Is becoming like God evil?

reply to post by Klassified


So you creating a "this, as compared to that" thread, yes?

Clever, clever...now everyone will see that the silver lining in the cloud is actually silver nitrate.

I think it's only evil if you make the God of love immoral and then set yourself up, in his stead, with a rebellious spirit, as the absolute judge of good and evil or declare yourself greater than Jesus Christ himself.

Originally posted by rlnochance
I would think if becoming 'like god' was evil, then Michael would be the devil instead of revered as an archangel on the side of the lord, IMO

If good as you say, then why did God throw his hissy fit all over A & E when they did what you call good?

You compare Michael to God. Let's compare Satan to Michael. Who has been rewarded with dominion over the earth?

Who was instrumental in helping A & E to do what you call good?

Something is quite insane with the myth as given in scriptures. Right?

Regards
DL

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
reply to post by Greatest I am

 

I would like to restrict giving God any other attribute except for knowing good and evil in this thread. Just for simplicity.

Does anyone in this thread have a good definition of "good" and "evil"? Allow me to share mine:

Good: to serve all others at the cost of the self.

Evil: to serve the self at the cost of all others.

“Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.”

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Do you even know what "perfect" is? Perfection is the complete lack of desire or wanting...which is why most people are never perfect.

Knowing good and evil is the same as developing or gaining a moral sense. This is something that all governments and religions wish to develop in us and seems like a good idea to me.

Knowing good and evil is knowing what each does and how each affects the world in the long run. Evil, to the average person, is anything they don't like or wouldn't do. Good is anything they admire or approve of. Until we eliminate our own emotions from the equation, we cannot truly understand these things.

Is becoming as Gods, in the moral sense, an evil thing?

Is becoming President an evil thing? The only true evil or true good is an action. Only actions can be qualified as such., unless the object in question was designed for a specific action and can do nothing else.


In my honest opinion, I think that if/when we become gods, we'll leave the whole "good and evil" thing behind...because really, we never knew enough about it to begin with. And gods understand exactly what it's all about.

edit on 5-7-2012 by AfterInfinity because: (no reason given)

I do not think that emotions can be taken be taken out of morals. It is what as you say, helps us decide what is as you say, to serve all others at the cost of the self or to serve the self at the cost of all others.

Strange that you would say that we would be perfect or complete without a moral sense. You would not want to live that way. This link is a good analogy to what that would look like without morals and the knowledge of good and evil. Watch the river scene.

www.dailymotion.com...

Regards
DL

Originally posted by Nightchild
Firstly, the God in the Old Testament was far from perfect, as He on several occassions did not only need the help from "mere" Humans for various tasks, but also were unable to predict what they would do.

Secondly, there could also be another reason for why the God(S) in the Old Testament did not want Man to reach their level, namely Jealousy;

I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me

Yahweh made very clear that He expected to be worshipped as a God;

And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians

And, if the Humans reached His level, then whom would worship Him?
In other words, merely using simple Psychology would be enough to conclude that plain jealousy very well could be a fully plausible reason for the question posed in the OP.

I agree.

A normal parent wants his children to meet or exceed whatever the parent is. God was quite ticked off when A & E did just that.

Regards
DL

Originally posted by Klassified

Is becoming like God evil?

From the Christian perspective, aspiring to be like God is. Someone else tried that, and got kicked out of heaven.

“Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.”

The man became like "us" in the sense that he made a choice to obey or disobey God. To transgress God's command, or to keep it.
1John 3:4

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

To understand this, it needs to be read in context with the rest of Matthew chapter 5. Perfection here, refers to imitating God's character. Or more specifically, the character Jesus displayed openly while he walked upon the earth.

Knowing good and evil is the same as developing or gaining a moral sense.

For Christians, moral sense or compass, boils down to discerning and following God's will daily. Determining right and wrong from God's perspective, not ours.

This is something that all governments and religions wish to develop in us and seems like a good idea to me.

Actually, they only want to develop their version of a moral compass in us.

If being perfect like God means that we must have the knowledge of good and evil, then Adam and Eve had to eat of the tree of knowledge ---- if they were to accomplish what most seem to think is a worthy goal. Morals. As God says in Eden, such is to have your eyes opened. A good thing IOW.

See above. The verse is being taken out of context.

