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God's attitude towards science and progress

iouae

Well-known member
If God were to do something evil then He would become evil, by definition.
Clete

Reminds me of this...

tailmain.jpg


A cat chasing its own tail.

Only by your definition could God do evil.

By mine He cannot, since anything according to God's will is "good", and God cannot go against His own will.
Thus God cannot do evil, by definition.
 

iouae

Well-known member
Love, like every other moral concept in your religion, must necessarily be defined by your god's arbitrary fiat command/action. In other words, according to you, if your god hadn't send Jesus to die and had simply doomed the whole race to eternal torment and agony, that would, by your own definition, be good!

You love to make up the worst stories YOU can think of, and attribute them to me.
I never say anything of the kind.

Just because God, by the very definition of being "God" can do whatever He wants, does not mean that the God of the Bible wants to do all the evil you can think up.

The God of the Bible does good, has angels and man witness it, and that is the only way we men and angels can know what "good" is. By seeing the good things God does.
Added to that, God writes down laws defining what is "good". On top of that we see the Bible stories of how God helps, say, Ruth or Esther and the Jews, and we are free to draw our own conclusions as to how the goodness of God operates.

Your definition that "good" is "what is conducive to life" and then trying to shoe-horn God into that definition, and somehow trying to limit Him, just does not help.
 

iouae

Well-known member
Clete

All your posts tell me that you want God to come with one of these...

watt-regulator-005.jpg


You are going to keep saying so, in different ways, but in the end, God does not come with a regulator other than His own intrinsic goodness.

Heb 6:13
For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

God did not swear "By goodness, ...." because there is nothing greater than Himself, including "goodness".
God swore "By Myself..."
 

JudgeRightly

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Reminds me of this...

tailmain.jpg


A cat chasing its own tail.

Only by your definition could God do evil.

By mine He cannot, since anything according to God's will is "good", and God cannot go against His own will.
Thus God cannot do evil, by definition.

You seem to trust your god's will more than you trust your god himself.

Just like calvinists.

We have faith that God will not do evil, not because he can't do evil, but because He IS GOOD.

Your god is limited because he can't do evil, he can only do good, and his good is arbitrary. My God is not limited because he could do evil, but won't, because goodness is part of His nature, it's not a source above Him, and it's not something He decrees, its something He IS. That is why God does good things, because He is good, not because he decrees goodness.

We have more faith in our living God than you have in your made up god.

(and yes, my other reply is still in composition)
 

glorydaz

Well-known member
It wasn't necessary for Christ to die. The whole faith chapter of Hebrews 11 has people like Moses and David saved before Christ died.



But if you have found the milk of the word hard to swallow, the meat might choke you.

Um....you make a statement like the above, and then pretend you're ready for meat. :chuckle:
 

iouae

Well-known member
My God is not limited because he could do evil, but won't, because goodness is part of His nature, it's not a source above Him, and it's not something He decrees, its something He IS. That is why God does good things, because He is good, not because he decrees goodness.

That description sounds exactly like my God.

Eureka, I think I understand what's going on now.

We are like two blind men, feeling up the same elephant, and describing different parts of it, somewhat differently.

We both worship the same Father, but just "feel" Him to be somewhat different, brother.
 
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iouae

Well-known member
Um....you make a statement like the above, and then pretend you're ready for meat. :chuckle:

The holy angels were created in a "saved" state, were they not? And that without requiring the death of Jesus, right.

What is the difference between the holy angel's "saved" state and a Christian's final saved state?
Will both not end up as holy spirit beings?
 

Clete

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Reminds me of this...

tailmain.jpg


A cat chasing its own tail.

Only by your definition could God do evil.

By mine He cannot, since anything according to God's will is "good", and God cannot go against His own will.
Thus God cannot do evil, by definition.

Have you ever been around a child who's parents raise him such that he cannot do bad things? They have child proofing crap everywhere, gates on the stair case, etc. When the child bangs a toy on the wall, they take away the toy or play the kid in a crib or otherwise make it so that the disturbance cannot happen. The first chance the kid gets he's pulling breakables off shelves at grandma's house or playing with the cleaning supplies under the neighbor's sink. Wise parents, the other hand, discipline their children so that they will not do bad things. That way, regardless of the circumstances, they are confidence that the child is content, safe and pleasant to be around. The difference between cannot and will not makes all the difference in the world. One of the children is good and is one his way to being a productive member of society while the other a caged monster who goes to college and joins Antifa and wants to force you to do "right" as he was.

