(December 1, 2014 at 11:18 pm)JesusChristLover Wrote: Now this is the most misunderstood notion in the whole of Christian Theology.
God created a world, a wild and free world, to be the breeding ground for things God values in human beings — things like courage, devotion, loyalty, self-sacrifice, kindness, generosity, hope, trust.
You must have read a Bible that was missing Genesis, because that's not what happens at all.
Quote:By anybody’s reckoning these are a few of the noblest features of humanity. Would such qualities exist in a world without risk, danger, calamity — and death?
Not in a world that exists because of natural forces, no. Now, a world created by a being unlimited by any constraints of knowledge or capacity logically must be able to create a world in which such qualities exist, without the threat of death and danger. Either that god is significantly limited in his capabilities, or he gets a thrill out of making sentient creatures suffer and die.