Wanting it isn't enough, you also have to convince others. That's a difficult task when you think about it. In most cases you will need to demonstrate something 'godlike'. And since we all have differing ideas as to what that means, there are still no garauntees it will work. Appearing as a...
They wouldn't. They'd be liars or mistaken. As it is, I have to take their word for it. I do not.
And the sheep that flees the shepherd's care may be lost in the wilderness, but it will also avoid the slaughter or fleecing as the case may be.
Do you just not get that this is circular...
I understand that the God you speak of is the omni-God, but when you listed possibilities for God's communication methods you offered that one possibility is that God does not exist. If that is one possibility, then surely short of that would be that God isn't actually omnipotent and isn't...
As previously stated, it hinges entirely upon how the being considers itself as well as how it wishes us (anyone) to consider it and it's relative ability to enable that consideration. What other qualities it must have to 'be God' only matter when it comes to convincing others, and that will be...
I would like to expand on 'conviction' from my previous answer.
For a being to convince me that it was God (or a god, as the case may be) it would have to go quite a long way. It would have to prove to me somehow that it was, at the very least, responsible for life on Earth. In part or in...
I see, and I suppose I would have to agree on that. The only point I would make is we often decide what is right or wrong after the fact (when power has already dictated what will happen) or long before in abstraction as we are now (when power only exists in words). When tested, our moral...
You must have me confused with someone else. I don't believe in that God. I can hypothetically discuss the being in question, of course. For the purpose of this thread, I most certainly have done that. The discussion between Trailblazer and I has many facets, though. I'm not arguing about...
Your point seems to be that some things are inherently wrong since we all generally agree about them. Did I get that incorrect?
It's meant to be honest. I'm no moral compass, but I have power. Everyone does. I don't see people enacting their will through rightness, only through power.
I do...
Why do you think that?
I didn't realize you were privy to God's perspective. You must be one of these messengers Trailblazer is talking about. Or perhaps you are just another one of the messengers I'm talking about. I'm leaning towards the latter, to be honest.
I don't insist that God is not omnipotent, only that it's possible God isn't. I don't restrain God's nature at all. I have no idea what God's nature is. How could I insist either way?
How do you figure that?
@Trailblazer regarding messengers:
When I say someone speaks for God I mean that they tell me something of God's nature that they couldn't possibly know without some sort of esoteric revelation. As the revelation is not apparent, and none of these 'facts' has ever held up to rigorous...
No. There is no such thing as right. All of these things happen regardless of your notions of right and wrong.
Is rape okay when it happens in prison to a child molester? If not, then we should stop putting them in prison because it is going to happen regardless. Just a small example of society...
My point is that omnipotence is not a given. Hypothetically speaking God only needs to have been responsible for us humans (directly or indirectly) in order to qualify for the title. Everything beyond that is just extra power we imagine to put one God over another.
Consider that God would not...
Hypothetically speaking if a being comes to you and says, "I am God."
Then you say, "Oh you created everything!"
And it says, "No, but I did create all of you."
Call this being a wimp if you like.
Exactly. Thus, the messenger is qualifying themselves. That shatters all hope of trust from me, sad to say.
No, I can determine if I believe the messenger or not. Which I can do without ever speaking to them. Self-qualification is the most erroneous of appeals to authority imaginable.
Or...