Is God good? Is God loving?

[We Never Know]

Please explain why it would matter if a person says that God is evil or good.

Its how they see and describe a god they believe in by their interactions(church, prayer, etc) and faith. It matters to to them how they see a god.

How can someone describe a god that is nonexistent to them? It must matter enough to describe them.

In my opinion if a person believes a god doesn't exists, it can be neither good or evil, its nonexistent.

 

[Trailblazer]

YAllah! All this suffering is just an alarm. What comes later to non-believers is much worse.

I do not think anything terrible is going to happen to nonbelievers, but that is just my personal opinion, and my hope.
I am not God so I don't make any judgment calls.

I think what will happen to any of us will depend upon how we lived our lives and how we treated other people, and from what I can see you have led a very good life and treated people well.

 

[Sheldon]

Realizing that suffering is not there to harm, but as a wake-up call to say "you are going off track now". So suffering is a teaching to change something in life

I've suffered from chronic back pain almost my entire adult life, what is it trying to teach me exactly?

What is sudden unexplained cot death trying to teach the parents?

I find that last emboldened claim to be a deeply offensive idea, to remotely suggest someone's suffering is their fault is an egregious lie.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

I've suffered from chronic back pain almost my entire adult life, what is it trying to teach me exactly?
What is sudden unexplained cot death trying to teach the parents?
I find that last emboldened claim to be a deeply offensive idea, to remotely suggest someone's suffering is their fault is an egregious lie.

Suffering itself doesn't teach us, but the Bible's account about the suffering of Job teaches us (Job 2:4-5)
By way of extension, Satan Not only challenged Job but includes the rest of us.
Touch our 'flesh'..... ( loose physical health) and under adverse conditions we would Not serve God.
Both Job and Jesus under very adverse conditions proved Satan a liar and so can we.

Because of Jesus' teachings about the Resurrection Hope, parents will have their baby back to live life again.
As gospel writer Luke wrote at Acts of the Apostles 24:15 there ' is going to be ' a resurrection....

 

[URAVIP2ME]

I do not think anything terrible is going to happen to nonbelievers, but that is just my personal opinion, and my hope.
I am not God so I don't make any judgment calls.
I think what will happen to any of us will depend upon how we lived our lives and how we treated other people, and from what I can see you have led a very good life and treated people well.

What happens to non-believers I find is the same at death:
ALL ' return ' just as dead Adam did - return to the dust of the ground - Gen. 3:19
Like Adam, at first Adam did Not exist, then Adam came to life, at death all of Adam returned to non-life.
So, the ' terrible ' thing was that Adam lost his life forever and ever (permanent death, permanent non-existence)
No post-mortem penalty at death, No double jeopardy at death, just going back returning to non-life.

God's judgement is recorded for us in the Bible.
How living people treat Jesus' spiritual 'brothers' (Matthew 25:40) will make a determination at Jesus' coming Glory Time - Matthew 25:31-33,37.
The figurative 'sheep' can remain alive on Earth to see calendar Day One of Jesus' thousand-year reign over Earth.
The figurative 'goats' will be destroyed forever (perpetual death) - Psalms 92:7; Psalms 104:35; Proverbs 2:21-22

 

[Trailblazer]

I find that last emboldened claim to be a deeply offensive idea, to remotely suggest someone's suffering is their fault is an egregious lie.

Finally, you and I can agree on something.... will miracles never cease!
No, most suffering is not our fault, God is holding the bag for creating a world in which humans will suffer.

 

[Trailblazer]

What happens to non-believers I find is the same at death:
ALL ' return ' just as dead Adam did - return to the dust of the ground - Gen. 3:19

I believe that what will happen to nonbelievers is the same as what will happen to believers. After their body dies their soul will pass to the spiritual world and take on another form, a spiritual body. The only difference between believers and nonbelievers is that believers will be close to God and nonbelievers will continue to exist but not be close to God. How that will all play out only God knows because the afterlife is a mystery of God.

“Death proffereth unto every confident believer the cup that is life indeed. It bestoweth joy, and is the bearer of gladness. It conferreth the gift of everlasting life.

As to those that have tasted of the fruit of man’s earthly existence, which is the recognition of the one true God, exalted be His glory, their life hereafter is such as We are unable to describe. The knowledge thereof is with God, alone, the Lord of all worlds.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 345-346

 

[Koldo]

Its how they see and describe a god they believe in by their interactions(church, prayer, etc) and faith. It matters to to them how they see a god.

