What is the Point of Believing in God Without Religion?

[emjay]

Question for you Drich. Do you think God can make a decision?

As in weigh up and choose between alternatives as a human would in making a decision?

No. As Humans always have a variable or unknown element which is what we are weighing out.

And if so, being God and being perfect, would that imply that he could never make a wrong/bad decision

wrong and bad are simple matters of perspective. If I am a jew and God told us to invade a town killing everything and take everything of value, then to me that would be a good decision. however if I am among those whom God told to invade... I would say that was a wrong or bad decision.

No being perfect simply mean God does not sin. Meaning it would not be wrong for God to order a destruction of a given people or town.

and therefore that he always makes the best possible choice?

The decisions God makes are not on a best or possible scale. God know what to do and when to do it so what we would identify as 'variables' would all fall like dominoes so as to come to what God wanted the outcome to be.

And being omniscient, does that include knowledge of the future and therefore imply that all his choices also factor in the future?

Yes that is how God lines up what we would see as an unknown like a domino to be fell.

Is that how you see God's decision making process...

no. What I see is spelled out by me above.

after all, it is stated that man was created in God's image;

Being created in the image of God does not make one God. A hot wheels can be created in the image of a 1967 mustang but no matter how much gas you put in one it will never be a 1967 mustang. To be made in the image of simple means you share some attributes. How much or little depends on God.

does that include emulating, sans perfection, the way he thinks?...

No, as again our thoughts are not His thoughts. Our ways are not His ways. or so says Isaiah

or do you see it as something different... maybe without decisions per se in real time or otherwise, or without human style thinking, or something else? I'm only asking this out of curiosity about your viewpoint, since you mentioned God's plan and I'm curious how you think such a plan was formed, but my question is not otherwise related to the thread.

what would you like to know of God's plan?

Thank you. I was just curious about your perspective on that (and developing my own) but not referring it to any particular decision... just interested in the process, as I always am. That's kind of how I would envisage it as well... as like dominoes.

But in regards to God's being perfect only in that he does not sin, I'm not sure what you mean. I take God to be the creator of the notion of sin, in the sense that without the humans he creates (or other beings... if he created angels as well), there can be no sin. In other words he sets the rules his creations have to abide by... and those rules are whatever offends him. So are you saying that he is perfect because he abides by his own rules or are you saying that sin is somehow an objective concept, separate from both God and man, that both have to abide by?