Johnny Skeptic

There have been some discussions regarding this issue before, but I would like to discuss it some more. If the God of the Bible's authority is legitmate because he created the universe, then what evidence is there that he did so other than "the Bible says so"? If there are other reason's, what are they?

Edit: Oops, I meant to post this thread at the GRD forum, so I request that a moderator transfer it there, and that the moderator change the word "power" to "authority."

mata leao

what made Stalin's power "legitimate'? power requires no consent.... when you are on your death bed you may understand.... you have no power over death, but death has power over you..... if you talk to friends of Dr. Anthony Flew, you will know why he is hedging his bets in favor of God. Its simple mathematics really.atheists will never understand because they dont want to undertsand. citing canned IIDB excuses doesnt explain ........

Mageth

So your God is comparable to the despotic tyrant Stalin? OK...if you say so.

Tyranny requires no consent. Note that power wielded without consent over a people soon crumbles. The USSR self-destructed in the 1980s.

Death has no power over me at all. Death is simply something that comes naturally to all life. Death is as much a part of life as birth.

If you understood Anthony Flew's position at all, you would understand that the deistic god he came to accept has nothing at all to do with "power" over us, nothing at all to do with a promise of an afterlife, and absolutely nothing at all to do with "hedging his bets".

You've repeatedly flung Flew at us around here. And wrongly so. Flew does not believe in the sort of God you believe in.

Read about it here:

http://www.secweb.org/asset.asp?AssetID=369

Please explain this statement.

Please explain to me what it is that I will never understand because I don't want to understand? I have no idea what you're talking about...

Citing "canned IIDB excuses" to what, exactly?

Once again, your ramblings make little sense.

Toto

Title changed per your request, and this thread is off to GRD.

Johnny Skeptic

QUOTE=mata leao] What made Stalin's power "legitimate"? Power requires no consent.... when you are on your death bed you may understand....you have no power over death, but death has power over you..... if you talk to friends of Dr. Anthony Flew, you will know why he is hedging his bets in favor of God. Its simple mathematics really. Atheists will never understand because they don't want to undertsand. Citing canned IIDB excuses doesn't explain ........[/QUOTE]

Would you mind answering the topic question? Well of course power requires no consent, but that is not the issue here. The issue here is what makes God's authority legitimate? Otherwise stated, what makes the God of the Bible's enforcement of rules of his own choosing any more legitimate than any other powerful being enforcing rules of his own choosing?

Johnny Skeptic

As is usually the case. Mata leao never hangs around any thread for very long because he doesn't want to embarrass himself. He seldom stays on topic, choosing mostly to use general fundie propaganda in his attempts to divert attention away from the topic.

Mustaffa

Stalin's power or any political power from any bureaucrat comes from the barrel of a gun.

Mageth

I guess mata's point was that God has a really big gun.

The omnigun, I reckon.

Lunawalk

I ve heard the argument that since God made us he can do with as he pleases. Like an potter with his pot. It's his creation. However we are living beings. We are in an sense created by our parents. They guide us in childhood so that we can become indepant adults. They have no power over us when we become adults. The God in the bible is basically you do it or else. For the anceint Isrealites do what he says and get an good life and sucess in all their endevors. or disobey early death bad crops and exile. In the new testment Believe in Christ and got eternal life in heaven. or not believe and suffer eternally in hell. In their view he an god you don't mess with.

sharon45

There aren't any other reasons and this is because the god in the bible couldn't exist anyway and the bible says so.