God is responsible for all the bad stuff that happens

[MichaelB]

Personally I think most of you are wrong. NO man knows all the answers to the mystery of life but we do get a lot of our answers from the Bible and from looking into ourselves (our soul) and listen carefully to what our soul tells us since we were given our soul as a gift from God. There can be no black without white, there can be no right without left, there can be no beauty without ugly. Get the point here. There can be no good without bad and no bad without good. This is the perfect order of things which only God could have come up with. Just like everything else in life this was not by accident but by divine creation. Does this help with answering your question?

 

[samsara15]

Those of us who are not Christians find very little value in the Bible, and find your conception of good and evil based on sin strange, to say the least, since human beings are simply animals acting like the animals they are.

We would want to know what purpose the existence of parasites accomplishes, for example. Why people are born with deformities or birth defects. What purpose diseases serve.

Not all of us believe that a soul exists, and given the harsh world we live in, living in it does not seem to be a gift, but often seems more like a curse.

 

[PLC1]

Those of us who are not Christians find very little value in the Bible, and find your conception of good and evil based on sin strange, to say the least, since human beings are simply animals acting like the animals they are.

We would want to know what purpose the existence of parasites accomplishes, for example. Why people are born with deformities or birth defects. What purpose diseases serve.

Not all of us believe that a soul exists, and given the harsh world we live in, living in it does not seem to be a gift, but often seems more like a curse.

No, human beings are more than just animals acting like animals.

MichaelB told you that God gave man a soul. That is not quite right, as a human is a soul. God gave us our bodies, so that we could experience life in a body. The body is an animal, and without the guidance of the soul, would simply act like an animal.

Man is capable of altruism. Altruism is not a function of the body, but of the soul. The soul is able to control the body, or at least most souls are.

As for why we have physical challenges, why there are bad things in life, MachaelB told you that, too. Go back and reread his post.

 

[MichaelB]

No, human beings are more than just animals acting like animals.

MichaelB told you that God gave man a soul. That is not quite right, as a human is a soul. God gave us our bodies, so that we could experience life in a body. The body is an animal, and without the guidance of the soul, would simply act like an animal.

Man is capable of altruism. Altruism is not a function of the body, but of the soul. The soul is able to control the body, or at least most souls are.

As for why we have physical challenges, why there are bad things in life, MachaelB told you that, too. Go back and reread his post.

Thank you PLC1 ... and yes a human is a soul which God gave us and our bodies. You just put it better than I did. Thank you for your input.

 

[samsara15]

I told you that I am not a Christian. I am a monist, and do not believe there is any such thing as a soul. Even ants exhibit altruistic behavior.

MichealB does not answer the question.

 

[The Scotsman]

..........

 

[samsara15]

A God that made sex, wine, and beer cannot be entirely unkind.

But perfect? Spare me.

On the other hand, perhaps God is like infinity...no matter how far you go, you're not ever quite there yet. Our universe is an evolving entity.

 

[PLC1]

I told you that I am not a Christian. I am a monist, and do not believe there is any such thing as a soul. Even ants exhibit altruistic behavior.

MichealB does not answer the question.

Main Entry:
mo·nism
1 a: a view that there is only one kind of ultimate substance b: the view that reality is one unitary organic whole with no independent parts

Hm... I'm not sure I really understand that philosophy. One kind of ultimate substance? What might that be like?


Ants do not exhibit any kind of behavior that they were not programmed to exhibit. Insects have brains like computers, that do whatever the creator has programmed them to do. They are more like organic machines than anything else. They don't make choices.

And MichaelB answered your questions. You just didn't agree with his answers, that's all.

 

[MichaelB]

Let me try putting it this way. I created my children but I am not responsible (they are adults) for their lives. I gave them the tools they needed to become adults and it was THEIR responsibility to remember what they were taught. Like a mommy bird when she teaches her children how to fly and once they can fly on their own they go and make their own home and family. I am not responsible for the bad in my children's lives just like God is not responsible for the bad in our lives. God created the world he does not control it. The responsibility was given to us to take care of ourselves and the world. Does this answer your question or do I need to go on?

 

[samsara15]

You do not claim to be all-powerful and all-knowing, as you claim your God to be. Therefore, you have no foreknowledge of what choices your children will make. Your analogy fails.

 

[samsara15]

Matter / energy is one substance. Or it is God, if you chose to see it that way. Or the void from which the Big Bang came, if you can see it that way. All the same.

 

[samsara15]

You might also note the thread below posing a few views regarding how the Hindu conception of Brahman might be conceived.

 

[MichaelB]

You do not claim to be all-powerful and all-knowing, as you claim your God to be. Therefore, you have no foreknowledge of what choices your children will make. Your analogy fails.

And what is that suppose to mean? Just because God is powerful and all knowing doesn't mean he is responsible for ANY of the "bad stuff"... REMEMBER: white, black. Left, right. Good, bad.... if you need more explaining I will be more than happy to do just that but I don't think you get it and hay, that's ok too. God created us all to be different and to have different views etc. We just don't agree that's all.

 

[MichaelB]

Matter / energy is one substance. Or it is God, if you chose to see it that way. Or the void from which the Big Bang came, if you can see it that way. All the same.

And just how do you think the Big Bang came about? Would love to hear your theory.

 

[samsara15]

Both Time and space may be like the equation xy = 0, and neither may ever quite reach zero. On the whole, the mystery of existence is one I think is unanswerable.

No, we don't agree Michael, that much is clear. I hear your explanation but consider it to be nonsense. On the other hand, some of the others here apparently do not.