Why Earth?

[secondeve]

There is a difference between faith and delusion. Many statements in the Bible require a person to reflect and say, "Is it faith to believe this or is it delusional". Believing in talking snakes, donkeys, 900-year-old men, etc. are on the side of delusion in my opinion.

Unless there is an all powerful creator who makes such things possible.

If God could do these things, which are logically impossible to us, he could give us free will in a world without Sin. But he hasn't. If it could be proven that God is all-loving and all-powerful, that might be one thing, but the Bible, and what we can know about God from the Bible, means that, unless you can debunk my statement, this isn't the case.

[Giaour]

I believe God created us with freewill so that we would love Him by choice not obligation.

When I used to tell my son that I loved him, he would say, you have to, you're my mom.

I would tell him that I love him because he is funny, smart, considerate and a wonderful person.

Not that I love him because I am his mom, but I would love him even if I wasn't.

Doesn't it mean so much more to know you are loved by choice?

I think we are on the earth to learn how to live in heaven.

If we can't love each other on earth, how will be able to love eachother in heaven?

If we can't worship God on earth, how can we worship him in heaven?

Like the song says

"We're getting ready for Glory".

If God can do anything, even the logically impossible, then he can give us free will to choose his love in a world without Sin, which would be the all-loving thing to do. Seeing as this isn't the case, he is either all-loving but not all powerful, or all-powerful but not all-loving.

How can we distinguish between right and wrong if there is no wrong to compare it to?

[secondeve]

How can we distinguish between right and wrong if there is no wrong to compare it to?

Presumably, if he is all-powerful, God would have an answer for that one, too. It seems to me that people find reasons for why God made the world as it is because we know how it works and so, presumably, he must have done it for a reason - we must need evil, if God let it into the world, to show us what good really is. The problem is, though, if he really can do anything, even the logically impossible, then he doesn't need evil: so either he isn't all-good and let us have Sin, or isn't all-powerful, and this is the only way the world could've been despite what he wanted for us.

[Giaour]

It's like you are comparing man to God.

Of course God does not need evil.

Man does so that we can recognize good when we see it.

The struggle with sin makes us stronger and when we defeat it, we are closer to God.

[secondeve]

It's like you are comparing man to God.

Of course God does not need evil.

Man does so that we can recognize good when we see it.

The struggle with sin makes us stronger and when we defeat it, we are closer to God.

God created man. If we "require" evil to have choice and to comprehend good, and if God created everything, then our requirement of evil only exists because God made the world that way. That's what I meant.

[Giaour]

That's a lot of "if's".

[secondeve]

That's a lot of "if's".

I'm only going off what you said. And I say 'if' because, for me, it's a qualifier: the ultimate 'if' for me is 'if' God exists, which is why I tend to put it in front of things. Let me rephrase what I just said, with not a single 'if.'

God created man. We "require" evil to have choice and to comprehend good. God created everything: therefore, God made us we require evil to understand good.

Edited July 12, 2006 by secondeve

[Giaour]

makes sense to me

[secondeve]

makes sense to me

So you accept that God cannot be all-loving?

[Giaour]

Ofcourse He's all loving.

Well, He does hate sin.