RE: Ask a Catholic
May 20, 2015 at 11:02 am
(This post was last modified: May 20, 2015 at 11:04 am by pocaracas.)
(May 20, 2015 at 9:39 am)Randy Carson Wrote:Yeah... the "new" WYSIWYG editor is crap. On the bar on top of the text window, when you're replying, the last button on the right changes to a standard forum BBcode layout, making it far easier to edit monster posts.(May 20, 2015 at 6:27 am)pocaracas Wrote: [ugh, use hide tags when quoting such a wall of text... makes for a better forum experience!]
What are or how do I hide tags? I'm trying to figure out the formatting of this site, but it is VERY different from many I have used.
Also, using hide tags is simple:
Code:
The text below will be hidden:
[hide]This text is hidden[/hide]The text below will be hidden:
(May 20, 2015 at 9:39 am)Randy Carson Wrote:Your question was about "a creator god". I merely used the analogy I have for any creator thing - man as creator of machines that do some work.Quote:Let me see: how fast can the fastest human calculator calculate 1345684423673.65267845688 * 453167785.12345 *10^-4 / 12.54546773356 + 235.678324456?
Can we agree that the humble silicon calculator can do this much faster than any human could?
The calculator is faster than a human, but God would not have to do the calculation. He knows the answer before you ask the question because he knows what you are going to ask before you do.
God doesn't "think" at all. He knows. There is no moment of discovery or arrival at a conclusion for God.
If man can create something superior to himself, why not a god?
(May 20, 2015 at 9:39 am)Randy Carson Wrote:Can your "creator god" create another creator god or two? Two creator gods would be greater than just one, yes?Quote:That said, I don't think a creator "must" be superior to anything in that creator's creation. It can be superior, I can think of scenarios where that would happen, but I can also think of scenarios where it wouldn't. So no, I can't agree with your statement.
(even granting that mighty big IF which will need to be assessed in separate).
Hmmm...hard to imagine how the greater thing is brought into being by the lesser.
That's one way.
(May 20, 2015 at 9:39 am)Randy Carson Wrote: But I asked because one of the attributes of God is that he is holy.How would anyone know such a thing about any god?
And what does it mean for something to be holy?
hmm... you seem to try to explain it below...
(May 20, 2015 at 9:39 am)Randy Carson Wrote: This is a tough word to define with respect to God...normally we say that something else is holy in relation to God. So, I'll try it this way (and I do recall that you are a non-believer - I'm simply explaining what Christians believe):
If you are familiar with the scriptures, do you recall the reactions that people had when they came into God's presence?
Fear.
Adam and Eve had walked with God in the garden before they disobeyed; after, they hid from him. Why?
God told Moses, "No man can see my face and live." Why?
I could provide other examples, but I offer these as representative of the fact that a Holy God is not going to be able to interact with a fallen race in the heartwarming manner which you described in your long post because we are sinners. We are not holy. We would flee from God in terror because He is awesome.
Only after we are made righteous are we able to come into His presence because nothing impure may enter heaven.
Faith in Jesus is what makes this purification possible.
I must have missed the part where you define holy.... anyway...
It says in your book that people fear the god... it says so repeatedly. Does that make it true?
In 20th century fiction, man-god encounters have been conceived where fear is not the resultant emotion.
Oh well... I can conceive of a situation where no such fear would be induced. People's mentalities have evolved and most westerners (at least) should cope pretty well with meeting a creator god. Believers would prostrate themselves, non-believers would poke the guy and, in between, we'd arrive at a pretty well educated notion of what this god really is... sadly, such is not the case... we have to rely on ancient scripture emanating from the Middle-East, where other similar scriptures have also emanated... not to mention yet other scriptures that come from other parts of the world... Sorry, I have no reason to accept your particular scripture as trustworthy.
Also, no, we are not sinners. Sin is a concept invented by religions which conveys actions that those religions do not want humans to undertake... and your particular brand of religion is one of the worst, in this respect, convincing people that they are born in such a sinful state.
And it is a concept which, fortunately, seems to have no real-world implications, except for those imposed by the believers in the concept. If there were no believers, the concept of sin would disappear, fade into forgetfulness... There would be no sin at all. Mankind would live on this planet without sin.
Doesn't that seem like a worthy goal?
Not exactly the way you'd put it, huh?
Which brings us back to "holy", another concept invented by religions to describe proximity to the divine. God is defined as 100%holy and all others are some smaller percentage of holy. Did I get the gist right? Of course, this percentage is attributed by people to people and things and is a completely subjective value. So... why should I care about any holiness?
