happydolphin said:
lame cartoon. So suffering is the reason to call theology stupid... This is the problem, people who put too much emphasis on suffering being pure evil. If it brings one closer to truth, it is not evil. An example is the banishing from the garden of Eden. True God cursed the humans, but that was for their good, ultimately. It was their punishment so they could repent and find forgiveness. It is a polariser as the evil hearts harden against him, and the good hearts cling back to him. At the same time God made us, so is it our fault? Well, ultimately, if our heart is not for him, and given the will to choose, then yeah punishment is our destiny. We would be the dark result of a creation based on the freedom to choose. Another problem with that charicature is that much suffering is made not for punishment but for evil, and that's the suffering made by the Ennemy. So, to lay that suffering on the hands of the almighty is silly, because Evil is a requirement in a world based on free will. It doesn't make God evil, it makes him real. He wants something real, it's his pre-rogative. Yes, some innocent will get scathed in the process, but if their heart is pure they will see it as a battlescar towards a higher calling. If their heart is evil, they will see it as a crime against them. So ultimately, it's all part of a plan for God to sort the hearts of his creation and enjoy eternity with those that were always bound to him in the first place. |
So is God omniscient, or do humans have free will? Can't have both.
