Believing In God While Hating Him

Fifth Column!

Sure, but even back then, they lived in the only country in the area without oil.

Yer welcome.

You can. Tis a good read.

Back on the subject at hand—even if God is omniscient and omnipotent, that might not guarantee that he knows he’s going to win. He might be like Doctor Manhattan and seemingly aware of the future, but somehow unable to affect it’s outcome. Whether or not that has to do with the nature of fate, the space-time continuum, or his own self-delusions is yet another debate.

I think Paradise Lost touched on something like this, actually; I really need to get back to reading it…

To answer the questions asked:

  1. I would be delighted that the God I believe in exists. Well I already believe in Him but truly seeing Him would be an even better experience though I’d have great regret for the unsaved people.

  2. If a different God turned out to be true (I don’t believe in this even 0.0000000000000000000000000000…0000001% but for the situation’s sake…) I would be unhappy but what happens next depends on which deity it is…

Kali

He’d look for the Sankara Stones, of course.

I want to take the same question as Curtis’ in another direction. However, it’s different enough to justify a new thread. I’ll post here when I have it sorted out.

Here it is. I started writing it, took a nap, & then came back to it.

Believing in God While Hating Him With a Twist

Presented with the christian diety, I’d curse and cry and scream in terror, and also rail against him, because I’d be screwed already and it wouldn’t matter. The rule of thumb as best I can tell is that if you see God then the time to choose your side is passed. (Seeing Jesus is different, but knowing Jesus exists is hardly the same as knowing God does.) So there would be no point in resisting, no pointing in praising - time is up and all over except for the screaming.

So I would pray - but not for forgiveness or salvation; I’d pray that the old jews were right and that hell is annihilation (unless you’re the serpent), rather than eternal torment. And failing that I’d pray that it would be possible for the agony to snap my mind and turn me into an insensate twitching mass, unable to properly experience the suffering thereafter.

Here you’ve implied that knowledge of the fate of the unsaved in some way mars the perfection of communion with God.

Why should it be so?

If God sees fit to take joy in their torment, shouldn’t you too?

God is a drill sergeant, and basic training never ends.

It’s Bacchus. Bend over.

Eh, I don’t think he’d do that much damage.

Give him a break, it’s cold on top of Mount Olympus.

wouldn’t in revealing himself totally negate the purpose of heaven? every single murderer, child molester, and tax evader would naturally fully believe in JC and get a lifetime funpass to paradise, and then there goes the neighborhood. talk about white flight…

For starters, I’d ask what he needs with a starship. :dubious:

I think the odds on any god existing being the Christian god is somewhere between nil and none. Christians coopted the Hebrew god and changed him to suit themselves.

Whether any god exists is one question, whether he/she/it is omnipotent is another. If the god isn’t omnipotent, I really don’t have any feelings about he/she/it.

What’s the “God of traditional Christian theology”? Is it the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient and benevolent one we’re supposed to believe in, or the mean, petty and curiously short-sighted one described in the Bible?

It must be awesome to have everything figured out at age 14. Kudos to you.