Alan,
You wrote: If I, as the parent of a small child, don't make sure that my child is safe from dangers that are very clear to me, then it inevitably follows that I don't care whether the child gets hurt, in the sense that if I did care, I would ensure that he is safe. This is simply a tautology. There's an even more obvious tautology in my example of God creating life as he has. Here we have God not simply allowing pain and suffering to happen, but actually designing his world so that it happens.
Some people feel that the existence of evil, for any length of time, is impossible to harmonize with the existence of a loving God. They say that the instant any evil appeared in a good God's universe He would have to immediately put an end to it. However, I believe God allows evil to exist, and actually designed our world with evil as a very important part of it, so that we may come to know both good and evil. I believe this first hand knowledge of both good and evil will serve all people well for all eternity, long after all evil has been removed from the universe. By God having designed a world where all people are certain to gain a first hand knowledge of evil, and more importantly the harmful effects of evil, all who choose to serve God will gain an understanding of why God's ways are the best ways, an understanding that will serve them well for all eternity.
Possibly you see some sense in this. Some of those who do say that, even if God desired his children to be temporarily exposed to evil as a learning experience, a good God could never allow so much evil to exist. They say a good God would certainly severely limit the pain and suffering that He allowed His children to endure as a result of the evil He allowed to temporarily exist. They look at the great suffering many people throughout history have endured and ask, "Wouldn't a loving God, if He existed, have stepped in and limited the amount of evil, pain and suffering these people had to endure? I believe questions such as this actually get to the heart of the problem of God permitting evil.
Let me ask you this. If a good God does exist, would you really believe He exists if you saw less evil in the world, if you saw people suffering less? I doubt it. For you know as well as I do that an all loving God, once He decided to stop evil, would have to stop all evil. If He were to stop only part of the evil, then wouldn't you still be asking the question, "If an all loving God exists, why is there evil in the world?" Would you really be any more likely to accept the existence of the God of the Bible if He stopped all pain caused by "natural causes," diseases, earthquakes and the like, but allowed people to continue hurting each other? I doubt it. For a perfectly righteous God, once He decided to bring about an end to evil, would have to bring about an end to all evil. He could not end all "natural" forms of evil but allow people to continue to murder each other. He could not prevent all murder but continue to permit beatings and rapes. He could not stop all beatings and rapes but continue to allow all robberies, cheating and adultery.
I think you get my point. Some maintain that any amount of pain or unrighteousness in the universe proves there is no God. However, I maintain that it has actually been by God's purpose that pain, death and evil have long existed in order for all of us to learn valuable lessons while being exposed to them. And because God is all loving, all knowing and all powerful, He cannot stop only some evil. The Bible tells us that God will one day bring an end to evil. And it tells us that when He does so, because He is all loving, all knowing and all powerful, He will then bring an end to all evil.
You wrote: It's not clear to me if you think that the physical universe is just a temporary stepping stone to life on a purely "spiritual plane".
Yes, I do.
You wrote: The process seems to me to be unnecessarily long and complicated.
To us, at this tiny moment in eternity, yes it does.
You wrote: You're speculating that God deliberately designed a world in which pain and suffering was an integral part for more than half a billion years? To what end? For what observers?
I believe there are many events which God arranged to take place in the past, including many events which are recorded in the scriptures, for the purpose of teaching mankind great lessons, many of which we will probably not understand for a long, long time.
You wrote: I hope you refrained from answering many of my questions because of lack of time.
I hope to find time to answer all of your questions as best I can. As I'm sure you know, this has been a very busy week for most of us.
You wrote: If God says directly that he will one day resurrect all who have died, then believing this and acting on it is not a presumption. It's taking God at his word. Thus the problem I posed in my earlier post remains: since God will set everything right in the end, what is the point of "morality"?
Is it OK to steal someone's car if you know that his insurance company is going to pay him for his loss? No, it is not. It is wrong to force someone else to fix our mistakes, even if we know that they will.
You wrote: If humans are actually some sort of combination of a physical body plus a "soul" or "spirit", then what is the point of your overall scenario where for perhaps several million years, early humans were born, somehow attached to this "spirit" thingy, then died, and then the "spirit" thingy put in cold storage until resurrection? Perhaps if you give an overall picture of your views on the "evolution of man" from apish forebears to the ultimate form, that would help. Just how do all the individuals who have ever lived fit in?
I don't understand why my beliefs about early humans poses a problem. As I have said before, I believe that at some point during the physical evolution of our species God intervened and gave highly evolved primates the ability to comprehend "spiritual" concepts, such as eternity, morality, justice and God. I believe He also then began giving them eternal spirits. I believe these were the creative acts spoken of in Gen. 1:27. I believe that from that time on the spirits of all humans who died went "in cold storage until the resurrection," as you say.
You wrote: Just answer the question. If God ordered you to kill your family and neighbors, would you do it? ... Inherent in my question is the supposition that you know for certain that God is doing the ordering.
Though I have tried my best to do so, I guess you are not going to let me avoid answering this question. I have said that I am absolutely sure that my God would never ask me to do such a thing. I have said that I am so sure of it, that I would not believe any such order was really coming from God. However, as you correctly pointed out, Abraham had good reason to feel the same way when God ordered him to kill his son. But somehow Abraham became convinced that it was, in fact, God giving him the order. So, if Abraham could become convinced, then I guess so could I. And the Bible tells us what happened when Abraham became convinced that God was giving him that order. "By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, 'It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.' " (Heb. 11:17, 18)
So then, with Abraham as my example, I will finally answer your question. If God ordered me to kill my family and neighbors, and I knew for certain that it was God doing the ordering, I would try my best to do so. And I would do so for the same reason that Abraham did so. "Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead." (Heb. 11:19)
The sentiment I just expressed reflected what is, of course, the technically correct response to your question for a servant of God who recognizes Abraham as an outstanding example of a true man of faith. However, the vast majority of Christians including myself do not possess the kind of faith that Abraham did. Because we do not, the vast majority of Christians, including myself, would not be able to do what Abraham did. I believe God understands this fact. And just as He forgave Peter for denying Christ three times, I believe He would forgive the vast majority of Christians, including myself, if we lacked the faith necessary to obey such a command.