Quote:
Originally Posted by sam";p="
Perhaps it’s not that God expects people to have long lasting memories, rather that people are impatient. My dog thinks in dog time, people think in people time and God thinks eternally. In the grand scheme of things, 4,000 years is the blink of an eye.
|
Fair enough. Although Him being omniscient, He's got to know how much trouble that different time frame causes.
Actually, I can think of two straightforward reasons why God doesn't reveal himself today: One, he doesn't care if we worship him or not (which actually is a trait I would respect highly). Two, he doesn't need us to believe in him NOW, and will reveal Himself if and when the need arises.
But if he doesn't reveal himself, I don't think he ought to penalize (through eternal (*)(*)(*)(*)ation) those who, quite reasonably, don't believe.
Quote:
|
My guess is that Jews are God’s chosen people for precisely this reason (i.e., Jews love God deeply). Of course this is a generalization and I really have no earthly idea.
|
An interesting and honest answer. Thanks.
Quote:
|
Three points: China never arose from the ashes after two thousand years; the Chinese People were never scattered about the world only to be gathered back to their original homeland; and, Israel has always been tiny, especially when compared to a nation as historically formidable as China.
|
True, but my point was merely to demonstrate that the disappearance of all of ancient Israel's oppressors is hardly surprising, and does not need divine intervention to explain.
Quote:
|
God does not work in the ways we expect Him to, which is why trying to intellectualize His existence is pointless. Regardless of anything that God allows someone to suffer, in the end everything works out better for those who trust God.
|
I agree with the first point, but find the second point unprovable. Also, though I recognize that God is not required to act in ways we understand, neither am I required to accept the way God acts. If his way of expressing love is allowing his favorite people to get slaughtered and enslaved, I'll have to pass, thanks. He makes His choices, I make mine.
Quote:
|
I highly recommend reading the Book of Job. Even for someone who does not believe in God, Job is worth reading for its poetry and it will give you an idea of how God feels about people questioning His motives.
|
I may do that. I appreciate the Bible as literature, and recognize that there is historic information contained in there as well.
Quote:
|
One of us has to be deluding our self. The question that will only be answered after the moment of our deaths is “which one?”.
|
LOL. Agreed. Admittedly your potential downside (nonexistence) is a lot smaller than mine (Hell). But I have to believe that if there is a God, then how I live my life matters more than whether I believe in Him. If not, then He doesn't deserve worship anyway and I'll take the elevator to Hades on principle.