Quote: I am not saying God could create a world in which free will was possible and doing bad things impossible. I am simply saying God could have created a world in which ETERNAL TORMENT for such things was not a part of reality. Although God could have made us immortal from the start and allowed all planets to sustain life thus eliminating harm in the first place.
He started making us immortal. God said to man "do not eat of the tree or you will surely die." to then say never mind would be dishonest of him. And he wants us to choose him. in this world we have choice so he was successful in that matter.
Quote: As far as God cannot do something outside of his nature what caused God to have his own nature? God is said to be uncaused and always to have existed but something caused the imprinting of his qualities. I never understood why people get upset about the idea of infinite regression with the Universe when God is defined in a way as to have never begun but always had these qualities as a part of nature. I won't get too far into that because that would derail the thread into a different topic.
God dwells outside time and doesnt have a begining or an end. Neither does his qualities and characteristics. The reason we can't say the same about the universe is because time is a fixed part of the universe and as far as your cosmology goes, it always was. If you claim it wasn't then you will need an explanation for the origin of time.
Quote: I am all for the idea of God choosing to love us and therefore us wanting to love him. However God's way of getting our love seems to be through threats and gifts. If we do not give him our love he will deliver us to the worst kind of agony and if we do we get rewards. This reward/punishment morality/love system seems very primitive to me and I have a hard time believing an all wise being came up with it. I freely admit there may be some form of deity out there but I find it extraordinarily hard to believe Yahweh is that deity.
It's not rewards punishment. In life he rewards even when we don't deserve it. He also rewards when we do deserve it. God is simply trying to save us from hell and if you don't want to be saved then you won't.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
-4th verse of the american national anthem
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
-4th verse of the american national anthem