In the Jewish view, A & E did the right thing and they name it our elevation. In the Christian view, they did the wrong thing and call it our fall.

FALL because they disobeyed God.

Is becoming as Gods, in the moral sense, an evil thing?

Yes, because for the Christian, all morals and ethics originate with God. Apart from him, morals and ethics become situational rather than constant.

If so, please explain what is evil about developing a moral sense and following scriptures that tell us to be as Gods.

Where exactly does the bible tell Christians to be "as gods"?

In the quote provided in the O P..

Yes you are correct. Satan tried to be like God and God gave him dominion over the earth.

What does that reward tell you?

--------------------------

“The man became like "us" in the sense that he made a choice to obey or disobey God. To transgress God's command, or to keep it.”

That is not what God says in scripture but distortion to fit your dogma is normal for Christians.

-------------------------------

“Perfection here, refers to imitating God's character. Or more specifically, the character Jesus displayed openly while he walked upon the earth.”

Ok. If so, then we must have the knowledge of good and evil as Jesus had. Right?

-------------------------

“For Christians, moral sense or compass, boils down to discerning and following God's will daily. Determining right and wrong from God's perspective, not ours.”

Exactly. And that perspective is what he wrote in the tree of knowledge.
That is where he tells us, through A & E, what is good and what is evil and we run with it.

--------------------------------

“FALL because they disobeyed God.”

Is it evil for man to ignore a command that basically says to stay as dumb as a cow and not develop a moral sense?

Regards
DL

Originally posted by grahag
If there's a God that created us and he gave us the ability to make ourselves Gods, do you think that he might have made a mistake?

If so, then it must be a mistake for us as parents to want our children to be as good or better than we are.

What do you wish for your children?
Would God want less for his?

Regards
DL

Originally posted by Mickierocksman
No, not evil at all……

You have as good a chance as any person at any at becoming a ‘god’ – just write a book about why you should control and manipulate people whilst spreading fear and hatred.

It will be a best seller for sure; people will follow you blindly and will kill others in your name…. that sounds cool doesn’t it?

Mickierocksman

That must be why God blew up all over A & E. Fear.

Regards
DL

Originally posted by jmdewey60
reply to post by Greatest I am

 

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Knowing good and evil is the same as developing or gaining a moral sense.

Knowing, in the Genesis Eden story implies carrying out evil as a skill.
Perfect in Matthew implies completeness, as having reached a goal, to be the person you were meant to be.

I do not agree.
A & E are not shown doing or having any skill at doing evil.

Regards
DL

Originally posted by ACTS 2:38
Yes for that is what the devil tempted Eve with

Genesis 3:

[3] But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
[4] And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
[5] For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
[6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
[7] And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

If one can understand that there are many gods for the Bible which is the Holy Word of God with out any errors tell us so. It is also stated that

Exodus 34:

[14] For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

So in by the word of God yes becoming a god is evil.

Why did God allow Satan access to A & E?

That bit of insanity is like putting a fox in the hen house. Right?

As to your last. It was not becoming a competing God. It was becoming like the God you worship so you might check your context.

Regards
DL

Originally posted by Klassified
reply to post by AfterInfinity

 

I hear ya. But I was trying to answer the OP's questions from a Christian perspective, and help him understand their doctrine from a simplistic viewpoint.

edit on 7/6/2012 by Klassified because: (no reason given)

Not required.
I am aware of how simple they are.

Regards
DL

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
I think it's only evil if you make the God of love immoral and then set yourself up, in his stead, with a rebellious spirit, as the absolute judge of good and evil or declare yourself greater than Jesus Christ himself.

To call God love is to insult love.

Love is recognized and expressed by works and deeds.

Your genocidal son murdering God is quite far from that.

Listen and learn.

www.youtube.com...

You might also check how often Jesus condemns those he supposedly loves to everlasting purposeless torture in hell.

Regards
DL

You cannot become like God. You can only realize that there is only God.

Originally posted by Itisnowagain
You cannot become like God. You can only realize that there is only God.

Call the bible a liar then. That is what it is as a myth.

Who is this God that you idol worship but can never emulate as scriptures tell you to do?
Name the golden calf that you have pasted your bible pages on till you think you have hidden it while the form shines through.

