williamsadler53 Posted June 30, 2013 Report Share Posted June 30, 2013 (edited) The uncertainties of life and the vicissitudes of existence do not in any manner contradict the concept of the universal sovereignty of God. All evolutionary creature life is beset by certain inevitabilities. Consider the following:1. Is courage — strength of character — desirable? Then must man be reared in an environment which necessitates grappling with hardships and reacting to disappointments.2. Is altruism — service of one’s fellows — desirable? Then must life experience provide for encountering situations of social inequality.3. Is hope — the grandeur of trust — desirable? Then human existence must constantly be confronted with insecurities and recurrent uncertainties. 4. Is faith — the supreme assertion of human thought — desirable? Then must the mind of man find itself in that troublesome predicament where it ever knows less than it can believe.5. Is the love of truth and the willingness to go wherever it leads, desirable? Then must man grow up in a world where error is present and falsehood always possible.6. Is idealism — the approaching concept of the divine — desirable? Then must man struggle in an environment of relative goodness and beauty, surroundings stimulative of the irrepressible reach for better things.7. Is loyalty — devotion to highest duty — desirable? Then must man carry on amid the possibilities of betrayal and desertion. The valor of devotion to duty consists in the implied danger of default.8. Is unselfishness — the spirit of self-forgetfulness — desirable? Then must mortal man live face to face with the incessant clamoring of an inescapable self for recognition and honor. Man could not dynamically choose the divine life if there were no self-life to forsake. Man could never lay saving hold on righteousness if there were no potential evil to exalt and differentiate the good by contrast.9. Is pleasure — the satisfaction of happiness — desirable? Then must man live in a world where the alternative of pain and the likelihood of suffering are ever-present experiential possibilities.Rev. Bill Edited June 30, 2013 by williamsadler53 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mererdog Posted July 7, 2013 Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 So you believe that God is both imperfect and limited? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan H. B. Lobl Posted July 9, 2013 Report Share Posted July 9, 2013 The uncertainties of life and the vicissitudes of existence do not in any manner contradict the concept of the universal sovereignty of God. All evolutionary creature life is beset by certain inevitabilities. Consider the following:1. Is courage — strength of character — desirable? Then must man be reared in an environment which necessitates grappling with hardships and reacting to disappointments.2. Is altruism — service of one’s fellows — desirable? Then must life experience provide for encountering situations of social inequality.3. Is hope — the grandeur of trust — desirable? Then human existence must constantly be confronted with insecurities and recurrent uncertainties. 4. Is faith — the supreme assertion of human thought — desirable? Then must the mind of man find itself in that troublesome predicament where it ever knows less than it can believe.5. Is the love of truth and the willingness to go wherever it leads, desirable? Then must man grow up in a world where error is present and falsehood always possible.6. Is idealism — the approaching concept of the divine — desirable? Then must man struggle in an environment of relative goodness and beauty, surroundings stimulative of the irrepressible reach for better things.7. Is loyalty — devotion to highest duty — desirable? Then must man carry on amid the possibilities of betrayal and desertion. The valor of devotion to duty consists in the implied danger of default.8. Is unselfishness — the spirit of self-forgetfulness — desirable? Then must mortal man live face to face with the incessant clamoring of an inescapable self for recognition and honor. Man could not dynamically choose the divine life if there were no self-life to forsake. Man could never lay saving hold on righteousness if there were no potential evil to exalt and differentiate the good by contrast.9. Is pleasure — the satisfaction of happiness — desirable? Then must man live in a world where the alternative of pain and the likelihood of suffering are ever-present experiential possibilities.Rev. BillI don't believe that I need to be sprayed by a skunk; before I can enjoy flowers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrDevon Posted July 9, 2013 Report Share Posted July 9, 2013 I don't believe that I need to be sprayed by a skunk; before I can enjoy flowers. Nor do I, but no one appreciates the cool water more than the thirsty person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan H. B. Lobl Posted July 11, 2013 Report Share Posted July 11, 2013 Nor do I, but no one appreciates the cool water more than the thirsty person.Hmmm...... Interesting thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mererdog Posted July 11, 2013 Report Share Posted July 11, 2013 (edited) Nor do I, but no one appreciates the cool water more than the thirsty person.So I should hit you in the face with a muddy boot so that you can appreciate all the times you don't get hit in the face with a muddy boot? Edited July 11, 2013 by mererdog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bro. Hex Posted July 11, 2013 Report Share Posted July 11, 2013 So you believe that God is both imperfect and limited?Which God?Jehovah?Definitely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan