What if God...

Really strange question here. Would that mean no God, only devil? I don't think it wise to speculate about any thing, so I won't.

If any such supernatural entity revealed itself to me, I would need to question my sanity and seek psychiatric help.

It is patently obvious to anyone who has observed the pain, suffering and outright evil in this world that God is not the omni-benevolent deity that modern Christians choose to believe in. If there is a god, I would not be at all surprised to learn that it encompasses both good and evil.

If God is omnipotent, of course we are helpless in comparison and can only hope that it chooses not harm us. We are all trapped in the prison of our existence no matter what its origins.

So has God actually told you that he is a devil, or is this just a hypothetical question?

Do something stupid
You mean good is really evil and evil is really good? So I have really been evil all along but because he is the devil than I am alright now.

Would like to remind you God does not bring evil into this world man does. Man commits the evil and man will have to clean up his own act. Actually that is the purpose of physical life. Good Luck.

Love

What if god...was one of us......sorry, didn't mean to intrude, but had to do it! Please, carry on!

Jesus amongst us?
Obviously we'll have to crucify the Jew again. This time we do it nice and proper so we'll know if he play a trick on us.

Lekatt, Yes, there are men who commit evil acts, but who do you suppose created imperfect human beings, endowed them with the urges that lead them to harm others, and failed to give them the strength of character to choose to be good, if not God? Did we create ourselves, that we are to blame for our imperfections?

And who do you suppose created the droughts, floods, hurricanes, locusts, diseases, parasites, and everything else that plagues mankind and causes so much suffering in innocent children and animals?

I've been debating the wisdom of posting this for awhile.

If either Christianity or Islam is correct, then the other is counterfeit. And to have something that is counterfeit, you have to have a counterfeiter who produced it.

I'd say a very large number of people, upon death, are going to find out they've been doing exactly what your thread question postulated.

I will give this a try, when we were created we were perfect as He is. But we were very small like children are, we needed to grow in strength through love as well as wisdom through knowledge. We could have stayed in the spiritual world and been guided in our growth, but we chose to come into the physical world and learn through trial and error. It is true we all have spiritual guides here, but most don't notice. The ominous spector of survival seems to haunt us here. So we become fearful and falsely believe we must do harmful things to others in order to survive. However survival was never in question, we continue on after the death of our bodies.

In summary it is our choice what we do with our lives, how we treat others, etc. The spiritual rule of reaping what you sow applies.

If you wish to have a meaningful life, choose love in all things.

I know this sounds like giberish to most of you who are intensely focused in the physical. But learning to love is something you have to want bad enough to try out. Unfortunately this desire usually comes from catastrophic events. Near death experiences, visions, growing old, and other things like war, disease, death and destruction, etc.

Love

Neither religion is right or wrong. It is the people not the religion.

If they harm others, they are wrong. If they love others, they are right.

Simple

Love

And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, "Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him" (John 9:1-3).

The writer says in Psalm 139:14, "I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." Indeed this physical body that I live in, ugly as it may be on the outside, is a marvelous machine--and if properly cared for might run as long as a hundred years without a valve job or a new transmission or even a change in oil. (Some of us may sometimes feel like we need a new transmission, but the fact of the matter is that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.) Physical pain is a part of being fearfully and wonderfully made; physical pain is that which protects us and enables us to survive in the environment in which we live.

the fact of the matter is that sometimes it takes pain, sometimes it takes suffering, sometimes it takes a tragedy to make us realize that we need God. Pain humbles us. Somebody has said, "Humility is a funny thing. Just when you think you have it, you've lost it." Certainly that is true in 2 Corinthians 12:7 Paul said, "...lest I should be exalted above measure.... there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure." The apostle Paul apparently had a problem. The pain and suffering (the thorn in the flesh, whatever it was) helped Paul. It helped him overcome any sense of egotism that might have been part of his life. Sometimes it takes a tragedy to make us realize we are not self-sufficient. Sometimes it takes a disease to make us realize that no matter how much money we have, no matter how vocal we are, no matter how many friends we have, no matter what our situation in life might be, that sometimes there is no one who can help us but God. "...Whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's" (Romans 14:8).

if Christians did not suffer, they would be totally and completely incapable of doing what they were put here to do. God intends for his followers to communicate with the world, to bring Jesus Christ into the lives of people. You cannot communicate with a man unless you are enduring or have endured some of the same things that he has endured. As a matter of fact, I believe that the bad experiences that you and I have to put up with and that we all undergo from time to time are actually talents. They are actually things that enable us to communicate with our fellow man and meet his needs.

Are you an instrument of God? You need to answer that for yourself right now. Are you an instrument of God? Are you a tool of the Lord bringing joy, peace, and relief into the lives of people? Or are you a part of the problem bringing pain and despair because of your lack of involvement? You cannot be an instrument of God unless you are forged according to God's plan.

Will you be a part of the Lord's work? If you will be an instrument of God and if you will follow God's system you have the greatest promise that can be made to a person considering human suffering and pain and death. "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4).

"and failed to give them the strength of character to choose to be good"

Interesting idea.
If there is no G-d, then who did fail the strength of character to be good?
Obviously, est moi. It is I. It is you. The weak character can only be our own fault. And, therefore it is only up to us to correct this terrible flaw; this awful weakness that leads us to do bad.
It is incumbent upon us as humans. As fathers, mothers, neighbors. We need to change.

How is this different if there is G-d?

There was no failure that I can see. Strength of character is present in all, but not all know how and where to apply it. Even the worst person will stand up strong for what they believe is right. Finding out what is right must be learned through love and spiritual growth.

We are like children using the trial and error method to achieve what we believe is success. But this "success" is different with each and every one of us. God provides our role model, without His leadership we would never know what is right or wrong. God is Love.

I know, everyone thinks differently about God, doctrines, rituals, laws, and protocol are different in every religion. However, if you could put them all in a pot and boil them down to their basic element it would be Love. That's what God is all about.

Love