Regards
DL

reply to post by Itisnowagain


There is NEVER only "God". To think like that is to miss the forest for the trees. Everything comes from Source, but to focus only on Source is to miss what it has given you...

Love all of creation, and bring fruit from it, and give that fruit as a blessing to everyone, and you will know the Source. Because that is what the Source is: love and creativity. Pure productive energy.

reply to post by Greatest I am


The problem with many Christians is that they think they have "God" pegged down to the letter. The first step to knowing "God" is admitting that you know NOTHING about Source, and maybe never will. The next step is researching everything every godly being ever had in common, filtering out the natural phenomena, and then focusing on the unexplained mysteries. From there, understand that science cannot explain everything at such a young age, and therefore speculation is an innate part of the process...but that you must be careful never to take anything as absolute fact, but THEORY. After that, find what you feel comfortable with, what you feel is right, and at the same time realize that your finite experience prevents you from true understanding of the universe, because you can see through only one facet of the giant crystal of understanding.

That makes a good phase one in understanding exactly who or what "God" is.

reply to post by Greatest I am


The problem with many Christians is that they think they have "God" pegged down to the letter. The first step to knowing "God" is admitting that you know NOTHING about Source, and maybe never will. The next step is researching everything every godly being ever had in common, filtering out the natural phenomena, and then focusing on the unexplained mysteries. From there, understand that science cannot explain everything at such a young age, and therefore speculation is an innate part of the process...but that you must be careful never to take anything as absolute fact, but THEORY. After that, find what you feel comfortable with, what you feel is right, and at the same time realize that your finite experience prevents you from true understanding of the universe, because you can see through only one facet of the giant crystal of understanding.

That makes a good phase one in understanding exactly who or what "God" is.

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
reply to post by Greatest I am

 

The problem with many Christians is that they think they have "God" pegged down to the letter. The first step to knowing "God" is admitting that you know NOTHING about Source, and maybe never will. The next step is researching everything every godly being ever had in common, filtering out the natural phenomena, and then focusing on the unexplained mysteries. From there, understand that science cannot explain everything at such a young age, and therefore speculation is an innate part of the process...but that you must be careful never to take anything as absolute fact, but THEORY. After that, find what you feel comfortable with, what you feel is right, and at the same time realize that your finite experience prevents you from true understanding of the universe, because you can see through only one facet of the giant crystal of understanding.

That makes a good phase one in understanding exactly who or what "God" is.

That is one way but I think the focus should be on the most important knowledge for the soul.
The moral standards of God.
When it comes to bible God, note that he does not think as we do and his first commandment is self-serving while humans and our first moral principle is serving others.

We are already superior in our thinking as compared to that God.

blog.ted.com...

God also puts woman as ruled by men and if you follow the logic of the first 5 moral principles, you will see that we are to put woman above men.

Regards
DL

reply to post by Greatest I am

Knowing good and evil is the same as developing or gaining a moral sense. This is something that all governments and religions wish to develop in us and seems like a good idea to me.

If being perfect like God means that we must have the knowledge of good and evil, then Adam and Eve had to eat of the tree of knowledge ---- if they were to accomplish what most seem to think is a worthy goal. Morals. As God says in Eden, such is to have your eyes opened. A good thing IOW.

In the Jewish view, A & E did the right thing and they name it our elevation. In the Christian view, they did the wrong thing and call it our fall.
Is becoming as Gods, in the moral sense, an evil thing?

I guess it would depend on how you define the word "God." In the Genesis story of Creation, it is clear there are more than one present. Were these really Gods? Doubtful. They played at being Gods, and they lived on nearby planets and spacecraft and travelled back and forth as they interacted with humanity. Shall we be like those who created us? I think we already have, for the most part. Trouble is, all that humanity has done has been external in nature. We have brought into being and produced weapons that could destroy the entire world. We have created biological strains that could kill everyone in just a few weeks time. We have poisoned our waters and streams, and atmosphere with poisons from industrial waste and power production from fossil fuels. We have learned to perfection the Art of War, and Murder.

So, was it evil that we became like those who created us? Will they be disappointed in us when they return? Or will they delight in our killings and destructions? I guess we will see.

reply to post by autowrench

In the Genesis story of Creation, it is clear there are more than one present. Were these really Gods? Doubtful.

Are you speaking on the part, where he says let's create man like us in our image?