If there is a SB (Supreme Being), there really isn't any logical necessity that it would conform in any manner to what we call "good". It simply isn't a requirement, and yet for religious people it simply must be that God is good.
I wonder if it's love or fear, which causes people to cling to this idea.
Is it so for these that God must be good because they love God, or that the idea of a malevolent or indifferent God is a fear inducing thing?
Why is it necessary that God be good?
by gubberningbody 29 Replies latest jw friends
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gubberningbody
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beksbks
I think malevolence is a flaw, that is one of the things that convinces me there is no god.
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gubberningbody
"I think malevolence is a flaw, that is one of the things that convinces me there is no god."
I don't understand the logic of that perspective.
When I say "malevolence" I'm using it with respect to the limited perspective and narrow expectations of the mammal called "man".
The logic you're presenting seems to be:
Premise: Only things which I approve of can exist.
Statement: "God" is said to be malevolent.
Therefore "God" cannot exist.
I would imagine there is any number of things you disapprove of which you know to exist.
Since this is so, I can't see that there's any logic in your statement, unless it's the sort of "logic" which Pascal mentioned when he said "Love has reasons, that reason cannot know."
Am I missing something?
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Open mind
My browser's acting screwy. Sorry for the thread de-rail.
This is a test, only a test, of the emergency broadcasting system.
Oh, and, for the thread,
1. If god is good and omnipotent, she's a jerk.
2. If god is good and impotent, well, I like her, but just wish she had more juice.
om
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beksbks
My logic is very likely flawed, I'm only human. But I figure if a being has reached perfection, there is no ego. If god demands adoration, or else throws a fit, that sounds less than perfect. It sounds human.
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AGuest
May you have peace!
Is it so for these that God must be good because they love God, or that the idea of a malevolent or indifferent God is a fear inducing thing?
I cannot answer for anyone else on this board but myself. And my answer is that God IS good; there is no must to it. Let me explain: I know that many have a perception of God as being "good" because others have told them that it must be so... simply because He IS God. That, in spite of the fear-inspiring things written in the OT, He really is good... because He IS God. I had a problem with that, though, when I was in the WTBTS. They were SAYING He was good... while at the same time telling me to be on the guard because He MIGHT destroy me... at "Armageddon." Indeed, He might even bring down various "curses" on my life BEFORE Armageddon! I couldn't make that "equation" work: God is good, God is love, but He might kill me. Didn't add up.
It wasn't until I came to know my Lord, the Holy One of Israel, JAHESHUA MISCHAJAH, who is the Son and Christ of God, the Most Holy One of Israel, JAH of Armies, that I came to KNOW... that God IS in fact good. VERY good. I learned that 99% of the so-called "fearful" things that He has supposedly done... and will do... are LIES. The 1% is Him acting on behalf of those in a covenant relationship with Him, which covenant OBLIGATES Him to act.
How did I come to know this? Because I have had the privilege of knowing Christ. Not just as a person, but his heart, including his "works". And I have heard... from that One... the "works" he wishes me to do. And every one of them... without exception... are good. Good... because they are founded... in love. For God, for my brother, for my neighbor, for strangers... even for my enemies.
The TRUE God is not the angry, vengeful "monster" that Israel... and many religions... have made Him out to be. That is why Christ came... "to bear witness to the TRUTH" about God.
But you don't have to take my word for it: like me, you can get to know Christ... not know OF him... or know ABOUT him... or take in knowledge of him. But literally KNOW him... as the person he IS. By doing this, you will come to know the True God, the Most Holy One of Israel, JAH of Armies... and you will never need to ask such a question again. Because you will know the answer: God must be good for you, too, because He simply IS good.
I bid you peace!
A slave of Christ,
SA
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leec
I think your question, there, is ... do YOU gravitate towards kindness, honesty, helpfulness, caring, or towards meanness, lying, indifference, greed, indifference?
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frankiespeakin
It is not necessary only imagined.
There is no universal law out there in the cosmos that demand it. It is only in the human imagination that it becomes necessary for their particular Deity to be good, which is not a universal belief of all religions but limited to Monotheism.
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agonus
Why is it necessary that God be ANYTHING we as finite creatures conceive of him/her/it to be?
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agonus
I think God just kind of "is"... and that may be all we're able to really comprehend at this stage of human development.