Is God afraid of us?

[Faint]

Still not a theist, but I was listening to Marilyn Manson earlier (no big surprise right?) and one of his song lyrics got me to thinking. The line, "Dear God if you were alive you know we'd kill you" sounds accurate to me. If God were to appear on earth, I'm pretty certain that there would be a great deal of people out to assassinate him. Sure, he would have his legions of followers too, but I've no doubt that God has made enough enemies here on earth to pose as a legitimate threat to his safety should ever choose to come again. Therefore, I'm wondering if this is part of the reason he chooses to stay away? Otherwise, why doesn't he come by and say hello in person? Let everyone know he really exists, get involved in local politics, maybe do some charity work, star in a new reality show, etc.?

Further in support of this idea is a passage from Genesis;
http://www.religiousforums.com/bible/index.php?keyword=22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
http://www.religiousforums.com/bible/index.php?keyword=23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
http://www.religiousforums.com/bible/index.php?keyword=24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

God seemed really concerned that a human might "become as one of" him, living forever and all that. Would you also interpret the precautions God took to guard the tree as an act of fear? Just as someone who installs a burglar alarm in their home is afraid of theft?

 

[Radar]

If there is a god he is definately afraid of us or plotting against us.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Why should God take upon a physical manifestation in a world that would be very hostile towards him?

 

[Aqualung]

God did come by and say hello, and he got crucified.

 

[JerryL]

The God of the old testement does indeed seem to be afraid of man. This shows up most prominantly both in the passage you cited, and in the destruction of the tower of Babel.

 

[TashaN]

God is so great that once he showed himself to a mountain it blow up and that's when Moses asked God to see him then God said if the mountain stand when i appear myself to it so i'll show you myself then Moses got shocked and went in a comma when he saw what happened to the mountain then when he wake up he stopped asking for it and he repent to God and ask for forgivness.

Moreover, God in the hereafter will put the earth in his hand and even he can put our earth in one finger of him.

Now, i guess you have an idea about who is God and after you read my words try to go for the pervious words and compare it with it and whether what you said is accurate or believable or not.

 

[nutshell]

Still not a theist, but I was listening to Marilyn Manson earlier (no big surprise right?) and one of his song lyrics got me to thinking. The line, "Dear God if you were alive you know we'd kill you" sounds accurate to me. If God were to appear on earth, I'm pretty certain that there would be a great deal of people out to assassinate him. Sure, he would have his legions of followers too, but I've no doubt that God has made enough enemies here on earth to pose as a legitimate threat to his safety should ever choose to come again. Therefore, I'm wondering if this is part of the reason he chooses to stay away? Otherwise, why doesn't he come by and say hello in person? Let everyone know he really exists, get involved in local politics, maybe do some charity work, star in a new reality show, etc.?

Further in support of this idea is a passage from Genesis;
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

God seemed really concerned that a human might "become as one of" him, living forever and all that. Would you also interpret the precautions God took to guard the tree as an act of fear? Just as someone who installs a burglar alarm in their home is afraid of theft?

God did not place Cherubim and and a flaming sword to keep the way of the tree of life because he was worried Man would become like him. He did it because Adam and Eve had sinned and if they were to eat of the tree of life, they would live forever in that sin and not be able to return to God's presence.

God is not afraid of us and he does want us to become like him. He's just giving us this time of probation to practice and he sent Christ so that we might overcome sin and death and eventually be able to partake of the tree of life.

 

[Halcyon]

God is so great that once he showed himself to a mountain it blow up and that's when Moses asked God to see him then God said if the mountain stand when i appear myself to it so i'll show you myself then Moses got shocked and went in a comma when he saw what happened to the mountain then when he wake up he stopped asking for it and he repent to God and ask for forgivness.

Moreover, God in the hereafter will put the earth in his hand and even he can put our earth in one finger of him.

Now, i guess you have an idea about who is God and after you read my words try to go for the pervious words and compare it with it and whether what you said is accurate or believable or not.

A mountain blowing up, why does that sound familiar? Oh yes, they're called volcanoes!

Anyway, God would have no reason to fear us as if he were 'killed', he'd just revert to his original form.
It seems what God is afraid of though is mankind becoming anything more than His slaves. We eat from the tree of knowledge and gain a mind - he banishes us from Eden. If we ate from the tree of life and became like the elohim, well, we wouldn't need or worship God anymore would we?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

This shows up most prominantly both in ... the destruction of the tower of Babel.

See God Against Humanity.

 

[Tez]

I love that MM song :jam:, lol.

