(January 24, 2016 at 10:39 am)Mr.wizard Wrote:(January 24, 2016 at 10:35 am)robvalue Wrote: Why was god's power limited by the people around him? If he wanted them to behave to a certain standard, surely he had that power. The fact that he didn't means he is happy with what they were doing.
He was quite happy to impose other rules on pain of death, the idea that he didn't like slavery but forgot to make a rule about it is rather a stretch I think. He does the opposite and tells them, and us, how to regulate it.
The fact that you reject what it says just shows you're morally superior to the author (with regard to human wellbeing).
Ya, it seems completely ridiculous that the creator of all things could only "work with what he had".
Would you, dear atheist, have been happier if God had forced the Israelites to obey him?
Would you prefer that He force YOU to obey?
Because God chose to "woo" the Israelites by degrees, you say this proves He was not omnipotent; but if He had used force on them (or you), He would have been the "moral monster" to which you object by trampling on your free will.
This is a classic attempt to have it both ways.
