Do you believe God is more of a benevolent God, authoritative, critical, or a distant God?

Answer 1

If it's a multiple choice question, I'll answer 'C', a distant God -- final answer.

Why? The short answer is "free will". Most of us here on Earth believe that we have free will. Thus, I can choose to commit whatever generous or vile acts I like. And, anyone else can make the same choice toward me. If free will is real, then God will not intervene. Therefore, God is distant.

BTW, this is why it is not terribly useful to argue about whether or not God exists. It doesn't matter whether or not God exists if we all have free will. We are at the mercy and justice of our fellow humans. Our fellow humans therefore make a larger difference in our day-to-day lives than God does.

Perhaps, if there is an afterlife, God will dispense justice and mercy there. However, if there is to be justice and mercy on Earth, we humans better figure out how to do it for ourselves.

Answer 2

I believe He's more benevolent. I've seen how God was there for me, even when I wasn't living for Him - and I chose not to notice sometimes. He allowed me to go through bad times because of my wrong choices, and there were always consequences, but it didn't stop Him from loving me.
It's difficult to explain how I've come to the conclusions I have about God, but I feel bad for people who believe He's hateful towards sinners and just wants to punish them or whatever. They miss out on so much, because they live with a lot of guilt when they do something wrong. When the Bible says fear God, it doesn't mean be afraid of Him!

Answer 3

First, He is not crttical,in the sense you mean, nor is He at all distant. God's love is the ultimate love. In fact, God IS love! Yet, God is also perfectly just and fair, giving men time to repent and accept Him, but there is coming, and comes to all men, a day of reckoning and judgement. No one will say on that day "It's not fair!", Everyone will see God's perfect justice.

Answer 4

Raised to believe He was authoritative, serious, condemning, critical, but merciful God (Lutheran)

Then, thru a spiritual change, came to realize that He is a loving, merciful, benevolent, faithful, closeby, fatherly, great listener, caring, sacrificing, truthful, honest, giving, and omnipotent God (new church, new faith).

Those who know Him as being distant, critical, unloving are missing His message through Christ Jesus. Please please please when you can, check out other churches...you may find a WONDERFUL peace come into your heart by finding a LOVING God! Dare to step away from your "traditional" church facility.

Answer 5

Even more than benevolent... he is a personal God... who cares personally about His creation and longs for a personal relationship with each individual...

Answer 6

According to a reading of the Bible, he is authoritative, paranoid, starved of love, and schizophrenic with a sadistic streak.

Answer 7

I assume you're asking about the god of the bible. That god is a vile, contrary, insecure, coward that takes joy in the murder of children, torments "rightous" people without cause, hates women, dwarfs, the blind, the sick and the crippled, just to name a few.

Some examples:

"O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones." (Psalm 137:8-9)

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. . . . a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous. Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbacked, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire . . . he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the Lord do sanctify them." (Leviticus 21:16-23)

"If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of the city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you." (Deuteronomy 22:23-24)

"And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause." (Job 2:3)

"And he [Elisha] went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them." (II Kings 2:23-24)

"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." (Isaiah 45:7)

Answer 8

distant for right now...i saw the article too

Answer 9

Greetings!

He, or She, is what ever you believe it to be. No more, no less.

Good Luck

Answer 10

I tend to prefer to think of it as non-existent, or perhaps extinct.