(May 24, 2017 at 1:53 pm)SteveII Wrote:(May 24, 2017 at 11:59 am)Aroura Wrote: So the answers I'm getting are:
God is not just. We are all sinners, so if he saves anyone, then hurray. He's not saving anyone on merit, either, but apparently picking them for reasons unknown to humans, as apparently even denying him isn't enough to send you to hell. ? Is this all correct? [1]
So basically, God works in mysterious ways, he'll save those he chooses to save for his own reasons that we can't possibly understand. Also, life isn't a test, yet it isn't Gods fault we suffer, even though he made us able to suffer in an unjust and uncaring universe? [2]
None of this makes ANY sense to me. How can you believe all these contradictory things, like that God is omni-everything, yet isn't responsible for our suffering? Not all suffering (nor even most) is a result of human behaviors. Drought, flood, earthquakes, disease, hunger, are most often the outcome of things humans have zero control over.
If Life isn't a test, why are we put here to suffer, instead of just going directly to heaven, as some other beings supposedly got to do?[3]
1. God is just and I don't know how you got that from anyone's answer. Why do you say "picking them"? In your scenario, you said Jamal rejected God because of his experiences.
2. Why "for his own reasons" again? God could easily have created a universe without suffer. Obviously that was not his goal. Free will and the ability for people to love each other and love him seems to take precedence.
3. There is no logical problem with the concept--let's call that the intellectual Problem of Evil (PoE) (which has largely been abandoned by professional philosophers). You objection is based on empathy/emotions or the emotional PoE. I fully agree and understand that this is one of or the biggest obstacle for an open-minded person to have when considering the God of Christianity. However, I do have a couple of points about a Christian perspective on this issue (adapted from a podcast I listened to):
a. The chief purpose of life is knowledge of God, not happiness.
b. We are in a state of separation/rebellion against God and his purpose-spiritual evil can prevail for a time.
c. This life is but a blip when considering eternity and God has that perspective that we often don't see/remember.
d. The knowledge of God is of immeasurable importance--and far outweighs finite suffering.
a. Then why doesn't everyone have an equal chance at "revelation"? Why were angels created and given an automatic in?
b. I did not choose to separate or rebell from anything. Why would I be punished for being created human? I did not choose this state.
c. The amount of time we suffer does magically not eliminate the problem of evil
d. Then why not just give it to us in the first place? And don't say he did, because there was literally nothing for thousands of years of human history. Those people get a free pass, or not? Having some people write down inconsistent stories that look idenditcal to many works of mythology hardly counts as revealing knowledge of himself.
I fully suspect this to go right back where I suspected, to supposed free choice. As if many atheists didn't spend decades as theists doing their very best to believe. It always, always comes down to victim blaming.
It's a really good thing it is just a mythology, no different than Zeus. At least ancient religions often recognized that their Gods were also monsters.
“Eternity is a terrible thought. I mean, where's it going to end?”
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead