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Originally posted by hippomchippo
Pascals wager is based on the idea of a christian God and other views of God.
Originally posted by hippomchippo
What if there is a God that rewards skeptical thinkers and debunkers and punishes those who believe blindly?
Originally posted by hippomchippo
What I find interesting about the christian religion is that it is said angels do not have free will and are only to serve God, can someone tell me what a fallen angel provides to God? If only entertainment?
no offense, but duh. a light googling will show that pascal was a chistian. and I already put a disclaimer... so yeah
Fallen angel means that an angel rebelled. So that means it had free will. But I thought heaven was perfect... again more questions than answers
Originally posted by hippomchippo
Fallen angel means that an angel rebelled. So that means it had free will. But I thought heaven was perfect... again more questions than answers
Exactly, I've always been told that angels were the first beings created by God, and had no free will, and that is why he created humans with free will.
Personally, I think if the christian God exists, he's just having a laugh and trying to be entertained by inventing satan, sin, etc.
-If god is perfect and good and all powerful he must be able and powerful enough to create a world with no evil
-Evil exists
-therefore god does not
If god exists then free will does not. God knows everything so he would know whatever is going to happen. We merely have the illusion of choosing.
Originally posted by InfaRedMan
I just find the whole idea of god/s flawed. In order for a religion to be effective it asks the individual to fill the holes/flaws with faith.
IRM
Originally posted by rival
1. Pascals Wager......only works when you have one God to choose from.
2.The Problem of Evil......first you have to define evil. Will live in a reality
where YOU HAVE TO KILL LIFE and consume it to survive.
Could there be
anything more evil, or more necessary? And it's a tad arbitrary on our
(human's) part how we decide what is evil about killing. It is based largely
on relative size. We think nothing of eradicating an ant hill or swatting a fly.
Mice, spiders, snakes, minnows...all small, all fair game, even if you want to
be cruel for cruel's sake.
But as you move up in size, and/or cuteness
society's morality takes effect. Can't kill it unless you're going to eat it.
And you can't eat puppies and kittens...that's evil, lol.
More about what is evil....We made the whole thing up. We draw up our
own arbitrary and dynamic guide, separated by time and geography. What
is evil for one culture is acceptable and normal in another...we make it up
on the fly to suit our selfish needs.
2. Free will.....There is simply no way to tell if we possess this.
But no matter. We live our lives, in EVERY society, as if freewill
is a given...even the fundamental theists who believe God is omniscient
operate under the assumption of freewill, regardless of logic.
And yes, be skeptical about knowledge. Knowledge is dynamic. Today's
accepted truth is tomorrows false and silly notion. Always be skeptical
.....it will keep you from falling off the edge of the world, and into the mouth
of a dragon.
Originally posted by adjensen
reply to post by afterschoolfun
If god exists then free will does not. God knows everything so he would know whatever is going to happen. We merely have the illusion of choosing.
That isn't correct. God exists outside of time, so he doesn't know what is going to happen, he knows it because, to him, it has already happened. Right now, you have a choice, you can either continue reading this, or turn off the computer and do something else. It's your decision, but God knows, and has always known, what the result of your decision would be. Still yours to make, though.
Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
Um, this is not philosophy in the least.
Your entire OP is based on faulty logic. You presume much. For example, the following:
-If god is perfect and good and all powerful he must be able and powerful enough to create a world with no evil
-Evil exists
-therefore god does not
Evil exists? how do you know that evil exists? Perhaps what you call "evil", i call "shiz happening"?
Evil is a term based on religion. To use it in your logic creates a flaw, as it is a circular logic type of thing. Without religion/God, there is no evil. Evil is dependant on the belief system.
Originally posted by filosophia
if you want to learn actual philosophy, read Boethius, he explains that God does exist alongside free will because there are two kinds of necessity, simple and conditional.
If our actions were nothing more than electrical brain impulses, what is causing the brain impulses? It is our self that causes this, otherwise you would be walking not by your own power but by some other power, in such a way that I could not address you, there would be no you, I would instead be addressing a humanoid shape with no soul or conscience.
Originally posted by InfaRedMan
Originally posted by hippomchippo
Fallen angel means that an angel rebelled. So that means it had free will. But I thought heaven was perfect... again more questions than answers
Exactly, I've always been told that angels were the first beings created by God, and had no free will, and that is why he created humans with free will.
Personally, I think if the christian God exists, he's just having a laugh and trying to be entertained by inventing satan, sin, etc.
I just find the whole idea of god/s flawed. In order for a religion to be effective it asks the individual to fill the holes/flaws with faith.
IRM