- Tez

 

[Quiddity]

"To become one us" is to gain knowledge. With knowledge comes responsibility. In responsiblity lies our weakness. This is of course if man is an innate being when it comes to morals.

~Victor

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

God did not place Cherubim and and a flaming sword to keep the way of the tree of life because he was worried Man would become like him. He did it because Adam and Eve had sinned ....

No force field. No electric fence. The Creator of the Universe could come up with nothing better that a sword. :biglaugh: Oh, well, primitive story, primitive tools.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

God is so great that once he showed himself to a mountain it blow up ...

<yawn> it's hard to get greater than that </yawn>

 

[TashaN]

<yawn> it's hard to get greater than that </yawn>

Just an example that our human mind can understand and be aware of.

 

[nutshell]

No force field. No electric fence. The Creator of the Universe could come up with nothing better that a sword. :biglaugh: Oh, well, primitive story, primitive tools.

Who knows...maybe it was a force field or electric fence or perhaps something we cannot even comprehend. The primitive writers had to interpret what they saw based on their own cultural knowledge (I think you see a lot of this in The Revelation of St. John).

Did they have "flaming" swords thousands of years ago??? I don't think so...this implies that it was something they may not have been familiar with and just made the most accurate explanation they could.

 

[Faint]

See God Against Humanity.

Whoa, Jerry & Jay thanks, dudes--it was totally excellent of you to bring up that gnarly "Tower of Babel" story, which is, like, a totally more awesome example of the point I was trying to make. Dude, I can't believe I forgot about that! Tubular! I think this quote from Jay is rad:

This is a story, not of retribution, but of preemption - not of an angry and vengeful God slaughtering a sinful humanity at its worst, but of a worried and scheming God undermining a united humanity at its best. "Look!" says YHWH, "Here is humanity working together toward a common goal. We must destoy the community of man. Otherwise, nothing is beyond them."

Yeah, so like, what's wrong with a united humanity? The Bible also warns of this in that *****in' story about, y' know, all the nations of the world coming together before the antichrist. God is TOTALLY trying to keep us down! Bummer, dude. Totally not righteous.

 

[Fascist Christ]

Still not a theist, but I was listening to Marilyn Manson earlier (no big surprise right?) and one of his song lyrics got me to thinking. The line, "Dear God if you were alive you know we'd kill you" sounds accurate to me.

Marilyn Manson is notoriously anti-Christian, primarily conscerned with the arrogance and hypocrisy of Dominion Christians who want to take over the world. For this reason, any lyrics from him must first be considered as a reflection on the Christian god and the influence of the Dominion Christians on American culture and politics.

With this in mind, it is clear that the line you mention is an allusion to what happened to Jesus. That is to say that most Christians today are so far from the teachings of Jesus that, even if he were to come again, those who profess to be his most devout followers would actually be the first to silence him. (Remember, the mention of death or killing in heavy genres of music are often not literal, but poetic.)

Now take a look at some other lines:
Before the bullets
Before the flies
Before authorities take out my eyes

The "bullets" are probably a reference to a future fascist regime that the Dominion Christians wish to impose, since fascism can be enforced at gunpoint. The "flies" of course symbolize death and decay, probably of those who disagree with the Christian authority. The removal of the eyes is another allusion to censorship.

So, they take our god away by killing him and making up there own fascist deity. Then, they censor us from any means of obtaining the truth. He realizes that this deity is fabricated, as he says to god: "you are plastic."

Therefore, I'm wondering if this is part of the reason he chooses to stay away? Otherwise, why doesn't he come by and say hello in person? Let everyone know he really exists, get involved in local politics, maybe do some charity work, star in a new reality show, etc.?

Why doesn't he get involved with anything? I find that there is a lot more that we can learn through his non-intervention.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I think this quote from Jay is rad: ...

Thanks. I don't think I've every been called "rad" before.

 

[glasgowchick]

God did come by and say hello, and he got crucified.[/QUOTE

well said aqualung, you took the words right out of my mouth, :clap Here thats a song too right

 

[michel]

God did come by and say hello, and he got crucified.[/QUOTE

well said aqualung, you took the words right out of my mouth, :clap Here thats a song too right

I agree, there is no doubt that God did come down to say hello and was crucified, but I don't think it is as easy to write it into the framework of 'Is God afraid of us'. The God in which I believe cannot be surprised - after all, everything in this universe is something he must have conceived, when he set that first Chauldron going.

That coming down, saying Hi and being Crucified was part of a ritual he knew he needed to go through - Man was only incident in playing the part God know jolly well that he would play. After all, we are prdictably weak, and sinful.