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Sun 23 Aug, 2015 03:48 pm
Historically, people worshipped gods because doing so pleased the gods who in exchange did positive things for their worshippers. With this then in mind, what does the Bible's god do for its' worshippers?
Does God intervene when a Jew, Christian, or Muslim's life is in extremus? Does he cure their diseases, heal their injuries, or prevents such maladies altogether?
Goes God magically make food fall from the back of supermarket semis as they pass in front of soup kitchens ensuring the hungry get fed?
Does God make it rain on the faithful farmer's fields even if it doesn't on his neighbor if not religious?
Does the Bible god actually do anything at all? Or is it more like the children's story "Pirates Who Don't Do Anything?"
God may very well exist, but even he does, so what? Get more worshipping the Sun as a non-sentient deity than a deity who doesn't do anything.
@HesDeltanCaptain,
I'm not convinced he doesn't do anything.
I think the rule he goes by is "Don't do anything in such a way that cannot be attributed to coincidence, luck or 'could have happened anyway' ". That leaves lots of room for doing stuff.
@Leadfoot,
Too easily used as a cop-out though.
"When you do things right, people wont be sure you did anything at all." - "Futurama"
A nifty saying, but ultimately self-serving to a non-existant deity. "Oh he exists but does things discretely." Well isn't that convenient.
@HesDeltanCaptain,
Quote:@Leadfoot,
Too easily used as a cop-out though.
Could be, but not necessarily.
If you were God and wanted to be discrete, how would you do it and not give your presence away?
@HesDeltanCaptain,
I was under the impression the god of the bible wasn't ruling right now? What the bible god does for his worshippers is more about the future than the here and now
@HesDeltanCaptain,
If the "Bible-God" were currently in charge of the world, how could Satan have offered the world to Jesus in Matthew 4:8?
@neologist,
You think he wouldn't lie??
@Leadfoot,
Leadfoot wrote:You think he wouldn't lie??
If he had lied, would not Jesus have caught him in it? Instead of refuting his claim, Jesus rebuked his suggestion.
@neologist,
Quote:Leadfoot wrote:
"You think he wouldn't lie??"
If he had lied, would not Jesus have caught him in it? Instead of refuting his claim, Jesus rebuked his suggestion.
Jesus often bypassed the obvious answer in order to get at the root of the deception. In this case I think he was reminding Lucifer of his bad deal when he traded what God gave him for the vainglorious emptiness that he rejected it for. Jesus was telling him it wasn't even tempting. I bet that burned Satan far more deeply than if Jesus had said 'That is not yours to offer'.
@Leadfoot,
Well, Satan is often referred to as the "ruler of this world" (John 14:30, for one)
@neologist,
It's only a temporary assignment. And of course they both knew that.
@Leadfoot,
I've heard the tour of duty is almost up
@Joe Sixpack,
I hope so. Even when you have everything this world has to offer, it's not enough.
That damn book is too often right. 'Vanity, vanity, all is vanity'.
@neologist,
The Bible is all over the place in regard to these assertions.
In Psalm 22:28 one reads, "for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations."
@InfraBlue,
InfraBlue wrote:The Bible is all over the place in regard to these assertions.
In Palm 22:28 one reads, "for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations."
I don't see that as a contradiction. Whenever it suits Jehovah's purpose, he can manipulate world events as he sees fit.
@neologist,
Exactly, he rules the world according to that verse whereas in John 14:30 "the prince/ruler of the world" does.
@InfraBlue,
A good marksman can delberately miss the point.
@InfraBlue,
Quote:
The Bible is all over the place in regard to these assertions.
In Psalm 22:28 one reads, "for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations."
It is his dominion, but for the purposes of the wager, Satan was granted certain advantages for the time being. Those included God not exercising absolute control of everything while the wager is on. It's still his dominion and he will decide when the wager is over. Then 'Thy kingdom come, thy will be done'. At least that is the way I make sense of it.
@neologist,
Yeah, to reconcile the contradiction you gloss it over to mean that God handed over the reins to the prince for a while, "the ruler of the world."
@InfraBlue,
InfraBlue wrote:Yeah, to reconcile the contradiction you gloss it over to mean that God handed over the reins to the prince for a while, "the ruler of the world."
Were Satan's powers unlimited, we would all be dead.
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