That is the greatness of God, the paradoxes. To have true choice, you need evil. If evil did not exist, you would not have true choice.
To the theists (Christian or otherwise)....
by logansrun 80 Replies latest watchtower bible
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logansrun
El blanko,
Oh, I disagree that the dubs have as good an answer as any. They basically say that God permits evil to prove a point -- that humans cannot rule themselves and will be miserable without him. Besides the fact that this seems a nasty thing to do one wonders: Why would God have to prove anything? Shouldn't this be an axiom? (Dubs will even go so far as to state that God was proving a point to the angels who saw Adam and Eve sin. I mean, come on.)
frankie,
If there is no "one", no personage allowing evil the question then becomes meaningless as there is no meaning behind evil at all.
Bradley
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frankiespeakin
Logan,
If there is no "one", no personage allowing evil the question then becomes meaningless as there is no meaning behind evil at all. Bradley
Now you're talking,,no solid meaning only societies concepts.
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El blanko
Oh, I disagree that the dubs have as good an answer as any.
Well, at least they have an answer. Many haven't It's ok, feel free to disagree. There is nobody here or anywhere who has an answer absolute to your original question. Only ideas.
Humans cannot rule themselves and will be miserable without him.
Hmmm... the way that statement is phrased makes God sound like a rampant egotist. I believe (well most of the time when away from plaguing negative thoughts & doubts) that we live in a great big fancy physical creation that remains bound to God and has underlying laws that underpin everything that lives and breathes and certainly help to keep things ticking along nicely. These laws when followed assist us all to live together and have a great time. Pull away from these laws and we suffer as a whole ... the plants, the animals, the humans, the whole creative heap starts to go down. So if we remain bound to God, things go well etc etc That could be just the way it is - why not?
The expression of evil in my opinion is rooted in selfishness and the chosen tool of the short-sighted to help define their reality and provide short cuts and easy answers to deep-rooted fears and frustrations. Evil may also be the expression of a bloated ego.
Those with real vision embrace the whole picture and work towards the deeper principle of love; namely self-sacrifice.
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Country Girl
Cuz God *said* so, damnit!
I dunno. Good question. Perhaps because good and evil each validate the other's existence. It would be an exercise in futility (I just love saying that.. smirk) for us to strive for higher and more profound realms of existence without the desire to excise evil from the world and our lives. We'd be bitter creatures if we didn't have *something* to fight against, and for. Okay.. I'm done. My head hurts.
And if you ask me to expound on this... well.. erm.. I just can't. That paragraph took me long *enough*. <grin> I'll enjoy seeing other's answers on this subject.
CG
P.S. Also something about yin and yang, balance of light and dark, and the balance of the universe.. blah blah blah.
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logansrun
El blanko,
I think Augustine's solution to theodicy is more logical. God allows evil to occur because this allows a greater good to be performed, for Augustine this would be the salvific death of Christ. God intended this to happen from the beginning, unlike the JW idea that God didn't even know that evil would occur (a strange concept for an all-powerful God).
Blaise Pascal would have said it's dangerous to even speculate about this. We just don't know why God allows evil.
Bradley
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frankiespeakin
Logan,
Blaise Pascal would have said it's dangerous to even speculate about this. We just don't know why God allows evil.
Dangerous in what way???
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logansrun
Dangerous because there is no satisfying answer to the theodicy problem.
Bradley
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frankiespeakin
Logan than why didn't you just say "there is no satifying answer to theodicy" instead of"
Blaise Pascal would have said it's dangerous to even speculate about this. We just don't know why God allows evil.
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El blanko
God didn't even know that evil would occur
God would certainly have seen the potential of the seed germinating. Maybe that is why within scripture that the punishment and redemption were provided so quickly?
To suggest that the God I believe in would allow evil to evolve in order for the revelation of the greater good is intriguing, yet I can't see the need for this to occur. Love should have been pure from the onset of creation, I can imagine no need to inflict hurt to display a deeper meaning of love. To love another is not to hurt them?