Which do you god want us to be, the sort of person who cannot do wrong or the person who does not do wrong?

Which is the more virtuous, the prisoner who cannot hurt those around him or the free man who chooses not to harm those around him?

There is no virtue in not doing what cannot be done. As such, your god isn't good.

Clete
 

Clete

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You love to make up the worst stories YOU can think of, and attribute them to me.
I never say anything of the kind.
YES YOU DID!!!

We've been talking about it for several days now! The whole thread is still here for everyone to read, Vowels!

You think that moral goodness is defined by your god's arbitrary, fiat command/action. All I'm doing is taking YOUR OWN DEFINITION OF GOOD and taking it to its logical end. Remember when I mentioned something about unintended consequences? Find that post and read it again.

Just because God, by the very definition of being "God" can do whatever He wants, does not mean that the God of the Bible wants to do all the evil you can think up.
I didn't say that He did!

Do you know the English word "if"? It's sort of a basic word but it is critically important to understand what this word means IF you're going to be able to have conversations in the English language.

The God of the Bible does good, has angels and man witness it, and that is the only way we men and angels can know what "good" is.
That's a completely different point and one that I've already addressed. The means of our knowledge says nothing about what defines right and wrong.

I've stated several times now that, yes, we can know what good is by watching God, Who is THE example of it. But that's only the case because God is, in fact, good! He really is actually righteous. But He isn't righteous because righteousness is defined by His actions. That's backwards and renders the idea of a righteous God meaningless! God is righteous because the word righteous signifies a concept with an actual meaning and God's actions are consistent with that concept. God is therefore righteous because He acts rightly. If God were to do evil, evil would not become good, God would become evil. Otherwise, it would have made no sense to tempt Jesus. (Any of this sound familiar? I've said it all before.)

Can you even see the difference? Have we all been wasting our time debating an idiot who doesn't even know what is being discussed?


By seeing the good things God does.
Added to that, God writes down laws defining what is "good". On top of that we see the Bible stories of how God helps, say, Ruth or Esther and the Jews, and we are free to draw our own conclusions as to how the goodness of God operates.

Your definition that "good" is "what is conducive to life" and then trying to shoe-horn God into that definition, and somehow trying to limit Him, just does not help.
Limit Him? How would I be doing that by providing the exact same definition of good and evil that the bible gives?

Deuteronomy 30:14 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil,

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
Proverbs 11:19 As righteousness leads to life, So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.
Proverbs 19:23 The fear of the Lord leads to life, And he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.


I've quoted some of those already. Are you even reading my posts?

Further, how is it I'm the one limiting God when you're the one telling me that God doesn't choose to do right? God tells us to choose and yet He can't? Who's limiting who here?

The fact is that God does choose and is thereby meaningfully righteous, for He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin.

Resting in Him,
Clete
 
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iouae

Well-known member
Which do you god want us to be, the sort of person who cannot do wrong or the person who does not do wrong?

Which is the more virtuous, the prisoner who cannot hurt those around him or the free man who chooses not to harm those around him?

Clete

I liked your story, and agree with you that one must bring up a child who chooses not to do wrong.
I am 100% on board with your child rearing.

But I fail to see what this has to do with God, or the subject we are discussing, which is the definition of "good".

There is no virtue in not doing what cannot be done. As such, your god isn't good.

And these two sentences makes no sense whatsoever.
 

iouae

Well-known member
YES YOU DID!!!

We've been talking about it for several days now! The whole thread is still here for everyone to read, Vowels!

You think that moral goodness is defined by your god's arbitrary, fiat command/action. All I'm doing is taking YOUR OWN DEFINITION OF GOOD and taking it to its logical end. Remember when I mentioned something about unintended consequences? Find that post and read it again.

Have you ever thought that God can do whatever He wills, but being a good God, He only wills to do "good"?
And have you ever thought that my definition of "good" being whatever God wills to do, would thus be a correct definition?

And you and I may be blind men feeling an elephant and describing this same elephant in different ways. For instance I may insist it has this long tooth, but you are insisting it has this thick back leg - and both of us might be right about our description of that beast.

You insist your God is good.
I say my God is good too.

You say what God wills to do is only good things.
I say the same.

I've stated several times now that, yes, we can know what good is by watching God, Who is THE example of it. But that's only the case because God is, in fact, good!
Which I agree with, and say the same about my God.

