Better reasons to quit Christianity

[spockrates]

Well, I'd have to say you have some good reasons to reject the Calvinist view. They are reasons I share, BTW. Fascinating that we actually agree on something!

It would be orders of magnitude more fascinating if we didn't agree on -something-. I fear you have a long road ahead of you, if you're looking to make up your mind about any specific gods existence. I don't envy you, once you're through with this one there are a few thousand more waiting in the wings for your fair and un-assuming approach.

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Agreed. I am undertaking a heroic endeavor, indeed! I suppose that in the end, if I'm still standing, I will have lost something: My ignorance! For I will have found the truth. I will also have my integrity, for I will have lived true to my signature: "If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains (no matter how improbable) must be the truth." Should I demand any less of myself?

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Mister:

What I wonder is this: Does having a power necessitate that the power one has must be used to its fullest extent? This is certainly not true of human beings. Example: The other day I was driving 47 MPH in a 35 MPH zone. The police officer pulled me over. Rather than give me a speeding ticket, he chose to let me off with a warning. Now he had the power to give me the speeding ticket, but he freely chose to not do so.

Compare this to the concept of God: If God exercised the total power of his omniscience, he would be eliminating our freedom of will, as Rythm suggests. If he eliminated our freedom of will, we would become incapable of love, for love requires choice (as I suggest). This would be counterproductive to God's purpose, which is for us to freely choose to love one another of our own freewill, without being forced to do so. Not only that, but if God's omniscience must be total, rather than inherent, then not only would we not be free, but neither would he! For he would not have the freedom to limit his omniscience so as to preserve our freedom. It seems God would have less freedom than the police officer who chose to not give me a speeding ticket!