RE: A simple challenge for atheists
January 29, 2015 at 11:02 am
(This post was last modified: January 29, 2015 at 11:12 am by SteveII.)
(January 29, 2015 at 10:11 am)Cheerful Charlie Wrote: Stevell, I demonstrated that the idea that God creates the rules of the Universe must be false, the problem of super-omnipotence. That is naturalism must be true, and God is a problematic idea at best. God has other theoretical problems. If God is omniscient, sees the future, any possible Universe God decides to create is determined strongly, logically we have no free will. All moral evil than is God's doing for creating the Universe as it is. Then God is not, as defined, good. God as a concept as defined by Christianity is impossible. This shows us that supposed revelation that supposedly tells us about God, God's nature and abilities must be untrue. So far as I have looked into this over many years, God is not a viable theory. Nor are the religions that attach themselves to this theoretical God like so many remora fish clinging to a shark.
I am sorry I skipped over this earlier. I meant to come back to it.
Free will is not the ability to choose differently in identical circumstances. It is not being caused to do something by causes other than oneself. God's knowledge of all the components that goes into your choice beforehand in no ways denies free will.
What I believe is that God considered every feasible universe in which he made man with free will, with his "middle knowledge" considered what every person would do in any circumstance, and actualized the one with the greatest good both now in in eternity.
Regarding omnipotence, we are unable to see the trillions upon trillions of causes and effects in the world AND eternity and therefore are not in a position to judge if God did not have morally sufficient reasons to allow an "evil" event to occur.
(January 29, 2015 at 10:33 am)Stimbo Wrote: That's all I ask. Thanks. You don't want to come over as a typical fundie, now do you?
The reason I posted is to intentionally get challenged on my beliefs. I learn things and it is a good exercise for the brain to defend a position against both the reasonable and the hostile.