How can someone describe a god that is nonexistent to them? It must matter enough to describe them.

In my opinion if a person believes a god doesn't exists, it can be neither good or evil, its nonexistent.

I agree. I fail to see the connection between this post and the other before it though.

 

[Trailblazer]

Because that is what the scriptures say he is. Also if God is equally accountable for all the evil things going on in the world as he is for helping. Then its difficult to argue why anyone would assume that they would be saved by him, as he is more or less a wildcard that can do anything. It would also be valid to assume that God intentionally do not care about all the babies that die during birth or at a very early age.

I do not believe that God is responsible for the evil things that humans do because God gave humans free will to choose to do good or evil and God sent Messengers to reveal laws which if followed would prevent evil deeds.
However, God is responsible for the things we have to endure that we do not choose, there is no way around that.

“Some things are subject to the free will of man, such as justice, equity, tyranny and injustice, in other words, good and evil actions; it is evident and clear that these actions are, for the most part, left to the will of man. But there are certain things to which man is forced and compelled, such as sleep, death, sickness, decline of power, injuries and misfortunes; these are not subject to the will of man, and he is not responsible for them, for he is compelled to endure them. But in the choice of good and bad actions he is free, and he commits them according to his own will.”
Some Answered Questions, p. 248

Man forced to endure them because God set it up that way by determining what our fate will be.

So why would anyone wish to worship such being to begin with, even if he existed?

You tell me and then we will both know. I am still working on the answer.

 

[Trailblazer]

I see God as the Ultimate Cause of all things, who gives and retracts goods, which causes "gaps in the good" as I call it, also know as the evil we experience (for instance when He retracts the gift of life from us we drop dead). This is not something I overlook but is fundamental to how I see God personally.

That is not dissimilar to how I see God.

“Baha’is believe in an almighty creator who has fashioned the universe and has made man in his own image; they believe in a non-created cause of all existence, in a single God. The word ‘God’ is a symbol for that transcendent reality by which all existence is ruled and maintained.”
(Udo Schafer, the light that shineth in the darkness, p. 19)

Also see this description:

“Regard thou the one true God as One Who is apart from, and immeasurably exalted above, all created things. The whole universe reflecteth His glory, while He is Himself independent of, and transcendeth His creatures. This is the true meaning of Divine unity. He Who is the Eternal Truth is the one Power Who exerciseth undisputed sovereignty over the world of being, Whose image is reflected in the mirror of the entire creation. All existence is dependent upon Him, and from Him is derived the source of the sustenance of all things. This is what is meant by Divine unity; this is its fundamental principle.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 167

Regarding God giving and taking away, this is what I believe:

“God witnesseth that there is no God but Him, the Gracious, the Best-Beloved. All grace and bounty are His. To whomsoever He will He giveth whatsoever is His wish. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 73

“No God is there but Him. All creation and its empire are His. He bestoweth His gifts on whom He will, and from whom He will He withholdeth them. He is the Great Giver, the Most Generous, the Benevolent.” Gleanings, p. 278

 

[Trailblazer]

That we still live and God has not killed us.

Not all of us but some of us.

 

[Trailblazer]

We have life and sunshine and food and rain and cats.

Some of us do but some of us do not.

 

[Trailblazer]

Ah! You mean it is OK to suffer. You mean he can satisfactorily explain it, though he will never remove suffering. It has never been explained to me satisfactorily by the theists.

Nor to me.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

I believe that what will happen to nonbelievers is the same as what will happen to believers. After their body dies their soul will pass to the spiritual world and take on another form, a spiritual body. The only difference between believers and nonbelievers is that believers will be close to God and nonbelievers will continue to exist but not be close to God. How that will all play out only God knows because the afterlife is a mystery of God..............

To me ' afterlife ' is a mystery of MAN. ( afterlife meaning more alive after death than before death ).
In Scripture it is Not any afterlife but Resurrection. Resurrection to either Heaven for some and Earth for the rest.
In the Bible the 'soul that sins dies' - Ezekiel 18:4,20
Immortal soul is a man-made teaching outside of the Bible but wrongly taught as being Scripture.

Over the vast centuries there are many non-believers but on the coming Resurrection Day (Jesus' Thousand-Year Day of governing over Earth ) both believers and non-believers will have the opportunity to play out, so to speak, if they want to live forever on Earth as originally offered to Adam before his downfall. - Acts of the Apostles 24:15

 

[Trailblazer]

Nature's beauty and people that are loving are all the evidence I really need. But I also have Jesus as the perfect image of the Father who came to show us what love is.

