One thing I will never understand is how people can believe that there is an all-knowing, all-powerful being who created the universe, and wields supreme authority over everything the universe encompasses, and yet simultaneously believe that he’ll take the time to listen to your petty bullshit and wiggle his fingers to get you a new car, or make sure your favorite team wins the superbowl. Surely, if he’s so overwhelmingly powerful, the pleas and devotion of us mere mortals would be completely inconsequential to him. So do Christians believe he’s omniscient and omnipotent, but also incredibly insecure?
He is also omni-benevolent. So, if you are a good Christian, making good thing for a good person is an act of goodness, so He will do it. That’s not a contradiction, but logical consequence of His omni-benevolence.
The true paradox is in so called problem of evil. How come, for example, that small innocent children can horribly suffer in this world, with Omni-benevolent, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent god?
Even if it is true, it is still a contradiction. It is like when someone noticed that a circle can not be a square at the same time, saying that it is yellow does not help.
The true paradox is in so called problem of evil. How come, for example, that small innocent children can horribly suffer in this world, with Omni-benevolent, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent god?
Exactly. Take the example of a child suffering from cancer. Are they suffering because God cannot stop it? Then he is not omnipotent.
Are they suffering because God doesn’t know about it? Then he’s not omniscient.
Are they suffering because God just doesn’t care? Then he’s not omni-benevolent.
A god as described by most religious people, especially Christians, cannot exist while at the same time suffering exists. And don’t give me the “free will” or “challenge” bull crap because a 5 year old with cancer cannot exercise their free will because of the cancer and they do not deserve that kind of pain. It’s cruel to “challenge” a parents faith by making an innocent child suffer.
Yeah - Christians don’t even have resurrection to fall back on here. At least Hindus can cite karmic debt - the idea that little Timmy, who is suffering from leukemia, is just reaping the reward of being an absolute bastard in a former life.
Hindu do not have this Omni-omni-omni god. But Christian do. One excuse could be that if child suffers and die then it gets to heaven. But then, why would Omni-benevolent god would put chile through that?
Not only that, but he also created them as poor and killed their baby cousin with cancer and tortures all the exploited people and animals in the world.
I don’t believe in omnipotent or omniscient gods, only normal ones, but I’ll bite your hypothetical.
An omniscient god would necessarily have a perfect sense of empathy. They would know what everyone is feeling. And to know a feeling is to feel it, so they would feel every feeling in the world, at full intensity. Obviously such a being would need to be all emotionally resilient as well as all knowing. But they would care for the problems of mortals, because they would feel what mortals do. Perhaps in such a hypothetical, prayers are simply a person attaching a feeling of urgency to their needs, in hope that their god will feel this urgency too and respond.
But of course, I believe in normal gods, so this is all just an intellectual exercise to me.
One thing I will never understand is how people can believe that there is an all-knowing, all-powerful being who created the universe, and wields supreme authority over everything the universe encompasses, and yet simultaneously believe that he’ll take the time to listen to your petty bullshit and wiggle his fingers to get you a new car, or make sure your favorite team wins the superbowl. Surely, if he’s so overwhelmingly powerful, the pleas and devotion of us mere mortals would be completely inconsequential to him. So do Christians believe he’s omniscient and omnipotent, but also incredibly insecure?
They hear their ego telling them they’re the best and deserve everything they want and conflate it with the voice of God.
He is also omni-benevolent. So, if you are a good Christian, making good thing for a good person is an act of goodness, so He will do it. That’s not a contradiction, but logical consequence of His omni-benevolence.
The true paradox is in so called problem of evil. How come, for example, that small innocent children can horribly suffer in this world, with Omni-benevolent, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent god?
It’s part of the plan, of course. And no you don’t get to see the plan
Even if it is true, it is still a contradiction. It is like when someone noticed that a circle can not be a square at the same time, saying that it is yellow does not help.
Exactly. Take the example of a child suffering from cancer. Are they suffering because God cannot stop it? Then he is not omnipotent.
Are they suffering because God doesn’t know about it? Then he’s not omniscient.
Are they suffering because God just doesn’t care? Then he’s not omni-benevolent.
A god as described by most religious people, especially Christians, cannot exist while at the same time suffering exists. And don’t give me the “free will” or “challenge” bull crap because a 5 year old with cancer cannot exercise their free will because of the cancer and they do not deserve that kind of pain. It’s cruel to “challenge” a parents faith by making an innocent child suffer.
Yeah - Christians don’t even have resurrection to fall back on here. At least Hindus can cite karmic debt - the idea that little Timmy, who is suffering from leukemia, is just reaping the reward of being an absolute bastard in a former life.
Hindu do not have this Omni-omni-omni god. But Christian do. One excuse could be that if child suffers and die then it gets to heaven. But then, why would Omni-benevolent god would put chile through that?
Not only that, but he also created them as poor and killed their baby cousin with cancer and tortures all the exploited people and animals in the world.
It’s quite easy to understand. They’re dumb, suffer from mental challenges, or both.
Don’t overestimate humans.
This is kinda Preacher, now I think about it
Yeah. Garth Ennis had a point.
I don’t believe in omnipotent or omniscient gods, only normal ones, but I’ll bite your hypothetical.
An omniscient god would necessarily have a perfect sense of empathy. They would know what everyone is feeling. And to know a feeling is to feel it, so they would feel every feeling in the world, at full intensity. Obviously such a being would need to be all emotionally resilient as well as all knowing. But they would care for the problems of mortals, because they would feel what mortals do. Perhaps in such a hypothetical, prayers are simply a person attaching a feeling of urgency to their needs, in hope that their god will feel this urgency too and respond.
But of course, I believe in normal gods, so this is all just an intellectual exercise to me.