rainbow walking

I am wrong and God does exist?

And what if this God really is omniscient...meaning super intelligent? Wouldn't that mean he would really respect intelligence and people dedicated to "Truth" even at the risk of eternal damnation?


What if this God really established the carrot of eternal life in heaven as a test, only instead of blind, obedient sheep who were in it for the selfish desire to attain this eternal life in heaven, he also established this paradigm of "Faith" as a motive test?

What if it turns out the atheist will be rewarded with eternal life in heaven because he was willing to sacrifice his existence to eternal damnation for refusing to surrender his intellectual integrity to the whims of a Jewish fable?

What if a really super intelligent God had the same intellectual integrity and really respected the people who would not cave in to threats of eternal damnation but remained consistent to their dedication to the minute bits and pieces of truth that could be ascertained incrementally over long periods of time and with great effort as a result of this dedication rather than allowing their intellects to be swayed by promises of eternal life if only they would allow this one little shortcut of revelation to permeate and color their intrepretational faculties?


What if God really wants to be found by men of REASON and established faith to weed out those who aren't really interested in putting forth the effort to find him, but are eager for a shortcut to avoid the effort?


What if................................................ ...............................?

Hedshaker

Well God is an atheist too, right? Created in his own image and all that :huh:

Chris Weimer

What if? There's still no evidence.

rainbow walking

And may never be...in this life. Which is the point of this thread. What if those who refuse to accept his existence on faith are the one's he's seeking to populate heaven with? What value could be had, by a being with supernatural intelligence, from people with the gullibility to accept a host of claims without proof, motivated by a desire to escape punishment and secure a reward just for believing? Only a dictator demands blind obedience.

Maronan

Well, for one thing, Pascal's Wager would go out the window.

pob14

Pascal bets on the "don't pass". [Edit: Maronan beat me by that much!]

Any current or former D&D or other RPG players out there? (I'm guessing that's a big fat yes ). Anyway: Ever had a DM who set up a door, or whatever, that made you do something completely stupid to get it open, and gave only vague hints as to what it was?

"Okay, my elf is naked, dancing the Macarena, while the barbarian strangles a chicken using only his rectal muscles, and the magic-user casts Cure Light Wounds on the third knothole from the left."
"It opens just a crack, then slams shut."
"DAMMIT!"

That's how the God of the Bible strikes me. "Believe on the name of Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." Under this view, it doesn't matter what else I do, how many children I rape or Kidz Bop albums I buy, I'm okay as long as I "believe on his name", whatever that means.

I would think the rules ought to make more sense: the Golden Rule and whatnot. So maybe . . . the scroll is false! Maybe, as rainbow walking is suggesting, all we need to do to open the door is use our brains and turn the damn doorknob.

But then, I'm not the DM here. So, I dunno.

notasheep

Hi, Rainbow, and all!

I'm currently developing a new theology (just for fun), and I think you're on the right path. You see, there's actually a Super-God who created all of the lesser Gods, but hasn't revealled his existence to any of them, or us. But you've got the basic idea right: He/She/It is looking for people who can find their way past the BS.
Unless there's a Super-Duper-God who created Super-Gods because Eternity was so freakin' boring, and he wanted some entertainment.

Agnostic Theist

Surely the theist who rejects religion is more likely to be rewarded by that criteria?

(Yeah, I'm that kind of theist, sue me if I don't send you a postcard from heaven )

Carin Nel

Surprise! Yes, He is seeking just those ones you are talking about. Yes!
It does not matter what you believe, what you've done, who you are, where you come from. He wants YOU. Forget your belief system, what your convictions are...whether you're an Agnostic Theist, a, Atheis, an infidel, heithen, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Satanist, Buddit, pantheist, you name it, God wants YOU.

Jack the Bodiless

...Interesting. This is from the guy who posted here:
I'm thinking maybe this all-inclusive universalism of yours is still having some kinks ironed out?