Convince me that God is loving

[Trailblazer]

Did you get any points from Job? Care to share?

The points are as you said.
Job knew that God was real, and he knew that God was just. Knowledge helped Job to maintain his trust in God.

 

[nPeace]

There is good and bad in creation, that is the problem. Christians and Baha'is only want to look at the good, but that is illogical.

I take it you are speaking for yourself, since you can't possibly know what Christians want to look at.
Why, you don't even know who are Christians.

No you are talking to a believer who wants to know the truth, rather than just believing I know.
What you see around you is subject to your interpretation. I interpret it differently because I am a different person.

If you see a cockroach, you interpret it as something else?

The problem is that the scriptures say all kinds of things, and many are contradictory.
Even if you check and verify, what you see will be subject to your interpretation.

That your opinion, isn't it.

Did you enjoy your thread though?

 

[nPeace]

Yes, you presented personal opinions about what you see in the world and how you interpret that, but that does not convince me that God is loving.

I understand. Noting would convince you. Isn't that the truth?
If not, tell us what will.

 

[Trailblazer]

I take it you are speaking for yourself, since you can't possibly know what Christians want to look at.
Why, you don't even know who are Christians.

I know who Christians are because they self-identify.
I know what they look at since they say what they look at.

If you see a cockroach, you interpret it as something else?

No, but I interpret what I think about it.

Did you enjoy your thread though?

So far, so good.

 

[Jimmy]

Yes, if God is not loving it does not matter to me because I do not need God's love.
And if God is loving, God would love me even if I did not believe that.
So I am good to go either way.

Sounds like you got it all figured out.

 

[Trailblazer]

I understand. Noting would convince you. Isn't that the truth?
If not, tell us what will.

I cannot say that nothing will convince me because I don't know what the future holds.
I cannot say what will because if I knew that I'd be convinced.

 

[Trailblazer]

Sounds like you got it all figured out.

I have my bases covered.

 

[nPeace]

I know who Christians are because they self-identify.
I know what they look at since they say what they look at.

No you don't Trailblazer.
Are you thinking? Tell me the names of a million Christians.

No, but I interpret what I think about it.

Cool. So you see a cockroach. It is a cockroach. Fullstop. Splendid!

Now think carefully as you answer the next question. You don't want to contradict what you said before.
When you see love, you interpret it as something else?

So far, so good.

Good. A lot probably aren't happy you played with them.
Me. I dun got you all figured out.

 

[nPeace]

I cannot say that nothing will convince me because I don't know what the future holds.
I cannot say what will because if I knew that I'd be convinced.

You don't know.
Okay, but have we not exhausted all the evidence there ever will be. Or do you think some miracle is around the corner, waiting to pop out at us, after several centuries?

Are you thinking you will see a human evolve to

Joke.

 

[Colt]

But what about people who are not loving?
I don't believe God creates people loving. I believe that people become loving, or unloving, whichever the case may be.

Creating free will beings with the capacity to love and serve others doesn’t guarantee that they will all do so. When Jesus said “love one another the way that I have loved you” that didn’t prevent one of his apostles from stabbing him in the back.

 

[Jimmy]

I have my bases covered.

So this thread is basically pointless

 

[Trailblazer]

No you don't Trailblazer.
Are you thinking? Tell me the names of a million Christians.

I never said I know who ALL the Christians are.

Cool. So you see a cockroach. It is a cockroach. Fullstop. Splendid!

Now think carefully as you answer the next question. You don't want to contradict what you said before.
When you see love, you interpret it as something else?

No, when I see love I know it is love.

Good. A lot probably aren't happy you played with them.
Me. I dun got you all figured out.

You think you do.

 

[Trailblazer]

You don't know.
Okay, but have we not exhausted all the evidence there ever will be. Or do you think some miracle is around the corner, waiting to pop out at us, after several centuries?

Are you thinking you will see a human evolve to

Joke.

No, I am not expecting a miracle but it would not take one.
I just read something in a book that is pushing me in the direction of God is loving.

 

[Trailblazer]

So this thread is basically pointless

No, because there is no correlation between the the OP question and my bases being covered.

 

[Jimmy]

No, because there is no correlation between the the OP question and my bases being covered.

You're so sure god doesn't love yet you cover bases. Also you ask others to show you this love. It's all pointless

 

[Trailblazer]

I think this is a property or an element we can use to determine if you are reasonable, rational, humble, and honest with yourself and us.

You said, it makes no sense to you. Yet, that is not what millions say.
So first off, are you willing to consider that because something doesn't make sense to you, that doesn't mean it doesn't make sense, and perhaps you need to make sense of it?
Would you agree that sometimes our emotions tend to override our ability to accept something, which may very well be practical?
Sometimes too... our feelings do tend to prevent us from being honest with ourselves. Is that true?

