"IF" there was a God....

[Whateverist]

I didn't know God's Job was to give you an answer that satasifies you.

Seems only fair. After all, he has given one that satisfies you.

It is the simple things God uses to confound the wise and learned of this world.

Until you can make the case that there is any god involved, I would say what we have here is a case of the lazy, uncritical interpretations of the simple believers doing all the confounding of the wise. Your bible is kind of like the Emperor's new cloths. You cloth yourself in it and think you are wearing sublime wisdom. But to the rest of us it looks like you're just obtusely repeating your favorite gems whether or not they have any bearing on what is at issue.

Saying God is the ultimate authority is just saying he is the chief, mega-boss, over-lord.

Indeed!

Glad you enjoyed that. But for those of us who really want to take advantage of the opportunity afforded us by Ronadee's thought experiment, hearing once again that being tiny and helpless before God is all you need to know isn't helpful. If I get to chat with God over a latte, I'm sure not going to waste it on issues like who is in charge. So long as I have free will (OK, back off you determinist/haters), I think I will be in charge of my half of the conversation .. thank you very much.

Interesting if one was checking credentials but not very helpful for understanding what God's nature might be. Also, to say he can be whoever he wants to be makes me think of the Matrix. So you're saying God can just replace anyone else's essence like the guys in the black suits? Good trick, but again, not terribly responsive.

Have you not read my matrix thread?

I don't think so but I do think there is much to recommend that story over the bible. Shall we stick with that one?

Don't you realize how hollow it is to toss off a stock answer like that? What really does that mean and how do you know it's true? Wait - I know! The bible! Amirite, amirite?

If we are speaking of the God of the bible then what other source material has greater authority?

Who said anything about that character? Ronadee said a god, not the god of the bible. Even if we go with the Christian god I can't let you get away with citing the bible without first hearing why we should believe it has anything whatsoever to do with the Christian god.

If you want proper information then one is bound by actual reference material.

In this case the bible is the only authority one can speak of the God of the bible.

Sounds like the argument the drunk makes for looking for his watch under the street lamp. There may be no more chance of finding information pertaining to the Christian god in the bible than there is of finding the watch where it wasn't lost, but hey it sure is nice to have actual reference material. Best of all, if you just accept the bible lock, stock and barrel, you will have answers to all life's questions which won't cost you one bit of effort. Just by taking a wild leap onto the back of the bible, you too can turn your wishes (I mean, beliefs) into hard knowledge supported by scholarly reference materials.

No sale. I'll need to see the bible's bonafides before I'll accept that anything in it has anything whatsoever to do with the God you all claim to be in relationship with.