If you were God?

[XChristian]

If you were an all-knowing and all-powerful God how would you justify all the misery and sufferring in the world?

 

[Alexrkr]

I'm malicious. You mean nothing to me. You come you go in a speck of time. I can create an infinite amount of universes in no time at all. I can also destroy it all if I'd like.

The whole "God has a plan" thing never works either. It doesn't explain anything and doesn't take everything into account.

 

[ebia]

If you were an all-knowing and all-powerful God how would you justify all the misery and sufferring in the world?

Leaving aside for the moment problems with phrases like "all-knowing" and "all-powerful", which may need to be addressed later. I wouldn't - I would do something about it.

As YHWH has. Beginning with the call of Abraham and his family and climaxing in the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The root causes of misery and suffering have been dealt with - the suffering and misery itself is being dealt with and will be finally ended when God's New Creation is complete.

 

[ebia]

Can I remind people that in "Questions by non-Christians" only Christians are allowed to respond to the OP (and only the OP to respond to the Christians' responses).

 

[XChristian]

ebia,
So you would eradicate world hunger and poverty? You would cure all the sick little children around the globe of whatever afficts them (remember you created sickness and disease to begin with)? Would you protect those that worship you from the persecution of others or simply just sit back and watch?

 

[ebia]

ebia,
So you would eradicate world hunger and poverty? You would cure all the sick little children around the globe of whatever afficts them (remember you created sickness and disease to begin with)? Would you protect those that worship you from the persecution of others or simply just sit back and watch?

YHWH has acted to deal with all those things, to bring creation back on course. But such a course requires working slowly and messly from within and alongside humanity.

The story of Noah (Genesis 6-9) is written precisely to address the question "why can't evil be quickly eliminated by force". Restorative justice is necessarly a long and frustrating process, full of set-backs, continuing suffering, and so forth, but ultimately it works where force and punative systems do not.

 

[Catherineanne]

If you were an all-knowing and all-powerful God how would you justify all the misery and sufferring in the world?

It is not really safe for Christians to start imagining they are God and pronouncing from on high, so I will let St Julian speak for me on this one.

Thou wouldst know the Lord's meaning in this thing? Know it well; His meaning is Love.

St Julian of Norwich.

 

[aiki]

If you were an all-knowing and all-powerful God how would you justify all the misery and sufferring in the world?

Well, if I were an all-knowing and all-powerful God I'm certain I would not answer this question in the way I would answer it as I am now: sinful, finite, and relatively powerless. In other words, since I am not all-knowing and all-powerful, I cannot answer properly what I would do if I was. Any answer I, or anyone else, would give would only be an ignorant guess.

Peace.

 

[XChristian]

If I were all-powerful and all-knowing and claimed to know things like mercy, compassion and love I would not create living, thinking, feeling, sentient beings with the sole purpose of making them suffer.

If I were all-powerful and all-knowing but did not know love and mercy then it is possible I could create a world like this for my amusement.

If I were an incredibly powerful being (not quite all-powerful) and not all-knowing and incompetent I could create a world like this and still claim to actually love my creations that I make suffer through my mistakes.

Thats just my ignorant guess but at least I'm trying.

 

[Talrayn]

If you were an all-knowing and all-powerful God how would you justify all the misery and sufferring in the world?

Because I'm not sane.

 

[aiki]

If I were all-powerful and all-knowing and claimed to know things like mercy, compassion and love I would not create living, thinking, feeling, sentient beings with the sole purpose of making them suffer.

How do you know this? You aren't all-powerful or all-knowing, so you can't really say what you would or would not do. The only thing you can know about this matter is that being omnipotent and omniscient would put you in a radically different state than you are in now, which would necessarily and profoundly alter your answer to your question.

I can say, though, that the omnipotent and omniscient God of the Bible doesn't make beings for the sole purpose of making them suffer.

If I were all-powerful and all-knowing but did not know love and mercy then it is possible I could create a world like this for my amusement.

Anything is possible.

If I were an incredibly powerful being (not quite all-powerful) and not all-knowing and incompetent I could create a world like this and still claim to actually love my creations that I make suffer through my mistakes.

Again, how do you know this? The fact is, you don't. You have no real idea what you would do if you were as you describe above. I get your point, however. You think God is bumbling and malicious and you don't like that He is. Of course, the God you're criticizing is not the God of the Bible. The God you're obliquely attacking sounds more like one of the strawman caricatures atheists like to use to slam the God Christians worship and obey.

Thats just my ignorant guess but at least I'm trying.

"Trying"? You make it sound here like what you're doing has some admirable quality to it.

Peace.

 

[Lukaris]

This is the trap, endless questions about "what if God....?" This reply is not to condemn anyone who ponders this question since many Christians anguished over it before fully trusting in Christ. All you can do is live your life as best as possible as Christ directed & his teachings about addressing our human suffering preceded the modern secular compassion ethic (not to criticise anyone who does good works). It is not wrong to (soberly) hope and pray that whatever good works you do is to help participate in the restoration of fallen creation. Christ calls us to help do what many feel God has allegedly shorted us on but we must have faith that the fruition will bear out in the afterlife. The basics of the 10 commandments, love God w/ all your heart, soul, & mind & your neighbor as yourself, prayer & charity are the most sound guiding principles. Read John 14:21-25 as to what Christ tells us re this. From this, he promises us the Holy Sprit in John 14:26. In John 16:33, the Lord assures us, "These things I have spoken to you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Believe me, I am nothing special & if you have many God given skills then go with them do what you can. Even small acts of mercy coupled with humility will not go unrecognized by the Lord (see Mathew 25:31-46). God bless.