But what about the ugliness of nature such as animals killing each other in the wild? What about people who are hateful and mean and hurt other people? Sure we have the potential to be good and Jesus is the perfect image of the Father, but there is still a lot of evil and suffering in this world.

 

[Trailblazer]

The concept of good or bad is not relevant to god.

Then I suggest that religious believers stop saying that God is good. It is the believers who create the expectations that God is good with their Scriptures.

Good and Bad are relative concepts. What seems good to you might be bad for me and vice versa.

I agree.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

Finally, you and I can agree on something.... will miracles never cease!
No, most suffering is not our fault, God is holding the bag for creating a world in which humans will suffer.

To me, God is holding the bag in which human will NOT suffer - please see Isaiah 33:24; Revelation 22:2.
In God's bag, so to speak, we find ' healing ' for earth's nations - Rev. 22:2
In God's bag, No one will say, " I am sick,,,,,," - Isa. 33:24
In God's bag, Earth and its people will be healthy as described in Isaiah 35th chapter.
In God's bag, even ' enemy death ' will be No more on Earth - 1 Corinthians 15:26; Isaiah 25:8

 

[URAVIP2ME]

But what about the ugliness of nature such as animals killing each other in the wild? What about people who are hateful and mean and hurt other people? Sure we have the potential to be good and Jesus is the perfect image of the Father, but there is still a lot of evil and suffering in this world.

We are forewarned so that we can be forearmed at 2 Timothy 3:1-5,13.
Described there is the distorted selfish form of love the world would display before Jesus comes.
When Jesus comes, so to speak, I find there will be peace with animal life - Isaiah 35th chapter; Isaiah 11:6-9.
Hateful-and-mean people who will Not repent will be destroyed forever - Psalms 92:7; Psalms 104:35; Proverbs 2:21-22.
We all have the opportunity or choice to 'repent' rather than 'perish' (be destroyed) according to 2 Peter 3:9.

 

[Trailblazer]

To me ' afterlife ' is a mystery of MAN. ( afterlife meaning more alive after death than before death ).
In Scripture it is Not any afterlife but Resurrection. Resurrection to either Heaven for some and Earth for the rest.
In the Bible the 'soul that sins dies' - Ezekiel 18:4,20

I see nothing in Scripture that indicates that anyone will be resurrected to live their eternal life on Earth.
I believe all people will be resurrected and pass to the spiritual world. Those who are close to God will be in Heaven, which is a state of the soul, not a geographical location. Those who were not close to God will continue to exist, but they will be 'as dead' compared to those who are close to God.

This is what I believe is meant by resurrection:

The Resuscitation of Man from the Dead and His Entrance into Eternal Life

421. When the body is no longer able to perform the bodily functions in the natural world that correspond to the spirit’s thoughts and affections, which the spirit has from the spiritual world, man is said to die. This takes place when the respiration of the lungs and the beatings of the heart cease. But the man does not die; he is merely separated from the bodily part that was of use to him in the world, while the man himself continues to live. It is said that the man himself continues to live since man is not a man because of his body but because of his spirit, for it is the spirit that thinks in man, and thought with affection is what constitutes man. Evidently, then, the death of man is merely his passing from one world into another. And this is why in the Word in its internal sense “death” signifies resurrection and continuation of life. Heaven and Hell, p. 351

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

 

[Nimos]

However, God is responsible for the things we have to endure that we do not choose, there is no way around that.

But that is evil as well isn't it? We talked about it before, God allowing animals to kill each other in horrific ways, it doesn't do humans any good or the animals for that matter. So wouldn't that be a clear sign of God doing or designing something that is evil? or in what way is that even remotely beneficial for humans that this is going on?

You tell me and then we will both know. I am still working on the answer.

Well I decided that I won't worship such being, I don't care if he is true or not. Should it turn out that God is real and doesn't give very good answers, he doesn't deserve to be worshipped at all, and I don't even know why a all powerful being such as God, even would like to be worshipped, that to me sounds a bit mental to be honest

On a completely different note, since I know you like cats.

I reasonably went on vacation to Sweden with my family. And me and my mother decided to go for a walk to the nearby lake through a forest, approximately 20 minute walk each way, on the way there we ran into the neighbors cat, which decided that it wanted to go for a walk, so it went with us all the way down there and back like a dog would. I have to say that I was really impressed, I expected it to run off after 3-5 minutes, but it went with us for 40 minutes