I'll begin with the commonly accepted beliefs about god and the creation of man with my question. This is something that I've never been able to reconcile, and I'm curious what sort of answers I'll get. I'm not a Christian, though I do have an extensive background in the area.
Ok, so Christian doctine teachs that god is all-knowing and all-powerful. He knows all that is, all that has been, and all that is to be. He has no beginning and no end. Now, with those things in mind, we come to the creation of man. It stands to reason that god knew what would happen after man's creation. He knew that man would sin, and he knew that centuries of suffering would follow, and he also knows that, eventually, he'll cast billions of his creations into eternal hellfire.
My question is this: why would god, knowing all the above, create man, knowing it would cause untold pain? Certainly, a select few will meet the standards, but are those few worth the suffering of the countless billions?
2006-09-03 23:41:04 · 16 answers · asked by salihe66 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It seems to me that, with all of the above in mind, that the creation of man was an exercise in deliberate sadism. I see no noble, divine plan.....just a chaotic world filled with lonely people. And the thing that I can figure is, since god supposedly knew that this was how it was going to turn out, then why did he do it at all?
Answer me that in a satisfactory manner, and you shall have my respect. But please, use your own words instead of quoting bible verses. I do enjoy some of the prose in the KJV, but I'm looking for your own actual thoughts, as opposed to quotes.
2006-09-03 23:45:45 · update #1
Regarding capitalization: I appreciate your request, but keep in mind that god is not a name....it's a title. It's like saying, "I went to the store with grandma." If I were referring to god as Yahwe or Jesus, then I would capitalize it, since those are actual names.
What can I say....I'm an English major with a fetish for punctuation. :)
2006-09-03 23:48:22 · update #2
Here is what I was taught in a liberal Catholic tradition, at a Catholic school. God, at some early point, set the forces in motion that led to the creation of the universe. The stories in Genesis about the creation (and there are two which are somewhat contradictory!) are allegories meant to inform a primitive, tribal people. The order of creation as described in Genesis corresponds in many, but not all ways with the way life evolved according to science. This is proof that the Bible is inspired by God.
God gave Adam and Eve free will, and an abundant and easy life as long as they obeyed God completely. They disobeyed God in a major way, it was probably a sin of excessive pride or arrogance before God. They were cast out of paradise into the real world as we know it. Free will or self determination was just given to people as part of their imperfect nature, and it, along with an immortal soul are what distinguishes humans from lower animals. However, it is ultimately the cause of all of the miseries of mankind. God is perfect, but he created an imperfect world. He will intervene and help out sometimes, He is a personal God.
2006-09-03 23:51:05 · answer #1 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I used to ask this too, so I know how you feel.
It is hard to know how to answer that question, and I'm not saying I know the answer. I'm saying there is a satisfactory answer to it for every individual. They just keep seeking until they find it.
I believe it is impossible to encompass the mind of God to get a clear understanding of the big picture, but it is very possible to get a personal, one-on-One, unique-only-to-you, relationship with Him.
When that happens, you receive a peace or acceptance about the whole God/mankind experience. Paul talks about all of creation groaning while waiting for restoration to perfection. Kind of like childbirth.
It is agony when it is endured and you wish you could die, but when it is over with you are so very happy you didn't get your wish...
Is childbirth an example we as humans can relate to regarding the questions and the apparent pain and anguish creation is going through before it can be "completed?"
I don't know, but that, along with many other analogies in life point right to God and give suggestions regarding what He is all about.
2006-09-04 07:14:17 · answer #2 · answered by nancy jo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
wow that is a very good question and im glad that the Lord has brought this to my attention because i feel He has a message for you, when we were created sin was already loose and Satan was tryna prove God wrong in every single way, so God had to judge God, now God could have done it straight up from the beggining and ended it all right then and there but if He had done that He would have proved Satan right in the claims he had against God, so God created a being with the freedom of choice just like what He has, so in doing that he gave up some of His power that He had over us, sooo we 'choose' to sin because the devil tempted us to do so and nwo we have sinned we are an example to the Universe the true effects of sin, see God could have stopped everything waaay bac in the beggining before any of this happened, but then nothing would be learned and He would be served out of fear and Satan would have won.
2006-09-04 06:52:01 · answer #3 · answered by pastor2Be 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1st of all, why are you addressing Christinas? These ideas are basically part of the Hebrew tradition, which Christianity and Islam etc have inherited. Christianity has this as a background, the most important part of it is the teaching of Christ about tolerance, love and helping others.
2nd, God has given man the freedom of choice. If he never created him or made him like a programmed robot, there would be no point. God is not a totalitarian ruler. Evil only makes good shine brighter, although the path to good and to God is the tough one.
Finally, all these things are timeless. It is a mistake to judge things from the aspect of a lifetime.
2006-09-04 06:49:59 · answer #4 · answered by cpinatsi 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God created man because he felt something was missing from his creation. In some interpretations it means he was lonely. This question is like this: "Why did you ask this question if you knew you would get a few good answers and generate a lot of hate and disrespect for yourself?"
Also, it could have been possible that the entire Satan thing was kinda unexpected, because Lucifer was second only to Michael... or something.
2006-09-04 06:47:01 · answer #5 · answered by MrAndersonMan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am Christian-Catholic...
