7thangel

Mike, why dont you put your child in a box, from birth till it reaches the age of puberty. Do not talk to the child just feed it. Dont give him steak for food, just sweets. And then bring it to me and I will show you, that the child cannot savor and be happy eating Jamaican jerk chicken, as I am. If you can convince the child that Jamaican jerk chicken is good the moment the child tasted the Jamaican jerk chicken, you win.

7thangel

You must have forgotten that God is the creator of "all things," visible or invisible. Which to a warped mind thinks that the word "all" excludes one's free will. That's absurd. In the strictest sense, to know God is for us to know reality, not think we have power over reality. And I think that is the very point why knowing God really meant to realize himself as dead. Being just a vessel, having no power in itself except it be at the will of its creator.

So you see, it is not about accepting, or not accepting, that we are being predestined. That is the absurdity of my fellow Christians. So there is nothing left really unto us but just to know. Unfortunately, you miss the point that that is the implication of knowing God. You plainly did not learn from the story of Moses and the pharoah, so you come up with shallow conclusions.

mike_decock

What are you talking about and what does it have to do with your supposed necessity for evil?



-Mike..

Wyz_sub10

I was wondering the same thing, to be honest.

I'm guessing that 7thangel is trying to say that a child in isolation will have no basis for comparison, and will therefore not be able to appreciate 'highs' when contrasted to 'lows'. (i.e. god allows evil so we can appreciate good)

This analogy, though, presents a dozen problems, not the least of which is that fact that a child needs much more than food to grow and develop.

It's also inaccurate. Why wouldn't the child appreciate the taste of jerk chicken? If all he/she was fed was protein paste, then he/she might love the taste. If the child was fed a variety of things, then he/she would absolutely have a basis for comparison.

Things are not simply 'good' or 'evil'. They can be neutral, or varying degrees. If I like chocolate, can I not better appreciate 10 grams of chocolate if I normally only have 1 gram?

BadBadBad

I didn't forget that God is the creator. I don't believe it, and I never have.

You're trying to say that there is no free will. You read Romans 9, and you conclude, and rightly so, that God chooses who will be saved and who will be damned. In this thread, you have stated that God is evil, and that he has a purpose in this predestination. You're trying to say that that purpose is to educate us on evil so that we can understand what good is. In my post I'm trying to point out that the same passages that tell us God has predestined us to damnation or salvation, also tell us his purpose.

That purpose is clearly stated as: "That my wonders may be multiplied." That "ye may know how that I am the Lord." "That my name be declared throughout the Earth." "That thou may knowest that there is none like me in all the Earth." "That I might shew my power in thee."

I believe that clearly stated purpose contradicts the point you're trying to make. Plus, your position is non-sensical in stating that the only way to enjoy and appreciate good is to experience evil either directly or indirectly. I remind my kids they should appreciate what they have on their plate, because some kids aren't so lucky. Well, I think he could live his whole life happy that he's getting served a nice hot meal from loving parents without having to see whole communities of children dying of starvation. That or experiencing starvation himself. Sure, if he's exposed to the fact that children have/are starving, or if he sees it or experiences it directly, that certainly might allow him to appreciate more completely what he's got on his plate tonight. Think about it. If he really understood that children are starving while he sits in his nice comfy house eating his nice hot broccoli, how does that really make him appreciate and enjoy it more? I think that kind of enjoyment based upon the knowledge that other kids are starving right now is kind of sick. Don't you?

If I were an omnipotent parent, I wouldn't commit genocide against all the inhabitants of Ethiopia through generations of starvation so that my son might appreciate the broccoli on his plate tonight. And again, these passages clearly show that differentiating good and evil isn't his purpose at all. It clearly says his purpose is to wave his own glory flag for all to see, and if you think that's shallow, well it's your religion, not mine.