# Christians, how do you justify that God is not a total prick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 25, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976 "2011-03-25T15:33:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![trabajabamos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/47e85d/32.png) [@trabajabamos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabajabamos)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/81 "2011-03-27T20:31:01Z")
> [@trabajabamos](#): > > Well, [Genesis 19:24-25](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2019:24-25&version=NIV) says: > _“(24) Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. (25) Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.”_ > > Based on that alone, I’d answer your first question by saying that the fire was a literal fire that God himself used to smite the cities, effectively killing everyone and everything in the area. Naturally, one might assume that this particular fire eventually burned out and that, therefore, the “eternal fire” referenced in Jude is referring to something more… eternal. > > Also, while I enjoy the whole Socratic method as much as anyone, this might go faster if you just directly answer my earlier question: Never mind. I see that you are already going into this in specifics in a different thread over [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13619852&postcount=27). No need to replicate effort. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/82 "2011-03-27T23:23:55Z")
> [@trabajabamos](#): > > Naturally, one might assume that this particular fire eventually burned out… Well, I cannot find it using Google Earth. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![humanafterall](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/humanafterall/32/19654_2.png) [@humanafterall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/humanafterall)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/83 "2011-03-27T23:29:28Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Because eternal damnation is not true. God created every being, and His plan is perfect and He desires all to be saved, and all is ultimately His children. If even one is lost, then God’s family would be in eternal pain of loss, which can not happen. When the devil created this alternate path which we call reincarnation, a cycle of continuous death, God gave the devil a child into this cycle and into this world, this child is Jesus. Through the pain that Jesus suffered He made it possible for everyone to experience Love and thus seek Love and come home. Some may say that they don’t know Jesus but have experienced Love, but that is impossible because that Love is Jesus and is just another name for Him. > > Jesus raised people from the dead (Hell/Sheol), as did people from the OT and NT, and Jesus gave us the power to raise people from the dead. Hell is not a barrier, but a refinement. > > Also believing and being baptized is stated as a condition of being saved, but both does not guarantee that a person will not spend some time in hell before being saved, Jesus is the most notable example of this. Okay, dude. You are saying that Hell is NOT eternal? That basically our suffering in a Lake of Fire os a temporary sentence. You say refinement. You mean that in Hell, our souls are refined, and then sent on to Heaven? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/84 "2011-03-28T00:27:20Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#): > > But God set forth the conditions that require us to be saved and to spend time in hell. To cause a child to be born in sin because of what his ancestors did 6,000 years ago is prickish. > > It’s like saying I’m a good guy if at some point I stop punching you in the nose and hand you a bandaid. Jesus didn’t like the deal of suffering and asked if it could be removed from Him. I also don’t like the system in place of children suffering for the sins of their parents. I do believe God has shown me many things, and what He has shown me is trustworthy and good, but on this I have to say that yes it sucks, and does seem prickish but I wouldn’t go as far as the bandaid example. More like you stop punching me in the nose and make me King of the world/universe forever. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/85 "2011-03-28T00:44:08Z")
> [@humanafterall](#): > > Okay, dude. You are saying that Hell is NOT eternal? That basically our suffering in a Lake of Fire os a temporary sentence. You say refinement. You mean that in Hell, our souls are refined, and then sent on to Heaven? Yes, for those who need that level of refinement. Though it is not a sentence, but a endurance competition as in how long does a person want to endure it on their own. God’s plan is perfect, God desires all to be saved, so how can anyone be lost eternally? Jesus conquered the grave, Jesus gave us the ability to raise people from the dead, how can Hell keep people in forever? ---
