(1) God alone is responsible for everything coming into being.
(2) If God is responsible for everything coming into being, then the freedom for creatures to choose to come into being is precluded.
(3) If the freedom for creatures to choose to come into being is precluded, then creatures were forced to come into being in a world that consists more of what one does not will.
(4) If creatures were forced to come into being in a world that consists more of what one does not will, then God is ultimately not desirable.
(5) Therefore, if God alone is responsible for everything coming into being, then God is ultimately not desirable. — Jjnan1
(3) If the freedom for creatures to choose to come into being is precluded, then creatures were forced to come into being in a world that consists more of what one does not will. — Jjnan1
I find it hard to believe that a world full of evils and horrors “dishonors” God. Satan is what is responsible for the evils and horrors, so at most it would be Satan that dishonors God, not the world. Furthermore, God made imperfect beings that he knew were “beneath” him. So, if God knew he was making imperfect humans, then how could he be dishonored by their actions or the world? — Emma
And, even if God was dishonored by his creation, wouldn’t Jesus’s sacrifice have made up for that? Would it not have balanced out the scales the same way it did for our sins? — Emma
God sharing his power to manifest things into existence seems to me to speak highly of who God is, while our manifestation of evil in the world seems to speak poorly of who we are when we don’t choose to manifest in accordance to God’s will. — Joaquin
A supreme being who is benevolent, all-power and all-knowing is a sacred concept that anyone should truly want to be true. Though if this is the case, then perhaps one should not desire that God exists then since the world with all its evils and horrors would be a dishonor to such a perfect being. It is out of reverence for the concept of God that one should rightly reject God’s existence. — Jjnan1
Looping back, it seems to me as though God is definitely responsible for ALL of our attributes, but He cannot be responsible for what He does not give us. — Joaquin
Hello,
First off, I appreciate this objection as a ramification of the problem of evil. I truly have not thought about the problem of evil in this way before. By saying this I mean, I have not thought that we as “inept creatures” dishonor God and in so doing present a problem for the truth of the Christian God since it is reasonable to assume such a God would not dishonor himself. I want to begin by addressing your citing of the Old Testament. You quote, “God created…. and he saw that it was good.” I claim that everything God had created was indeed good. Notice that at the point where this quote takes place in Genesis 1:31, God had created man in his own image and had even spoken purpose over man “Be fruitful and increase in number…” in order for man to live according to the will God had for him. However, it is not until Genesis 2:7 that God “formed the man from the dust of the ground…” I believe the order and use of words is crucial in this part. I believe when the Bible says “God created man in his own image” in Genesis 1:27 it does not mean God physically formed man in the flesh just yet. I would go as far as claiming that by “created”, the Old Testament refers to the creation of the soul, prior to the formation of the flesh. And so, it is not until Genesis 2:7 that God forms man out of dust. And I believe I good indication that this formation does indeed talk about forming in a physical sense, is the fact that it mentions “dust”, which is a physical element.
Besides the technicality and timing of when God calls his creation good, I also want to address the fact that it is also not until Genesis 2:7 that God “breathed into his [man’s] nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” God calls his creation good before he brings man to life, and even before he forms him. Not only that, but also from Genesis 1:28 until 1:30 God speaks about the purpose He has for man, “Be fruitful…, fill the earth and subdue it…, I give you every seed-bearing plant, etc.” However, man is not yet formed at this point. So, it must be that God is speaking to a part of man that is not its physical form yet (whether you call it mind or soul I leave up to you). It is not after God had formed and breathed life into man (Genesis 2:7), and until Genesis 2:16 that God speaks to man in his physical and live form and the first thing He says is “You are free… but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…” My point here is the following: By the time God tells man he is free and also tells him what he must not do, God had already spoke to man the purpose He had for him (Genesis 1:28-30). So, while man has freedom to follow God’s command or not, God had already spoke man’s purpose into his soul. God did create man good, but it was not until after man was formed, given life, and given freedom that we may call man “evil-doer”.
Just offering an interpretation of the Old Testament here. Please let me know what y’all think! (kindly pls) Pleasure talking philosophy with yall :D — Joaquin
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