H. B. Lobl Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 The invisible assumption behind this thread is that God is good. If we drop that assumption, we can also drop a lot of hand wringing about the cruelties and injustice of life. IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Nihilo Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 Do you believe God is not good? Interesting thought. Would you say that God's just plain bad or is God in some way beyond good and evil. What does that look like, I wonder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bro. Hex Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 (edited) Do you believe God is not good? Interesting thought. Would you say that God's just plain bador is God in some way beyond good and evil. What does that look like, I wonder?If you really wonder what that would look like, do a bit of nrt surfing on the topic of Yaldabaoth(alternative spelling = Ialdabaoth)and/or "The God above God" Edited July 31, 2013 by Bro. Hex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panpareil Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 I see no difference in the need for an all good god and the need for an all good life, or an all good world. Nor do I understand it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan H. B. Lobl Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 Do you believe God is not good? Interesting thought. Would you say that God's just plain bad or is God in some way beyond good and evil. What does that look like, I wonder?What does it look like? Look around at the world. Neither good nor evil. That is what it looks like.Consider the issue of free will. If God were good, we would be good. If God were evil, we would be evil. God is neither good nor evil -- so we get to choose. IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Nihilo Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 (edited) I guess I don't see how god being good necessitates our being good too. Is there no way that god could be good and we could be evil? Or vice versa? Edited August 1, 2013 by RevRattlesnake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bro. Hex Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 I guess I don't see how god being good necessitates our being good too. Is there no way that god could be good and we could be evil? Or vice versa?I guess I don't follow that line of "necessity" either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan H. B. Lobl Posted August 6, 2013 Report Share Posted August 6, 2013 (edited) I guess I don't follow that line of "necessity" either.That was my own invisible assumption. I have them.I start with my own version of Pantheistic understanding. God did not create us. God became us. Since we are an expresion of God's essence -- what is God? Unity -- neither good nor evil.If we go back and say that God is good; then the whole chain of reased based on God being neither good, nor evil, comes undone. I was thinkiing that since we are a reflection of God's essence; it would follow. If God were all good, we would have to be Good also, becfause that would be what we are. Clearly not the case. Since we are not all evil either, I would say, then neither is God all evil.I hope that isn't to much of a muddle. Edited August 6, 2013 by Jonathan H. B. Lobl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Songster Posted August 8, 2013 Report Share Posted August 8, 2013 I recently started reading a book that proposes that there is no evil. That all Souls are an extension of the Force of God, so nothing we do, or anything done to us, can be considered "Bad" or "Evil."Interesting concept....Still thinking about it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan H. B. Lobl Posted August 8, 2013 Report Share Posted August 8, 2013 I recently started reading a book that proposes that there is no evil. That all Souls are an extension of the Force of God, so nothing we do, or anything done to us, can be considered "Bad" or "Evil."Interesting concept....Still thinking about it....IMO, evil in the abstract doensn't have much meaning. In terms of a specific act, evil can be seen to exist. This is where free will comes into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Kaman Posted August 8, 2013 Report Share Posted August 8, 2013 Good and bad are just two ends of the same teeter totter. What promotes the passing on of our DNA is considered "good." Those things that would endanger our DNA's future are considered "bad." That is basically what society bases its laws and taboos on. Evil is a concept of religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan H. B. Lobl Posted August 15, 2013 Report Share Posted August 15, 2013 Good and bad are just two ends of the same teeter totter. What promotes the passing on of our DNA is considered "good." Those things that would endanger our DNA's future are considered "bad." That is basically what society bases its laws and taboos on. Evil is a concept of religion.I don't agree. The Holocaust was evil. The Inquisition was evil. Witch burning was evil. Just because evil is hard to define does not mean it does not exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Songster Posted August 15, 2013 Report Share Posted August 15, 2013 (edited) EVERYTHING that happens or exists in the world we've created is an expression and manifestation of God’s love. EVERYTHING is “GOOD”. "EVIL" is merely misperceived as a negative force because of our inability to "see" beyond our physical limitations. Edited August 15, 2013 by Songster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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