He really is actually righteous. But He isn't righteous because righteousness is defined by His actions. That's backwards and renders the idea of a righteous God meaningless!
OK so you don't like my definition of "whatever God wills to do is good".
But why do you keep disliking my God, who only wills to do good, like your God?


God is righteous because the word righteous signifies a concept with an actual meaning
Well find that meaning. Give me a definition of good or righteousness other than my definition which is "Whatever God wills to do IS, by definition, "good"".

Your definition that God is logical, fails to have any meaning, unless you can predict what "logical" thing God is going to do next. Then God goes and does something and surprises all of us, and your definition appears useless, since what God did, seems "illogical" to our little minds.

Then you will argue, "but it is logical on a higher plane".
Which is useless, to appeal to a higher plane. Give me words which work on this plane.

Yet my definition has held up. Although what God did, surprises all of us and even the angels in heaven, it is still seen, in retrospect to have been a good decision.

God is always doing illogical things like ordering water bowls to be filled with water at wedding feasts, so that they can illogically be turned into wine - and surprise everyone.

and God's actions are consistent with that concept. God is therefore righteous because He acts rightly.

Sorry to belabour it, but you still don't have a definition of "acts rightly".
Therefore nothing follows from nothing. Your "therefore" above is therefore meaningless and proves nothing.

If God were to do evil, evil would not become good, God would become evil.
Sorry to belabour it, but just as you have not defined "good" you have not defined the opposite "evil".
Thus we could never know when and if God did evil, since we have nothing to compare His actions with.

Otherwise, it would have made no sense to tempt Jesus. (Any of this sound familiar? I've said it all before.)
And I am sure we will hear it all again until you give a definition of "good" that is of any use.

Satan offered Christ all the kingdoms if Christ would bow down to Satan.
Christ knew what "good" was because He quoted the law.

But the law is just specific instances of the general concept which is "goodness".
Luckily, Christ knew that one of the laws was to have no other gods or worship them, so He applied that definition to His situation. Besides, Christ came from the Father and knew His will.
Hence there is no law "Thou shalt allow thyself to be crucified". Yet Christ knew it was the will of the Father that Christ be crucified. It may not be the will of the Father that I be crucified however.

That is why it is important for us Christians to attune ourselves to the will of the Father, because what the Father wills for me, may not be what the Father wills for you. But we can be assured that the Father never wills us to go against His own law. So I might have had a problem when God orders me to sacrifice my son like Ab was prepared to do. But I reason, that If Christ walked and talked with me, first telling me that I will have a son, then the same One tells me to sacrifice my son - I might obey Him because I would know Him so well.

Can you even see the difference? Have we all been wasting our time debating an idiot who doesn't even know what is being discussed?
This idiot has given his definition of "good".
What we are all waiting for is your definition.

Limit Him? How would I be doing that by providing the exact same definition of good and evil that the bible gives?
Please give that definition already.
 
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iouae

Well-known member
I would like to get some ideas as to why God chose to have this story in the Bible.

2Ki 2:23
And he [Elisha] went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria
 

Clete

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I liked your story, and agree with you that one must bring up a child who chooses not to do wrong.
I am 100% on board with your child rearing.

But I fail to see what this has to do with God, or the subject we are discussing, which is the definition of "good".



And these two sentences makes no sense whatsoever.

I feel like I explained it pretty well. To be moral in nature, an action must be chosen. In order to choose there must be more than one option. If someone acts in my best interest because he cannot do otherwise, then his action was not a morally good or bad, it is amoral (not immoral - amoral - as in not moral). A toaster brown my bread, which is benefit to me but there is nothing moral about the toaster action because it couldn't have done otherwise. If my wife, on the other hand, comes downstairs specifically for the purpose of using the toaster to brown my toast for me, then that is a morally good thing that she has blessed me with. She would be credited for the good deed precisely because she could have done otherwise. A person is only morally responsible for an action if that person could have done otherwise.

This is not a new idea. In recent decades its come to be called the principle of alternate possibilities (PAP for short) because of the work of a guy named Robert Kane (you'd do well to read some of his work - by the way.), and while he may have given the concept a name, he didn't invent the idea. The idea has been understood implicitly and explicitly by philosophers and theologians for millennia.

Clete
 

glorydaz

Well-known member
The holy angels were created in a "saved" state, were they not? And that without requiring the death of Jesus, right.

What is the difference between the holy angel's "saved" state and a Christian's final saved state?
Will both not end up as holy spirit beings?

