God's Powers of Persuasion

[Copernicus]

Let's suppose that there exists an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-merciful being that wants me to know of its existence. For some reason, it cannot actually reveal itself to me in any direct fashion. So it relies on human proselytizers to spread the truth, based on records of incidents where, for some reason, it was able to reveal itself directly to a relatively small number of humans. So, given this scenario:

1) What makes any mere human think that he or she can overcome my rejection of belief?
2) Why would God not have made his proselytizers better at persuasive dialog?
3) Why would God not have made me more persuadable?
4) Why would God even care whether I believed in his existence?

 

[KalithAlur]

1) Your humanness
2) You've probably only met a few of them
3) (the importance of) Free will
4) So you have someone bigger than you to talk to without feeling schizophrenic.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

3) (the importance of) Free will

How would sending a clearer message to humanity negate our free will?

Assuming that you believe in some sort of prophets, i.e. people who have received direct communication from God, did they somehow not have free will?

4) So you have someone bigger than you to talk to without feeling schizophrenic.

That's why we'd care, not why God would care.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Copernicus,

I've had similar thoughts myself. I can't think of any rational chain of reasoning that starts with "God wants to save/communicate with/etc. humanity" that ends with "therefore, the tenets of this religion".

 

[Riverwolf]

4) So you have someone bigger than you to talk to without feeling schizophrenic.

"Bigger?" One of my best friends is a head taller than me. Does that count?

 

[KalithAlur]

How would sending a clearer message to humanity negate our free will?

Assuming that you believe in some sort of prophets, i.e. people who have received direct communication from God, did they somehow not have free will?

Free will is about choosing what to study. If you'd rather watch Bay Watch than find out whether you're going to heaven or hell, then that's on you.

That's why we'd care, not why God would care.

God loves you so much he wants you to have this: a direct communication from an omniscient consciousness.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Free will is about choosing what to study. If you'd rather watch Bay Watch than find out whether you're going to heaven or hell, then that's on you.

That's offically the strangest definition of "free will" I've ever heard.

God loves you so much he wants you to have this: a direct communication from an omniscient consciousness.

Again, this isn't a reason why God would care.

 

[Copernicus]

1) Your humanness

Your answer is too short and cryptic. Again, If God could not convince me through direct communication, why would a human being feel capable of doing it? Is it that they have unlimited egos to match God's unlimited powers? :sarcastic

2) You've probably only met a few of them

That doesn't answer the question. Of all those that God arranged for me to be exposed to, couldn't he have made at least one of them be able to mount a persuasive argument?

3) (the importance of) Free will

Basically, then, you are saying that God made me skeptical in order to preserve my free will. Yet, if I finally succumbed to persuasion, would that not deprive me of free will? If not, then why not make me as persuadable as, say, you are?

4) So you have someone bigger than you to talk to without feeling schizophrenic.

That's very kind of him, but why would there then be any penalty for skepticism? It seems that his concern over my feelings has doomed me to eternal damnation, if I'm understanding basic Christian doctrine correctly. It would seem more merciful to me if he would scare the bejeebers out of me but then make up for it by admitting me into heaven.

Free will is about choosing what to study. If you'd rather watch Bay Watch than find out whether you're going to heaven or hell, then that's on you.

Free will is about choice, but why would direct contact from God deprive anyone of choosing to believe and obey? Wouldn't more adequate evidence allow us to make an informed choice? Bear in mind that an omniscient being would almost certainly know how much evidence would be adequate. It's not as if an omniscient being can claim ignorance in such matters.

God loves you so much he wants you to have this: a direct communication from an omniscient consciousness.

I cannot help but feel that an omniscient being who really loved me would take care to expose me to enough evidence to make an informed choice. You seem to feel that God's concern over overwhelming me too much by his presence (even though he appears not to have felt the same about all humans, according to the Bible) is more in my interest than to allow my soul to be eternally damned. Forgive me, but I'm not buying that.

 

[Agnostic75]

How would sending a clearer message to humanity negate our free will?

It wouldn't.