Here is my opinion :)
God is everything you mentioned! :)
He granted us the gift of free will ...so you say why? When he knows how the majority of us wont be saved? Well, first of all I don't believe that...i think he is very merciful and excepts anyone even at the last moment! Anyhow...it is through this letting go of us and allowing us to choose our path that he is all-powerful if he didn't then he would just be a puppeteer...that doesn't seem mighty powerful to me..I'm sure you know the saying if you love something let it go, and if it comes back to you its for good! This applies really well to his love for us and his ability to allow us our will the way we see fit rather than him telling us every little thing to do.He isn't a dictator you know :)
He created man out of his image and likeness...it is sin (or i.e being away from anything pure and loving) that takes us away from him. It is our choice, to be with him or without...it is real democracy!! Power comes not from what you take but what is given to you.
Hope that's what you were looking for! :)
2006-09-04 07:13:35 · answer #6 · answered by Patience 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
To my knowledge, we are talking about a false teaching. Our
Creator didn't know before He made us that we would fall.
The MINUTE He made us, He had the realization we would fall.
Our spirits come to this world because we want to. And we have
to leArn to deal with it.
Everybody says, "Why doesn't God fix everything if He is so
powerful." The Quran says, "If Allah did send an angel, he
would fix it RIGHT! And there would be no more respite. No
more chances."
So we should be glad our Creator gives us another day, and
opportunity to get it right.
2006-09-04 06:54:30 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
God, being perfect good, creates with perfection. This includes giving His creations the power of choice. He gave Adam and Eve this choice, and they choose rebellion. He explained to them the consequences of their choices, and they made their choice with all awareness. They made this choice by the behest and on the advise of Satan.
God also created Satan, then known as Lucifer. Lucifer also chose to rebel, thinking that he was worthy and deserving of equivalency with God, His creator. Lucifer waged war in heaven against God, taking one third of the angels with him in his rebellion there. God sent Lucifer down to the earth, he took dominion over the earth, and Adam and Eve chose the same rebellion that Lucifer (then Satan) did when they believed Satan, rather than God, in the garden of Eden.
If Adam and Eve had never chosen the path that Satan chose, then our decisions and actions, even today, would be governed by the Will of the God who loves us enough to create us with this power. Otherwise, we'd be automatons blindly serving something that we didn't understand.
When we want to elevate ourselves to the height of God, and arrogantly assume that we know more about ourselves than the One who created us, we ally Satan and do evil.
God knew that we would do this, but He had to give us a choice. It's the only explanation that agrees with, and affirms, His infinite goodness.
2006-09-04 09:27:09 · answer #8 · answered by stronzo5785 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a Christian, I will admit that I have the same question. It's the eternal question: why? Do I think that God is a sadistic kid with a magnifying glass while we are the ants? Of course not. The question you have asked is the same one I want to ask when I see Him in heaven.
2006-09-04 06:49:45 · answer #9 · answered by The Apple Chick 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Are you sure you want to know? Are you ready for a real answer?
Well for those who are really in search of the answer to the question you pose I have one thing to say...... You are correct! God is all knowing therefore God must 've known what would happen before it happened or else God can not be all knowing.
In all my yrs of studying and learning about God, I came to the conclusion that God did know that man would fall. So if God knew this...than why did he create Mankind anyway?
In my personal opinion, God created mankind to bring about the down fall of Satan.
God needed to create a being that was God-like, which had the capacity of a God and was revered as a type of "Under-lord" right after creation. This being had the authority of God and was to be respected and worshiped by everything on the earth.... This being was to be created from a substance other than what was used to create the Angels... The substance (earth) that was used to create Man, was the very substance that made up the world that Satan claimed as his. In other words.... God used that very thing that Satan said was his to bring about his (Satan) fall and eventually it will lead to his destruction.
When Man was created....he had authority over everything on earth, including the spiritual realm that is here... the devil refused to bow before Adam and waited for a chance to bring about Adams demise. Adam had a direct link to God himself and had God like knowledge but he did not know evil.
When Eve was created, she was made from Man and did not have that direct link to God. Eve learned of God through Adam. This was the chance that devil was waiting for... the devil was able to trick Eve because she did not have direct contact with God but had "Second hand knowledge" from Adam and so Eve was easily persuaded. Adam gave in to Eve's words which put himself under the control of the devil and betrayed God and the immediate death was that Adam lost that spiritual link he had with God... which is why the "Lord God" had to come looking of them after they hid to hide their nakedness.
Satan now holds the authority, which he got by tricking Eve and then Adam..... How? When Adam fell for the deception of the devil, he brought himself under the devil through sin and now the devil is above the being he was meant to worship........... God knew this would happen because now comes into play the plan that was put into action from the very beginning of the creations. The play is for his son to be born as a being that was originally created "Adam" and his son will defeat Satan and retrieve this authority back to God....putting the devil once again...below God's creation...unless that person chooses to give the devil power over he/she.
Yes many have suffered and died but if you think about it carefully.... the devil was there almost always.
I don't expect you to believe the way I believe but this is how I strongly believe. This flesh is only temporary and is insignificant... it is that spirit in you that is your being and I know for sure that it is NOT the selected few that will meet the standards as you put.... God has made it so easy to be saved, that it goes without excuse... All it takes is for you to believe and accept Jesus Christ and the Grace of God will cover you and if you are genuine in your acceptence, than you will be accepted by God.
Well anywayz... take it or leave, I hope you found some truth in what I have writen, but I wish you and yours well.
Peace.
2006-09-04 06:48:50 · answer #10 · answered by KeAhi 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