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I agree with your first sentence, and indeed the Bible is an illustration of the cultures that wrote it, but as for the rest: the problem with your analogy is that God is supposed to be perfect...and consistently loving. Unlike you as a human dad, who are expected to have failings.
Now if it were not presumed that God is perfect, then His many over the top actions and reactions in the Bible would not be so "erm wut?"-inducing. They'd still be upsetting, sure. But not weirdly contradictory and perhaps even less believable than other mythologies.
For example, Greeks did not consider their gods perfect - Greek and Roman gods effed up and/or did objectionable/emotion-driven things all the time. So the stories weren't so hypocritical or self-contradictory as the Bible, as a whole, is. People were able to see the bigger picture, as you illustrate, because there was no giant elephant in the room that way.
I agree with ya. I don't think they have the traits correct myself. It's not Omni, 'cept maybe present. The word "perfect" is confusing to me. The rock in my back yard is a "perfect" rock in my back yard. So calling god perfect is, at best, a human descriptor that is human. So that description can be considered incomplete at best.
I agree again, as soon as the bible is taken literally it is quite meaningless. The people that use the bible should be telling their clown literalist that they are making all of them look bad. They need to focus on what we know to describe their god. I don't get why it is "bad" to change your views when we discover something new. Its perfectly fine to say "Yeah we thought that back then, then we learned this, that, and the other." well to me anyway.
The BIG question in my mind is "Does the fact we are entering a more enlightened age where we say, 'Such a God of the Old Testament never really existed to begin with' free us from the reality He just might have been that terrible anyway, or is it "God molds Himself to our expectations and beliefs so the fact more and more believe such a terrible God never existed causes God to say, 'Okay, if you don't I'm so terrible anymore then I won't be terrible anymore. I'm perfectly willing to be whatever you want me to be. You want me to be totally living and do away with hell, fine. They no longer exist'.
Thrill:
Proposition one above is quite possible, IMO.
Proposition two would be absolutely lovely: i.e. there is indeed a conscious God at least somewhat similar to the consciousness of Biblegod, and it is slowly realizing how incredibly painful He has made life to be (yes, even making *the possibility of* all this pain is still making/creating it), and is beginning to have some compassion. I have thought about that before. If there is a God can it begin to realize how hard life actually is for human beings - indeed, for everything on earth? And realize that its "tests" are excruciating and sometimes unbelievably cruel? If God really did come down as Jesus (not sure I buy that but let's suppose), then you'd think He figured this out at least a little: "Oh, so THIS is what pain in a body you can't escape from actually feels like." But it's been 2000 years since then so either He's slow on the uptake, stubborn, or the fact that even through Jesus' pain he realized He would be God at the end of it, LOL, made it a VERY different experience from another human's pain.
But yes, it is a lovely, wonderful and hopeful thought that maybe, just maybe, there is a God and maybe it is sllllllllllowly beginning to have some sort of compassion for how unbelievably hard and painful life is, and how this strange, punishing (sometimes mysteriously so - i.e. what child does anything to "deserve" being raped to death by his/her parent? How does an Alzheimer's patient "deserve" terrifying painful cancer s/he can't understand due to the dementia?) actually drives people to do WORSE things (ever seen an animal driven mad by pain? Snapping viciously even at the owner who cares for and is gentle with it?), rather than providing appropriate "tests" of any given person's character.
Proof positive that God is way, way, way less than perfect.
Please don't transfer your imperfectness onto God. He created humanity perfectly imperfect.
Being made in His image does not always mean what He looks like. It could be the image of Him being the Subjector.
Please don't transfer your imperfectness onto God. He created humanity perfectly imperfect.
Being made in His image does not always mean what He looks like. It could be the image of Him being the Subjector.
Um, that was based on you saying we were made in God's image...but then again, I knew you'd turn that around. You said you are glad we are made in God's image. Then you said God created us to be imperfect. Which is it or are you admitting God is imperfect? If so, that's what I said in the first place.
And where did I say image meant what God looks like? Indeed I was talking about actions specifically, as was obvious.
Your "Christ-like"ness is almost entirely composed, as far as I can see, of twisting things around. WWJD? Manipulate, apparently. Eusie, it's remarkable how much you'll twist and dodge rather than having a reasonable conversation...I guess you don't think your god will hold up to actual questions and His actions don't have actual answers, therefore manipulation tactics are required in order to "win an argument". I feel sad for you. I always feel sad for you when I see the things you write.
I'd love to continue this conversation as something reasonable, interesting and containing actual possibilities with anyone willing.
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