 

[XChristian]

Lukaris,
Lol! Its a trap! A trap for what? If you don't want to answer my question thats fine. None of your fellow believers did either. You don't want to go to Hell. I understand that. I was Christian once.

 

[XChristian]

aiki,
All-powerful implies being able to do anything...ANYTHING. Including creating a world were people do not suffer. If I felt love for people I would not want them to suffer. Therefore I would create a world where there would be no suffering. That seems straightforward enough to me.

 

[Lukaris]

Lukaris,
Lol! Its a trap! A trap for what? If you don't want to answer my question thats fine. None of your fellow believers did either. You don't want to go to Hell. I understand that. I was Christian once.

Then what is the big deal? Not all Christians assume all non Christians will go to hell but we have our firm belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour and do not judge others and do not assume to know who he will save or not otherwise. Faith is non negotiable but your former faith should have instructed you that cooperation for the common good is sound. For a Christian to make subjective assumptions of God is like being a God fearing atheist.

 

[XChristian]

Lukaris,
My original question was basically if you were God how would you justify all the suffering and misery in the world. Or in other words if God is good as he and you claim why is there so much pointless misery and suffering in the world? A common and important question posed by most if not all non-believers at some point. The only answer from believers to this question I've heard is that we suffer because we're bad. Bad, naughty sinners. To non-believers this sounds quite similiar to mythological stories of Ra, Odin, Zeus and countless other mythological beings punishing mortals for being bad and naughty. As before when I've asked Christians this question they evade it or say its Gods will. It is not a big deal for me. I posed this question to see if anyone could suprise me with something I've never heard or considered before. So far I'm disappointed.

 

[aiki]

aiki,
All-powerful implies being able to do anything...ANYTHING. Including creating a world were people do not suffer. If I felt love for people I would not want them to suffer.Therefore I would create a world where there would be no suffering. That seems straightforward enough to me.

Hmmm...I feel the same way you do. I don't want those whom I love to suffer, either. Would removing all suffering from the world require anything else to be removed? If you think about it for a minute, you might conclude that it does. You see, the Bible makes it clear that sin, the choosing to do what is wrong or evil, introduced suffering into the world. Consequently, it would take the removal of the capacity and the opportunity both to choose and to do evil to make a world without suffering. But this would mean a world populated by puppets. Doing good would be the only option; this would mean the death of choice, of free will. Is it worth it to you to be made a puppet in order that all suffering would cease? Apparently, God doesn't think it is.

Peace.

 

[Lukaris]

Lukaris,
My original question was basically if you were God how would you justify all the suffering and misery in the world. Or in other words if God is good as he and you claim why is there so much pointless misery and suffering in the world? A common and important question posed by most if not all non-believers at some point. The only answer from believers to this question I've heard is that we suffer because we're bad. Bad, naughty sinners. To non-believers this sounds quite similiar to mythological stories of Ra, Odin, Zeus and countless other mythological beings punishing mortals for being bad and naughty. As before when I've asked Christians this question they evade it or say its Gods will. It is not a big deal for me. I posed this question to see if anyone could suprise me with something I've never heard or considered before. So far I'm disappointed.

May I suggest that you read The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis.

 

[Catherineanne]

If I were all-powerful and all-knowing and claimed to know things like mercy, compassion and love I would not create living, thinking, feeling, sentient beings with the sole purpose of making them suffer.

Are you a parent? If so, did you create your children with the sole purpose of making them suffer? Do you know anyone who did?

Neither did God.

If I were all-powerful and all-knowing but did not know love and mercy then it is possible I could create a world like this for my amusement.

If God does not know love and mercy, then how come mankind knows these things, however imperfectly. Could a sadistic God have created a being with more love and compassion than himself? Where would that love and compassion come from, because sadists do not know about, or understand, either.

If I were an incredibly powerful being (not quite all-powerful) and not all-knowing and incompetent I could create a world like this and still claim to actually love my creations that I make suffer through my mistakes.

Thats just my ignorant guess but at least I'm trying.

So your suggestion is that God is not quite a competent God; one who perhaps merits C for effort? Are you sure you are not creating God in your own image, as most of us do?

Maybe it is better to consider that we are not capable of understanding why God created the world the way it is, but we can trust him to get it right, and to love us more than we are capable of loving anyone. Which is a lot.

You said nobody had answered the question, but I answered it. Whatever the question, love is the answer. Why do we have children, even though we know they will suffer, and they will ultimately die? Love.

 

[XChristian]

Catherineanne,
God did not create beings with the sole purpose of suffering? Then why did he create Hell?

Is any kind of true love you know conditional? Would you throw your children into a place of eternal suffering and torment if they don't worship, serve and obey your every whim? That doesn't sound like love to me. That sounds like something a saddistic tyrant would do.

Also, you did not answer my question.