’s goodness” was the death of the most good, decent and faithful man I’ve ever known on his 54th birthday in 2001.

 

[ding]

In what way?

In more ways than I can count. For me the final nail in the coffin o “God’s goodness” was the death of the most good, decent and faithful man I’ve ever known on his 54th birthday in 2001.

Every living thing must die. No one gets out alive. You blame God for death?

Did you balance the ledger with all the good things?

 

[Anathema]

Every living thing must die. No one gets out alive. You blame God for death?

Did you balance the ledger with all the good things?

Yes all things die. It’s the timing, cause and circumstances I had an issue with.

I balanced the ledger by telling God to go fuck himself and totally turning my back on my prior Faith.

 

[ding]

Every living thing must die. No one gets out alive. You blame God for death?

Did you balance the ledger with all the good things?

Yes all things die. It’s the timing, cause and circumstances I had an issue with.

I balanced the ledger by telling God to go fuck himself and totally turning my back on my prior Faith.

That wasn’t exactly what I meant.

Why wouldn’t you thank God for the time you did have?

 

[Anathema]

Why wouldn’t you thank God for the time you did have?

A large amount of that time we had (27 years, 1 month and 5 days) was spent with the two of us butting heads and being pissed off at or frustrated with each other. We cleared the air just before the end but the whole circumstances of how things went down with the last 3 years of his life were still completely wrong/unfair so far as I’m concerned and always will be.

 

[Meriweather]

A large amount of that time we had (27 years, 1 month and 5 days) was spent with the two of us butting heads and being pissed off at or frustrated with each other. We cleared the air just before the end but the whole circumstances of how things went down with the last 3 years of his life were still completely wrong/unfair so far as I’m concerned and always will be.

How would you have liked God to fix everything for you? Did you want more time? Did you want God to make this man different? Did you want God to make you different? What (specifically) do you believe God did wrong and what led you to the conclusion He hates (or is indifferent) to you?

 

[Jarlaxle]

Every living thing must die. No one gets out alive. You blame God for death?

Did you balance the ledger with all the good things?

Yes all things die. It’s the timing, cause and circumstances I had an issue with.

I balanced the ledger by telling God to go fuck himself and totally turning my back on my prior Faith.

That wasn’t exactly what I meant.

Why wouldn’t you thank God for the time you did have?

Because he is a miserable fuck who hates the rest of the world almost as much as he hates himself. He is determined to be miserable, and wants everyone else to be equally miserable.

 

[Anathema]

"]The idea that God is an impersonal force is illogical too. Because that would make the effect greater than the cause. WE (human beings) are persons, we have a mind, a will, emotions, personalities. God, by definition, is the supreme being, so at the very least God is personal, but obviously so much more. To claim that God is impersonal (mindless, lacking any personal qualities) is completely illogical and absurd, because not only does that make us greater than the Creator, but you're believing that a mindless force created a universe filled with order, complexity, beauty, and beings that are intelligent. That’s basically no different than atheism… It is willful blindness, plain and simple.

We obviously have very different ideas on who and what The Divine is, what its purpose is, and what our purpose is. I'll lay mine out for you and you can go from there...

I believe The Divine is simply the Power of the Universe. It has no gender, no mind of its own, no personification at all. It is simply the glue that holds the Universe together. A Universe that was created for one purpose and one purpose only... Placing Souls in human bodies and testing them to determine whether or not the Soul has sufficient decency and propriety to live a proper life when given every opportunity not to do so. This human body is irrelevant, only the Soul has value.

The Soul is given a pre-determined course to run through life. No matter how hard it tries, it will be forced to endure all that has been laid out for it during that life. At the time of death the Soul is Judged on how well or poorly it dealt with those challenges and events, compared to how they should have been dealt with. Proper Souls move on to a higher existence. Truly improper ones are doomed to suffer forever for their failure. The majority of Souls (the middle ground) get another chance to try again until they prove themselves to be at one end or the other of the spectrum.

That's how I see the world. It's probably overly simplistic, but that's what I've come to believe through my experiences and my studies of the world.