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...and now for something completely different: Free Will!

Bob walks into a vault with an open door. At what point does he lose his free will?

  • He never had freewill

    Votes: 7 70.0%
  • As soon as he walks into the vault.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • When the door is closed and welded shut

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • When he wants to leave.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • When he becomes scared.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • When he becomes bored.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • When he becomes thirsty and hungry

    Votes: 1 10.0%
  • When he wants consensual sex

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • When he wants nonconsensual sex

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • When the air supply shuts down and he dies.

    Votes: 2 20.0%

  • Total voters
    10
  • Poll closed .

Alien826

No religious beliefs
And I will keep repeating it.

No doubt. :)

It is the same thing. When they talk about God they are talking about God.

No it isn't. Do you really not see the difference between talking about something that someone considers to be real and talking about someone else's beliefs about something?

The reason God wants us to worship Him, as I think I told you before, is because it is beneficial for us to worship Him.

Maybe I missed where you said that. I'd like you to address the main question though. Worshiping God may be beneficial to us, but surely it's a side issue. My point was that a benevolent God must have some overriding and very persuasive reason to create this world, that makes all the suffering worth while. So we can worship him, doesn't seem to be enough.

Yeah, I already did and I admitted to @KWED I made a mistake in what I said.

Yes, OK.

So do I. Hope springs eternal. A life without hope is no life at all.

Indeed. May your hope be fulfilled.

I do not buy into The Problem of Evil. I consider it absurd to expect God to eliminate suffering just because He can.

Only if he is benevolent.

No, I never think that. It makes no sense that God would be evil, because if God was evil, we would not still be here, since God could have wiped us all out long ago, but God does not do that because God loves us.

Killing someone is not the worst thing one can do. How about keeping us alive so we can suffer longer?

No, I can't think of a more frightening idea, an omnipotent God that wasn't kindly disposed towards us.

Right.
 

Alien826

No religious beliefs
That's a very strange concept to me that a concept of God or Gods are actually different Gods that actually exist. Whatever.

There could only be one all-powerful God, by definition. What if they had some kind of trial of strength? Which would win?

On the other hand, I don't see any logical objection to multiple gods that are not all powerful. There have been lots of belief systems with multiple gods with different degrees of power.
 

Alien826

No religious beliefs
And did it matter what they believed about God? If their concepts about who God is are different, then it's not the same God. The Baha'i concept is very different than a Trinitarian Christian's. But they both believe their God is helping them and guiding them. Is God just a placebo?

I don't know. I don't claim any knowledge of any gods. But I can see a situation where it makes sense. That would be where the "real" God didn't much care about what definition we used, but was prepared to help us anyway. In a world with no god/s, yes it would be a placebo. Like so many things we use to comfort ourselves.
 

Alien826

No religious beliefs
I would not call myself "all benevolent" by any stretch of the imagination, but if I could cure even one child dying in agony from a congenital condition, I would.
IMHO the problem of evil does not require an all benevolent god to work, merely one who isn't a total sadist/sociopath.

I think the point is that a god that was not totally benevolent (whatever that means) would not be expected to fix everything. That wouldn't make him a total sadist. If we could see some fixing going on, we could cut him some slack on the basis of superior knowledge or something. Also, and I prefer this, maybe he wouldn't be all powerful and all knowing. Maybe he's doing his best.

I think we need all three omnis for the PoE to have its full effect.
 

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
Didn't he die in 1892 (wiki)? That's quite old for even the latest of his writings.
Yes, He did die in 1892, but His books are still the 'latest' Word of God that has been written.

“…….. Once in about a thousand years shall this City be renewed and readorned…

That City is none other than the Word of God revealed in every age and dispensation. In the days of Moses it was the Pentateuch; in the days of Jesus, the Gospel; in the days of Muhammad, the Messenger of God, the Qur’án; in this day, the Bayán; and in the Dispensation of Him Whom God will make manifest, His own Book—the Book unto which all the Books of former Dispensations must needs be referred, the Book that standeth amongst them all transcendent and supreme.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 269-270

From: Tablet of the True Seeker
 

Sgt. Pepper

All you need is love.
However, other than in old books, there is no evidence for any of them, one or many.
Samkhya - Wikipedia

As a Wiccan and polytheist, I believe in multiple gods and goddesses, but I can't provide empirical and verifiable evidence of their existence. I can't prove their existence because I'm not omniscient and omnipotent and I can't be ever-present everywhere to know without a doubt that they actually exist. And while I can't prove that these gods and goddesses exist, I still choose to believe because I believe in the supernatural and I have personal reasons for my beliefs. By the same token, I cannot provide empirical and verifiable evidence that the God of the Bible does not exist, just as when I was a Christian, I could not provide empirical and verifiable evidence that God exists. Furthermore, I believe that any claims made by Christians that "God saved me and transformed my life" or "I sense God's presence in my life, so I know he is real" are anecdotal evidence and do not meet the criteria for empirical and verifiable proof.
 

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
No it isn't. Do you really not see the difference between talking about something that someone considers to be real and talking about someone else's beliefs about something?
Yes, I see the difference. However, when atheists talk about God they are talking about God.
There is no get out of jail free card. I mean they cannot talk about God and ten say they are NOT talking about God just because they claim to not believe God exists.
Maybe I missed where you said that. I'd like you to address the main question though. Worshiping God may be beneficial to us, but surely it's a side issue. My point was that a benevolent God must have some overriding and very persuasive reason to create this world, that makes all the suffering worth while. So we can worship him, doesn't seem to be enough.
No, so we can worship God is not the only reason that God created this world. God created this world as a classroom so we can grow spiritually by living in this world and thereby prepare ourselves for life in the next world, which is a spiritual world.
Only if he is benevolent.
Sorry, but that does not fly. The premise upon which the Problem of Evil is based is that if God was benevolent there would be no suffering in this world. I consider it absurd to expect for there to be no suffering just because some people don't like suffering.
Killing someone is not the worst thing one can do. How about keeping us alive so we can suffer longer?
It appears as if God has kept you alive for a good amount of time. Are you suffering? Are you sorry you have lived this long? I hope you live a bit longer because I like talking to you, you ask good questions. :D
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
"The Writings of Baha'u'llah are not old books, they are new books.": Yeah, they are around 150 year old, but they do not contain anything new. It is old wine in new bottle. Ideologically, Bahaollah lived in 7th Century.

"Yes, I know. I was just giving @Aupmanyav a bad time, returning the favor.": No one can give me bad time. I have passed that kind of thing. One who does not speak a lie, never faces bad times. Your posts are welcome.
 
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ppp

Well-Known Member
Yes, I see the difference. However, when atheists talk about God they are talking about God.
There is no get out of jail free card. I mean they cannot talk about God and ten say they are NOT talking about God just because they claim to not believe God exists.
We are talking about the coherence of your depiction of your god. Not your god. We don't have a god to examine. You know that, right?
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
"I still choose to believe because I believe in the supernatural and I have personal reasons for my beliefs. By the same token, I cannot provide empirical and verifiable evidence that the God of the Bible does not exist, just as when I was a Christian, I could not provide empirical and verifiable evidence that God exists. Furthermore, I believe that any claims made by Christians that "God saved me and transformed my life" or "I sense God's presence in my life, so I know he is real" are anecdotal evidence and do not meet the criteria for empirical and verifiable proof.": That is the difference in our views, Sgt. Pepper. You may have your personal reasons to believe in supernatural, but I do not have any.
 
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