by Shining One 43 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
If you conclude there's no God because of the existence of evil, then there's no possibility of ever redeeming that evil for good.
Non sequitur.
In spite of the relativity of the "good" / "evil" dichotomy (btw, I tend to agree with the author on their essential asymmetry), anything we can call "good" today is factually dependent on the countless "evils" (and "goods") of past history. Whether "God" is read into this process or not, so it is and will be.
Balsam wrote:
I don't think of our creator as a sick bastard as I once did, I just realized he or IT came created then split, or died, or something.
So you dont believe that he or IT will come back or decide to fix things at some point in the future or take us to heaven?
I really wonder about that as well. He seems to have left the building.
TOr
God does not permit evil as such it is rather mankind that bring it upon themselves by failng to develop a culture of the spirit by accepting the gospel.
One more time, what about cancer and other terminal illness? Hits anyone without predjudice. How did mankind bring that on?? You telling me that "god" is making my family pay for Adam's mistake? How is that not evil? Sounds more like the Corleone family style.
I made myself do it, Shining One. I read the entire thing so that I couldn't be fairly accused of not having done so. Painful though it was, I arrived at the crushing let down in the end...
The questions we have to ask ourselves are: Do we have reason to think that God is good, and do we have reason to think that evil is not a thing? If we have good reasons to think those two things, then our new set of syllogisms work.
We can then strongly trust that when God does allow a privation of good (evil) to influence our lives, He does it not for evil designs, but ultimately for good purposes.
One expects the end to justify the exhaustive (exhausting?) treatment. But, the conclusion that good and evil are concepts rather than things is a relatively simple conclusion that dawns on many people by the time they are three or four. If someone hasn't arrived at that conclusion by the time they are age 10 there is probably something wrong with the child's higher order brain functions, some sort of retardation is present.
The assertion that evil only exists as an absence of good doesn't alter the nature of "evil" one whit. I could inverse the author's words regarding shadow and light and you can't disprove it: Light is only the absence of shadow. Does it change the nature of either light or shadow to state that? No.
This guy is attempting to use the Bible to rationalize the purpose of permitting evil, wickedness and tragic misfortune...but he felt the need to prove God is good...if the person addressed views the Bible as an authority at all, they would take that as a given premise—wouldn't they? If they don't view the Bible as an authority, the other half of his argument falls flat with a resounding thud.
One sentence summation of his entire argument:
God is good because I believe the Bible and God didn't make anything evil—I know because the Bible said so—and since God didn't make anything evil and everything God made was good, God didn't make evil so evil is the non-existence of the good things God did make, so evil doesn't really exist (except where there is no good).
At least it isn't circular logic, there are several cloverleafs in that snarl of illogical traffic. But, hey, if it works for you then more power to you.
AuldSoul
The evolutionists by propagating the idea that man is an animal that came forth from animals encourage that regressive instinctual attitude that sidetracks mankind away from its true destiny which is a spiritual one.
How dare you! How dare you insult me that way?! Just because I, and millions of others, no longer bow down to your god we are, by default, encouraging a regressive backslide to animalistic behaviour? How dare you greendawn?!!
What a load of bollocks!!
The evolutionists by propagating the idea that man is an animal that came forth from animals encourage that regressive instinctual attitude that sidetracks mankind away from its true destiny which is a spiritual one.
Uhhh you forget, we have the hope of evolving.
British philosopher Bertrand Russell said that no one can sit at the bedside of a dying child and still believe in God. My response to Mr. Russell is, "What would you say to a dying child?" What could an atheist say? "Too bad"? "Tough luck"? "Bum deal"?
Unbelievable. Shining One, I can't believe that even you would fall into this obvious trap. Is an atheist devoid of all pity, compassion and tact because he does not believe in god? Is that right Shining One?
If that were my child I would hold her hand and reassure her, tell her how much I love her and that she will always be with me wherever I go and whatever I do. As difficult as it would be I would fight to find the words instead of spinning fanciful tales of heaven and being with the angels or even of 'I'll see you in paradise'.
It would be difficult, of course it would, but here's a revelation for you - atheists are loving, compassionate human beings too.
Nic'
(these assumptions make me so angry)
Greendawn
The evolutionists by propagating the idea that man is an animal that came forth from animals encourage that regressive instinctual attitude that sidetracks mankind away from its true destiny which is a spiritual one.
So...mankind was not 'sidetracked' before Darwin ?
These are not Shining Ones' remarks. He copied and pasted someone else's work, so he doesn't have to defend anything in the post. He just shovels this crap into the forum and says it was shat from a dog belonging to someone else.
Ya lost me after the "donut hole" but is that you in the avater? H O T T Hot!