Just because millions of people believe that God is loving that does not mean it is true. That is the fallacy of argumentum ad populum

In argumentation theory, an argumentum ad populum (Latin for "appeal to the people") is a fallacious argument that concludes that a proposition is true because many or most people believe it: "If many believe so, it is so."

This type of argument is known by several names,[1] including appeal to the masses, appeal to belief, appeal to the majority, appeal to democracy, appeal to popularity, argument by consensus, consensus fallacy, authority of the many, bandwagon fallacy, voxpopuli,[2] and in Latin as argumentum ad numerum ("appeal to the number"), fickle crowd syndrome, and consensus gentium ("agreement of the clans"). It is also the basis of a number of social phenomena, including communal reinforcement and the bandwagon effect. The Chinese proverb "three men make a tiger" concerns the same idea.
Argumentum ad populum - Wikipedia

It does not make sense to me so I cannot believe it. I have tried to make sense of it.
This is not coming from my emotions, it is coming from my mind.

You said, "a person who loves someone does things to show that they love that person, and they make sacrifices for the other person."

God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, in order that those who exercise faith, might not perish... and we can add, nor suffer anymore... but have everlasting life, without pain, sorrow, or death. John 3:16, Revelation 21:3-4

By this the love of God was revealed in our case, that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might gain life through him. The love is in this respect, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10

God and his firstborn - God's very beloved son - made the greatest sacrifice one could ever make - that of... in the case of God - allowing his son to be given over to humiliating torture, and spit, and finally death. In the case of the son, offering himself - a willing sacrifice - in behalf of the human race, which he so dearly loves.
That's the greatest love.

According to you, that's what love is.
It was shown. Do you accept it?

I do not accept that that was a sacrifice on the part of God since God did not give anything up in order to send Jesus.
Jesus was the Son of God but only in a symbolic sense. He was as a Son in relation to His Father, God.
God does not have offspring so God cannot have a firstborn.

So I don't believe God is love, simply because the Bible says it. I know God is love, because I see it, in reality.
Apart from creation, I see God's love evident in his dealings with his people... not only past, but present.
The love and unity that exist among God's people would be impossible without God's word, and spirit. Galatians 5:22-23
The Bible itself is alive, because of holy spirit.

You believe you know because of what the Bible says. How else would you know His dealings with His people?

Earlier, I said, it's not about what makes me happy. In fact, serving God can be very very difficult at times, and sometimes one has to endure serious discomfort.
I can imagine, it cannot be comfortable being in prison, and tortured for one's faith.

I do not mind suffering in the path of service, I have been doing that for many years.

 

[Trailblazer]

You're so sure god doesn't love yet you cover bases. Also you ask others to show you this love. It's all pointless

I am not sure God isn't loving, I am just not sure He is loving.
Can you tell me why it matters so much that God is loving?
What difference does it make?

 

[Trailblazer]

I really don't understand what keeps you a believer if you see this god as unloving and indolent, and which belief brings you no peace or comfort.

Simply put, I do not believe in God with the expectation of getting love from Him.
I do not believe in God with the expectation of experiencing peace and comfort.

I believe in God because I know God exists and it is in my best interest to believe, even if I do not enjoy it.
I also fear the repercussions of non-belief, and I don't want to make my situation any worse than it already is.

I would not call God indolent, only humans can be indolent.

 

[Trailblazer]

I was not really expecting people to try to convince me that God is loving. The question was just a spontaneous thought I had, something that was on my mind, but I should have known it was going to stir up controversy and bring believers out of the woodwork. Why so much of a need to believe that God is loving? I think people need to ask themselves why it is so important for them to ‘believe’ that God is loving, when that has no factual basis. As an old atheist friend used to tell me, it is mere belief. I think it is a psychological need, since people have a desire to be loved. However, I suggest they find people to love them, since even if God is loving, there is no way that God is demonstrating that. People just imagine that good things that happen are because God loves them.

The belief that God is loving is simply something that makes people feel good, like a placebo. Maybe it is a harmless belief, or maybe not, if it is false, because I don’t think it is good to hold false beliefs. On the other hand, since it can never be proven false people can go on believing it is true and it won’t hurt them. After all, it is just a belief.

 

[osgart]

I fail to see the divine mastery behind the human condition. If I knew there was a God I would not worship anything less than a master who was perfectly just and loving.

I look at things like the soldiers on DDay in WW2, or a boulder crushing a car. Where's God in all such events?

The highest expression of love is sacrifice, but there are other expressions of love no less important. God wouldn't even need to resort to extremes. God would have no need of playing the belief vs. non belief game.

Perhaps we are trapped in a universe of extreme tragedy that God had nothing to do with.

To be considered a God that supreme being would have to take justly effective responsibility over those that only desire justice and truth. Justice is all about love and blamelessness.

A plain truth undeniable, well evidenced, proven, and much needed message would be loving. Setting up God's government and protection on earth would be a visible sign of love.

I've never met a God in any form nor way.