**Author:** ![surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surrounded_by_literalists)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/86 "2011-03-28T02:29:19Z")
The God I was taught about, is a God of love. All of the bad stuff, murder, rape, poverty, war, comes not from God, but from one who would like to demoralize us and destroy our faith in love. In the story of Job, it is Lucifer who makes his life miserable in an attempt to prove to God that the faith of man is a fleeting thing, only present when he wallowing in the blessings of God. God did not do all that bad stuff. Of course he did not stop Lucifer from his nonsense because 1) God had faith in Job’s Faith, and 2)To interfere would be to infringe on Job’s free will. As for following the commandments, and being obedient, its the same with any law or rules; you have the right to choose to obey or not, but you also choose the consequences. Don’t blame God if you ‘covet your neighbors wife’ and your neighbor backs over your yard gnome. 'Thou shalt not murder," means don’t kill anybody. Its pretty straight forward, but if our legal system can attempt to sort out the difference between an accident, an accident because you were a moron, being overcome by rage, defence of self, family, and country, then a being such as God is more than capable of not only doing the same, but being much better at it. Look carefully at your reason to think God is a prick. Is it God or is it somebodys interpretation of God? Man has a tremendous talent for being a prick. If somebody comes to you and tells you that you will burn in hell for not believeing in God then the prick in this scenario is not God, its the person passing judgement. My best friend in the world is Pagan, while I do my best to be a Christian. Both of us frequently assume I am going to Heaven and she is going to Hell. However, because she is my very best friend and way too much fun, I think eternity in Heaven without her would be way to boring. We have decided that I will hang out in Hell with her and laugh at what everybody is wearing and go around asking, “So, what are you in for?” And since its Hell all the Scrabble games will have half the tiles be either X’s or Z’s. Whe have our own little corner set aside. You are welcom to stop by sometime. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/87 "2011-03-28T05:50:02Z")
> [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](#): > > The God I was taught about, is a God of love. All of the bad stuff, murder, rape, poverty, war, comes not from God, but from one who would like to demoralize us and destroy our faith in love. So who was that guy who punished humanity for eternity by having innocent children born with sin because of what Adam and Eve did, and flooded the world killing everyone but a handful of people, and killed all the first born babies in Egypt, and tried to get a guy to kill his son with a knife just to test him? He is like an abusive husband who beats his wife then tells her he loves her and he’ll make up for it in the future. ---
**Author:** ![surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surrounded_by_literalists)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/88 "2011-03-28T08:40:41Z")
Pole dancin’ for the Lord posted Zyada over in MPSIMS Proof God is not a Prick! ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/89 "2011-03-28T09:26:32Z")
Dear God, Sorry to disturb you, but I feel that I should be heard loud and clear. We all need a big reduction in the amount of tears And all the people that you made in your image, See them fighting in the street 'Cause they can’t make opinions meet About God. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/90 "2011-03-28T12:17:13Z")
> [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](#): > > Look carefully at your reason to think God is a prick. Is it God or is it somebodys interpretation of God? Man has a tremendous talent for being a prick. If somebody comes to you and tells you that you will burn in hell for not believeing in God then the prick in this scenario is not God, its the person passing judgement. Or perhaps God is a prick and so human like because man created god in his image. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/91 "2011-03-28T12:47:08Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > In truth ,you read what some one said Jesus said:Jesus left no writings! The writings about Jesus were many years after the fact, and even some History isn’t exactly as written, a lot depends on who does the writing. The reliability of the gospels is not the topic of this thread. If you want to debate it, start a new thread. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/92 "2011-03-28T12:51:51Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > You did not provide your own thoughts here, but rather a group of texts that you’ve cut and pasted. It seems perfectly reasonable to respond to your claim that “_The bible does not indicate anywhere that people will burn in hell for eternity_” by providing a set of quotes from said Bible. > [@](#): > > In any event, they do "not\* indicate that the bible says that evildoers are going to a fiery sentient hell. What do they indicate then? ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/93 "2011-03-29T11:58:55Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Because eternal damnation is not true. God created every being, and His plan is perfect and He desires all to be saved, and all is ultimately His children. If even one is lost, then God’s family would be in eternal pain of loss, which can not happen. When the devil created this alternate path which we call reincarnation, a cycle of continuous death, God gave the devil a child into this cycle and into this world, this child is Jesus. Through the pain that Jesus suffered He made it possible for everyone to experience Love and thus seek Love and come home. Some may say that they don’t know Jesus but have experienced Love, but that is impossible because that Love is Jesus and is just another name for Him. > > Jesus raised people from the dead (Hell/Sheol), as did people from the OT and NT, and Jesus gave us the power to raise people from the dead. Hell is not a barrier, but a refinement. > > Also believing and being baptized is stated as a condition of being saved, but both does not guarantee that a person will not spend some time in hell before being saved, Jesus is the most notable example of this. This would indicate that God created imperfect beings then punished them for it. It is said He knows all things even before a person is concieved, so He punishes people for His mistakes? ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/94 "2011-03-29T12:01:21Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > OK, here’s the rule- when the question is about the Christian God or Jesus, the Bible is an authoritative source. Even if it’s all made up, it’s like if someone asks about Count Dracula, then someone else quotes the novel & you say “Oh, Bram Stoker just made that up.” > > How damn hard is this for people to understand? Are you then saying the Bible and Bram Broker are neither a good sorce of information, just what one choses to believe? ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/95 "2011-03-29T12:04:34Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I get your point but yeah, the Bible indicates a burning hell, but not necessarily one of eternal torment. Sheol/Hades & Gehenna both have Bible passages with fiery terminology. And alas, most English translations seem to indicate eternal suffering. It’s just that in the Hebrew & the Greek, “eternal” isn’t necessarily the meaning of the originals. > > But yeah, on the Net, everyone is a Bible scholar, can benchpress at least one ton, and has maximum endowment & stamina. I wonder why the need for an eternal hell, when the punishment for sin (according to Genesis ) was death! No loss of a soul, or eternal punishment. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/96 "2011-03-29T19:02:44Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > This would indicate that God created imperfect beings then punished them for it. It is said He knows all things even before a person is concieved, so He punishes people for His mistakes? The JWs’ Watchtower publication’s take on this is that God chooses not to use his omniscience at times–for example, he chose not to know what Adam and Eve would do when tempted and was saddened to see them make the wrong choice. I don’t buy it, though. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/97 "2011-03-31T12:07:11Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > The JWs’ Watchtower publication’s take on this is that God chooses not to use his omniscience at times–for example, he chose not to know what Adam and Eve would do when tempted and was saddened to see them make the wrong choice. > > I don’t buy it, though. I wonder if they mean like: a good father would give his young child a gun, then close his eyes if the child would use it to kill some one. That way he could say he didn’t know? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/98 "2011-03-31T12:12:10Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > Are you then saying the Bible and Bram Broker are neither a good sorce of information, just what one choses to believe? I am saying that when the issue is “What is a Bible character claimed to have said or done?”, the Bible is a proper source of information for it. Just like if someone asks a question about Count Dracula, Bram Stoker’s novel is a proper source of information. Is my point really that difficult for you? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/99 "2011-03-31T12:25:53Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I am saying that when the issue is “What is a Bible character claimed to have said or done?”, the Bible is a proper source of information for it. Just like if someone asks a question about Count Dracula, Bram Stoker’s novel is a proper source of information. Is my point really that difficult for you? Does that work for the two different versions of the Creation in Genesis, or the the different versions of Jesus’ resurrection in the New Testament? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976/100 "2011-03-31T18:03:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Does that work for the two different versions of the Creation in Genesis, or the the different versions of Jesus’ resurrection in the New Testament? Actually yeah, if one looks at the details of the different accounts & possible ways to deal with the discrepancies. Do you really think the compilers of the Bible DIDN’T notice the discrepancies? The fact that they left them alone & didn’t try to edit them out is actually a decent point for their integrity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-how-do-you-justify-that-god-is-not-a-total-prick/575976.md?page=6)