Alright, first let me get the fluff out of the way, I think you and I both know I could write similar lengthy comments about the Bible on slavery and sexism. I’m strongly anti-both, and I’ve read the whole Bible, I’m not unaware of anything in there, nor would I try to pretend a verse doesn’t exist.
But I think you’re hitting on a really interesting question, that I’d summarize as “If God is real, then why make himself so scarce? Why not reveal himself clearly, clarify his intentions, and prove himself real to avoid all this suffering?”.
I’ll pose an alternate, rhetorical question that’ll tie in later. Why even create humans at all? God could’ve simply created more angels to worship him, or lived in solitude, or heck, in Genesis terms, he could’ve just not put that apple in the garden for Eve to eat so we could’ve all lived in paradise forever.
The answer I see in the Bible, and my own experience, is that God really wants relationship. He actually wants a relationship based on faith, where you choose to have a relationship with him, not because you have to, but because you want to. We’re supposed to be made in God’s image, and we’ve written tons of fiction about the emptiness and purposelessness of happiness without free will, or the sadness of relationships involving a love potion, or more recently AI, and I kinda think that’s what it’s like.
For God, if he made himself undeniable, he couldn’t have a real relationship with us. We’d have to believe in him and have a relationship, it’d just be stupid not to. So I think that’s why God would make a world with physics and chemistry that don’t need him to function. And that’s why he doesn’t descend in a cloud of lightning and thunder and tell us off for all the dumb stuff we do in his name.
That said, I think it’s really fair to take issue with God from that answer. A lot of people will continue to do terrible things based on snippets of the Bible, and it is unfair how cruel a lot of the world is, and how many people suffer in it that wouldn’t have to with a little more divine intervention. I can’t answer that one for ya, it’s an extremely reasonable reaction, and one I wonder about myself sometimes. Make of it what you will.
I’m not really trying to convince you or anyone else here of anything, except maybe that I’m not an asshole despite believing in the Bible. I certainly don’t have any illusions of persuading someone about something as major as their religion in a comment thread online. It’s been an enjoyable discussion though, and generally respectful, so I’m quite pleased with how it’s gone.
Well I must tip my hat to you, despite disagreeing with you. Thanks for your candor.
I suppose I wouldn’t take as much issue with it all if it weren’t for the fact that my inability to believe in something without evidence is cause for my eternal damnation.
I think a belief in a disinterested god (or rather, one who doesn’t intervene) can make a lot more sense given what we observe about our universe.
But since I’m being judged (from what I’ve understood) based on whether or not I accept Jesus as my lord and saviour, I’m just never going to be able see things the Christian way.
Alright, first let me get the fluff out of the way, I think you and I both know I could write similar lengthy comments about the Bible on slavery and sexism. I’m strongly anti-both, and I’ve read the whole Bible, I’m not unaware of anything in there, nor would I try to pretend a verse doesn’t exist.
But I think you’re hitting on a really interesting question, that I’d summarize as “If God is real, then why make himself so scarce? Why not reveal himself clearly, clarify his intentions, and prove himself real to avoid all this suffering?”.
I’ll pose an alternate, rhetorical question that’ll tie in later. Why even create humans at all? God could’ve simply created more angels to worship him, or lived in solitude, or heck, in Genesis terms, he could’ve just not put that apple in the garden for Eve to eat so we could’ve all lived in paradise forever.
The answer I see in the Bible, and my own experience, is that God really wants relationship. He actually wants a relationship based on faith, where you choose to have a relationship with him, not because you have to, but because you want to. We’re supposed to be made in God’s image, and we’ve written tons of fiction about the emptiness and purposelessness of happiness without free will, or the sadness of relationships involving a love potion, or more recently AI, and I kinda think that’s what it’s like.
For God, if he made himself undeniable, he couldn’t have a real relationship with us. We’d have to believe in him and have a relationship, it’d just be stupid not to. So I think that’s why God would make a world with physics and chemistry that don’t need him to function. And that’s why he doesn’t descend in a cloud of lightning and thunder and tell us off for all the dumb stuff we do in his name.
That said, I think it’s really fair to take issue with God from that answer. A lot of people will continue to do terrible things based on snippets of the Bible, and it is unfair how cruel a lot of the world is, and how many people suffer in it that wouldn’t have to with a little more divine intervention. I can’t answer that one for ya, it’s an extremely reasonable reaction, and one I wonder about myself sometimes. Make of it what you will.
I’m not really trying to convince you or anyone else here of anything, except maybe that I’m not an asshole despite believing in the Bible. I certainly don’t have any illusions of persuading someone about something as major as their religion in a comment thread online. It’s been an enjoyable discussion though, and generally respectful, so I’m quite pleased with how it’s gone.
Well I must tip my hat to you, despite disagreeing with you. Thanks for your candor.
I suppose I wouldn’t take as much issue with it all if it weren’t for the fact that my inability to believe in something without evidence is cause for my eternal damnation.
I think a belief in a disinterested god (or rather, one who doesn’t intervene) can make a lot more sense given what we observe about our universe.
But since I’m being judged (from what I’ve understood) based on whether or not I accept Jesus as my lord and saviour, I’m just never going to be able see things the Christian way.
Thanks for your thoughts