No, there is no comparison between angels and men. Saved angels? I suppose you have some support for that statement. Nah, you don't, and I'm sure you know that.
 

Clete

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Silver Subscriber
Have you ever thought that God can do whatever He wills, but being a good God, He only wills to do "good"?
And have you ever thought that my definition of "good" being whatever God wills to do, would thus be a correct definition?

And you and I may be blind men feeling an elephant and describing this same elephant in different ways. For instance I may insist it has this long tooth, but you are insisting it has this thick back leg - and both of us might be right about our description of that beast.

You insist your God is good.
I say my God is good too.

You say what God wills to do is only good things.
I say the same.
We've been over this. You're saying much more than this! Unless you've been either intentionally misleading me or we too stupid to know the difference!

No one in their right mind would disagree with what you've said above and in fact I've said the exact same thing but you've been saying more than that, which is what the whole debate has been about.

I don't think for a moment that you don't already know this. This is just you trying to worm your way around having been discovered in your error.

Which I agree with, and say the same about my God.
NO! You don't!

Once again, the entire thread is all still here for everyone to read, Vowels.

OK so you don't like my definition of "whatever God wills to do is good".
But why do you keep disliking my God, who only wills to do good, like your God?
Well, you're changing your entire tune now, Vowels. You want to agree with me now that you've figured out that you can't refute a syllable of what I've said.

Saying that God only wills to do good is not at all the same thing as saying that good is defined by God's will. The later is backward and leads to one having to concede that what is good now didn't have to be good. Good could have been completely different if God had simply decided otherwise. Good is not good by virtue of God's decree. God's decrees are good because they are proper to life. God is good because He acts rightly not because He arbitrarily decided what good is and what it is not.

Well find that meaning. Give me a definition of good or righteousness other than my definition which is "Whatever God wills to do IS, by definition, "good"".

Your definition that God is logical, fails to have any meaning, unless you can predict what "logical" thing God is going to do next. Then God goes and does something and surprises all of us, and your definition appears useless, since what God did, seems "illogical" to our little minds.

Then you will argue, "but it is logical on a higher plane".
Which is useless, to appeal to a higher plane. Give me words which work on this plane.

Yet my definition has held up. Although what God did, surprises all of us and even the angels in heaven, it is still seen, in retrospect to have been a good decision.

God is always doing illogical things like ordering water bowls to be filled with water at wedding feasts, so that they can illogically be turned into wine - and surprise everyone.
First of all, I have on more than one occasion given you the meaning of good. Good grief! It's like talking to a brick wall!

Secondly, there is no such thing as a logic that is on a higher plane. Logic is Logic (I use the capital L on purpose). To be illogical is to be ungodly because God is Logic and Jesus was the very incarnation of Logic. But logic is not the definition of good. What is good is logical but that isn't the definition. The definition of good is that which is proper to Life (again I use the capital L on purpose). We are given our life by the God who is Life. When we act in a manner that is conducive to (i.e. enhances, extends, protects, improves, etc) life we act righteously. When we act in a manner that leads to death (i.e. the negation of life), we sin. There is nothing that anyone could say that is more directly biblical than that, Vowels! That isn't me making something up or deriving it from some obscure ancient text that no one is familiar with. That's straight out of Genesis and Deuteronomy and the Gospels and James and Revelation and probably every book in the whole bible in one form or another. Good = Life, Bad = Dead is pretty much the theme of the book.

Also, God does not do the illogical. Miracle are not illogical in the sense of being irrational. They may be surprising but that isn't what it means to be irrational or illogical in this context.

Sorry to belabour it, but you still don't have a definition of "acts rightly".
Therefore nothing follows from nothing. Your "therefore" above is therefore meaningless and proves nothing.
To act right means to act in a manner proper to life. And, if you want to get more detailed with it, proper to the life of a rational being because it is only to a rational being that matters of life and death can be chosen and thereby be considered moral in nature.

Sorry to belabour it, but just as you have not defined "good" you have not defined the opposite "evil".
Thus we could never know when and if God did evil, since we have nothing to compare His actions with.
That which negates life is evil.

Your second sentence bring up a whole different issue that is actually dealt with rather well by Bob Enyart in his debate with Zakath about "Does God Exist?". It has to do with Euthyphro's Dilemma. The pertanent portions of the debate have been compiled into a single post HERE. Please read it! You won't regret it.

