(November 8, 2013 at 9:49 am)John V Wrote: In Job, God derives pleasure and glory from Job's obedience. He allows Job to suffer, as obedience through suffering is greater than obedience with reward, and so would bring God greater pleasure.
Once again, god acts less like a deity and more like a powerful human.
(November 8, 2013 at 9:49 am)John V Wrote: I don't judge god for doing this because I do the same thing. So do you, and probably everyone on here. We place our own pleasure and glory above the suffering of others all the time. The difference between me and you is that I admit it, but you'll attempt to rationalize it.
Two problems with this. God is deriving his pleasure directly from the suffering, not simply placing his pleasure above the suffering of others, which I doubt is something you'll find many people here actually do.
Also, the reason we place our own pleasure above the suffering of others is due to the fact that we are not omnipotent and have finite resources. If I had the powers of a god, you can bet your ass that I wouldn't do that, but you'll just attempt to rationalize why an omnipotent god can be so lazy and callous.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
