(July 21, 2012 at 3:14 pm)MysticKnight Wrote: Perhaps (and seemingly to me), this is impossible. We can be created as saints/angel like, but we couldn't have gone through the struggle, and earned value from struggle, and built character in this sense.
I don't think the value that comes out of free-will, and character building, can come out by being automatically given this characteristic.
I think giving the value of character building is impossible. It must be earned and striven for.
Since the assertion that a God who could create a universe any way he wants affirms the idea that he could have created intrinsic virtue, it is your burden to prove why you feel this is impossible.
Personally, I don't see why we couldn't simply be born with these qualities. Sort of like evolution, but guided directly by a benevolent God who would dictate the traits needed for virtue to be an instinct.
To be born with the will to help others, be kind, and donate to the lesser priveledged is without a doubt within the ability of a benevolent God.
My conclusion is that there is no reason to believe any of the dogmas of traditional theology and, further, that there is no reason to wish that they were true.
Man, in so far as he is not subject to natural forces, is free to work out his own destiny. The responsibility is his, and so is the opportunity.
-Bertrand Russell
Man, in so far as he is not subject to natural forces, is free to work out his own destiny. The responsibility is his, and so is the opportunity.
-Bertrand Russell
