If you were God?

[XChristian]

aiki,
Some choice, complete subservience to a petty and cruel God or eternal suffering. Gee, decisions, decisions.

 

[ebia]

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.

Your problem seems to be with the distorted vision of "heaven and hell" and God's relationship with his people. presumably (if you are an exChristian) that's the vision your church sold you, but it's a distorted one.

God intends to redeem all creation, and wishes to include all people in that. But part of what it means for people to be redeemed is to be God's image and agents in and for that creation. Those who refuse to be part of God's plan, to turn from idolatory to him, simply cannot be part of that new creation. By refusing to turn to God they are choosing not to be part of New Creation. Hell is nothing more than a convenient label for those who exclude themselves - forget the traditional pictures that have more to do with Dante than scripture; every scriptural reference to that alternative is couched in symbolism and metaphor and shouldn't be read literally.

 

[Adoniram]

My original question was basically if you were God how would you justify all the suffering and misery in the world.

The wording of your question presumes that God causes it, which is not the case. The vast majority of suffering and misery is the result of the actions of men. You'd be better off asking them what the justification is, but they probably wouldn't have an adequate answer either.

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?

Who's to say it's pointless? Pain serves a very important function. It alerts us to danger or trouble. It let's you know when you put your hand down on the hot burner on your stove. It let's you know when there is something wrong in your body. Likewise, the pain and suffering that we see in the world reminds us that we live in a world that has fallen from the perfection of God's original creation. Fallen through no fault of his own. It's a world that is in trouble because of it's rejection of God and the principles he would have us live by, and those are choices that men make. Thankfully, God has put a plan in action that will one day remedy the problem. Pain and suffering will no longer be a part of our world. This is the promise he has made through the Lord Jesus and it's available to any who will take him up on the offer.

 

[aiki]

aiki,
Some choice, complete subservience to a petty and cruel God or eternal suffering. Gee, decisions, decisions.

Yup, that's a pretty rotten choice alright. But, it doesn't actually describe the choice that faces you. Moreover, the way you've characterized God is, at least from the Christian perspective, completely in error also.

There is so much both in and out of the Bible that demonstrates that the Creator is not petty and cruel. Your description of Him as such just sounds like a specious attempt to justify your rejection of Him. You've had to resort to making a cartoon image of God to do so, however. In the realm of argumentation this is referred to as the strawman tactic. You falsely characterize an opponent's position (in this case the nature of God) with various exaggerations and weaknesses and then shoot it down, ignoring all the time the real position your opponent holds.

Just looking at the world around us its evident that God is not petty and cruel. The beauty of a sunset or sunrise, the delicate artistry of a flower, majestic mountains, deep, blue seas, the intricacy of the human eye, or the staggering expanse of the heavens at night, all these things (and many more besides) illustrate that the Creator is very different than the vicious cartoon you've made of Him.

My personal experience of God has been one that I would not trade for anything. I have found Him to be compassionate, patient, loving, even humorous, and also unwaveringly holy. He refuses to meet me with half-measures, but will do all that He must to make me more like His Son, Jesus. God has never been my debtor, but has always fulfilled His promises to me - often beyond my expectation. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good.

The record of the Bible is also one which testifies to the holiness, justice, love and patience of God. What petty cruelty you think the Bible reveals to us of God, is always the result of a carefully myopic view of God in Scripture. Taken all together, the Word of God shows the Creator to be as I've described Him: holy, just, powerful and loving.

Peace.