The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday (page 256)

slimboyfat

Has anyone read this book? It's by that orthodox fellow who was such a hit when I posted his video a couple of weeks ago.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doors-Sea-Where-Was-Tsunami/dp/0802866867/

slimboyfat

20. Retreat towards Deism - This can take various forms that tend to back away from any of the elements of an all-knowing, all-powerful god.

Response- How does a world with an ignorant or weak god look any different from a world with no god? What makes a god of this sort worthy of our attention?

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/136447/would-less-good-god-worthy-interest

Because it strikes me that existence and worthiness are two concepts in relation to God which are often conflated and that old thread explored the idea of a God who does not meet our standards of goodness and what the implications would be.

Laika

Hi Slim,

I've read that book, this article is basically a short version of the book:

http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2008/05/tsunami-and-theodicy

cofty

Laika - How would you summarise its attempt to excuse god for the Asian Tsunami?

cofty

OK I read the article by David B. Hart.

I kept hoping that he would have something positive to say in the next paragraph. I got to the end - nothing.

In summary his answer is - Shit happens, who knows why? One day god will kiss it all better.

At least he has the integrity to condemn the sort of callous platitudes that multiple theists offered in this thread.

slimboyfat

If a theoretical physicist says we don't know yet if or what a unified theory would look like we don't reject physics.

But if a theologian says that suffering is not something we can explain satisfactorily as it is should we conclude the discipline is bunk?

Thanks Laika that was interesting. I am open to this idea that there are some things we just cannot know. It was interesting he invokes the Gnostic conception of a God beyond God because I have been thinking about this. If God exists he must in some sense be beyond our ability to grasp what he is.

cofty

The challenge posed in this thread is directed exclusively at christian theists. I could not care less about deists or gnostics.

"We don't know" is not an option for theists. They spend 99.9% of their time telling us grandiose things about what god thinks and then when you ask a difficult question they hide behind "mystery".

It is rank dishonesty.

slimboyfat

David Bentley Hart is a theist and he essentially says he doesn't know. So apparently it is an option.

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

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