And I am sure we will hear it all again until you give a definition of "good" that is of any use.
Over and over and over again. How are you not on my ignore list?

Satan offered Christ all the kingdoms if Christ would bow down to Satan.
Christ knew what "good" was because He quoted the law.
Are you suggesting that God wasn't good before the Law was given? That's what this mindlessness implies. Jesus would have done evil by bowing to Satan whether the Law existed or not. Right and wrong existed long before the Law.

But the law is just specific instances of the general concept which is "goodness".
Luckily, Christ knew that one of the laws was to have no other gods or worship them, so He applied that definition to His situation. Besides, Christ came from the Father and knew His will.
Hence there is no law "Thou shalt allow thyself to be crucified". Yet Christ knew it was the will of the Father that Christ be crucified. It may not be the will of the Father that I be crucified however.
Luckily?

Look, you need to get away from whoever it is you've learned this garbage from. You blaspheme God as a matter of course! You don't even notice when you're doing it!

Luckily?

Really?!

That is why it is important for us Christians to attune ourselves to the will of the Father, because what the Father wills for me, may not be what the Father wills for you. But we can be assured that the Father never wills us to go against His own law. So I might have had a problem when God orders me to sacrifice my son like Ab was prepared to do. But I reason, that If Christ walked and talked with me, first telling me that I will have a son, then the same One tells me to sacrifice my son - I might obey Him because I would know Him so well.
What's the hang up on the Law? The Law was nailed to the cross and has nothing more to say to the saved Christian. We are not subject to the Law, we are subject to God and Him only. The choice between living your life subject to the Law vs. being subject to God is the same choice that Adam and Eve were faced with. They chose poorly. I suggest that you not do the same. It is condemnation (death) that comes by the Law not salvation and life. ("In the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.")

This idiot has given his definition of "good".
What we are all waiting for is your definition.

Please give that definition already.
Yeah, it's only been presented half a dozen times now - at least - including directly quoting scripture on more than one occasion. Sheesh!

Resting in Him,
Clete
 

JudgeRightly

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I would like to get some ideas as to why God chose to have this story in the Bible.

2Ki 2:23
And he [Elisha] went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria
You should read this:

https://www.gotquestions.org/Elisha-baldhead.html

It explains, quite well, actually, what happened and why, and is a response to your subtle accusation of God.
 

iouae

Well-known member
To act right means to act in a manner proper to life.
Clete

Thanks for your definition Clete. To test it, explain the following story from the perspective of to act right, means to act in a manner proper to life.

Explain if Elisha and God did that.


2Ki 2:23
And he [Elisha] went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria
 

iouae

Well-known member
No, there is no comparison between angels and men. Saved angels? I suppose you have some support for that statement. Nah, you don't, and I'm sure you know that.

I gave you support, but you never quoted it in your reply.

They both end up as holy, spirit beings.

What is the difference between you when you are glorified, and Gabriel say?
 

iouae

Well-known member
I feel like I explained it pretty well. To be moral in nature, an action must be chosen. In order to choose there must be more than one option. If someone acts in my best interest because he cannot do otherwise, then his action was not a morally good or bad, it is amoral (not immoral - amoral - as in not moral). A toaster brown my bread, which is benefit to me but there is nothing moral about the toaster action because it couldn't have done otherwise. If my wife, on the other hand, comes downstairs specifically for the purpose of using the toaster to brown my toast for me, then that is a morally good thing that she has blessed me with. She would be credited for the good deed precisely because she could have done otherwise. A person is only morally responsible for an action if that person could have done otherwise.

This is not a new idea. In recent decades its come to be called the principle of alternate possibilities (PAP for short) because of the work of a guy named Robert Kane (you'd do well to read some of his work - by the way.), and while he may have given the concept a name, he didn't invent the idea. The idea has been understood implicitly and explicitly by philosophers and theologians for millennia.

Clete

Are you maybe suggesting that God is love/good, and that love/good is to voluntarily do that which is conducive to life, such as your wife voluntarily making you toast?
 

JudgeRightly

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Thanks for your definition Clete. To test it, explain the following story from the perspective of to act right, means to act in a manner proper to life.

Explain if Elisha and God did that.


2Ki 2:23
And he [Elisha] went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria
From the link I posted above:

First of all, the word used in the original language is the word for "young men," not "children."

Second, 42 out of a larger group of these young men were killed.

Third, well, you'll need to read the link above for the rest.
 
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