God : Mom, I’m bored. I wanna make stuff. Can I? God’s Mom : Hmmm…I don’t know about that…who know’s where it’ll lead. You better go ask your father.
God : Dad, I’m bored. I wanna make stuff. Can I? God’s Dad : No. God : Why not? God’s Dad : Because I said not, that’s why not. God : But I’m bored…there’s nothing to do around here. God’d Dad : Well, go ask your mother. God : I did, she told me to ask you. God’s Dad : Oh, alright. Now go play or something, I’m trying to take a nap.
Also, I thought the idea was that God made us in his own image, so presumably he gave us the ability to understand whatever he understands … why are you so sure that we’d fail to understand his reasons? If he existed at all, of course.
A lot of christians talk with great certainty about ‘God’s plan’ - how can they be so sure that he has a plan for them when they don’t even know why they were ‘created’?
You’re comparing the wrong people. Think about why he created Adam and Eve, which is what he did - it was supposed to be an idyllic, perfect world with eternal life and so forth.
./not a Christian, don’t really care to understand
After many conversations with my born again friends, understanding God’s motivation for creating life is like a bottom line for me. If this made sense, then maybe I too could become a believer. Why would you be created so you can be born and live as a christian so you can go to heaven when you die. Why God wants you to do this is just beyond me.
This may give insight into why people don’t believe and vice versa - the questioning of motivation. I strongly think that the key to understanding people is to look at motivation.
After some thinking on this topic, I realized that another way to phrase this is simply, “why are we here?” or simply, “why?” - though through a Christian theistic approach. Probably one of the larger questions in theology (not to mention philosophy in general).
But I guess this is the board for “cosmic” things, so I guess it should be welcomed. I’m not a Christian theologist, however, so I’ll pass on trying to answer. Just thought I’d point out another way to look at the question. Maybe you should look at some 19th century philsophy works, which tend to be more Christian-based.
(I always liked the alternate, “why does god exist?”, which can confuse people more)
In Christian Trinitarian thought, God did not need to create for companionship, as Companionship exists within the Trinity, but as an act of playful extravagant love, wanting to create beings to grow as close to His/Their likeness as any created beings could possibly grow. I’ve most found this idea in Eastern Orthodox writings, which also resolve the problem of Hell in this way- all created beings, having come out of the Love of the Triune God, return to the embrace of the Love of the Triune God. However, some by that time may have willed themselves to be so hardened against that Love, the Divine Embrace will be horrendous torment to them.
I don’t. But I’m extrapolating from the book of Job. In Job’s day, people interpreted their good fortunes as God’s favor, and their suffering as God’s anger. One lesson I think we can pull from Job is that if we try to assume God’s motivation, we’re going to get it wrong. Job discovered that suffering can happen even to the righteous, for no reason that we can comprehend. When God finally speaks, Job is not given a tidy answer for his suffering. Rather, he is rebuked for his lack of divine credentials.
"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding,
Who set its measurements? Since you know.
Or who stretched the line on it?
"On what were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
"Or who enclosed the sea with doors
When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb "
We’re just men. We can’t know all the answers. When Job realized this, he was restored.
Similarly, we can’t begin to truly comprehend God or understand why things are- we simply cannot see things as He does. Our measurements, our rules, our logic simply are inadequate.
As this is an inadequate explanation for me, I think that I will never become a believer. If the aim of christianity is to convert, this is a problem for many.
I’ve been told by some Seventh Day Adventist friends that humanity is kind of a trial for God. He was accussed of being a tyrant- of making a bunch of beings that could only worship him and indeed a universe that revolved around him. So he created humans and gave them free will. Hopefully humans will choose to recognize and worship him thus refuting the accusations.
Starting from the acknowledgement that I can’t understand God’s motivations, but am likely to just extend from my own…
I don’t have a problem with the idea that God created life for company, so as not to be alone in the universe.
I live by myself, and I was pretty lonely, so I went to the animal shelter and got a couple of cats. They aren’t my equals, we can’t talk, they don’t understand me or why I do the things I do, but I’m still glad they’re sharing my life and I enjoy their company.
I don’t think that I’m suggesting that we’re all God’s housepets.
Oh sure, I understand lonelyness totally and if I were on my own and had the power to, I too would create something!
But God isn’t human, so I don’t think this is an adequate explanation - if it was, now he may be desparately wanting some alone time.
Or He could feel perfectly lonely. See, if you’re an infinite intelligence, your options aren’t really constrained. That’s the problem. If you have such power and ability, you must be capable of being mind-bogglingly lonely. Or magnificently satisfied by yourself. Or both, maybe. Whatever; you can do and feel anything, so why limit yourself?