If God made us in his image, then did he set us up for failure?

Question

He made us rather intelligent (well, some of us), so he had to have known how difficult it would be for us to believe in him without evidence. How fair is that?

To SLwriter: I have actively searched for evidence. I have practically begged God to give me a way to know for sure he exists... and... well, as you already know, nothing happened.

Answer 1

I say this all the time. If there is a God, then he should already know he hasn't given me reasonable evidence to believe in him. So then...

1. God doesn't want me to believe in him.

or

2. There is no God.

Answer 2

Be careful - the idea that there is a God is not entirely without some circumstantial evidence. There is after all the teleological problem - the curiously coincidental cosmological constants that all seem to be finely tuned for the arise of carbon based life. Then there is the fact that the universe is finite, and did have a beginning - which does leave the challenge of, 'why is there anything?'

In fact, the big bang theory was extremely uncomfortable for the early 20th century's atheist philosophers. Most had assumed that the steady state theory explained the cosmos - the universe has always been here.

But what if it had not? Discovering that the universe had an origin was extremely discomfiting, and to this day, some of those made uncomfortable by the idea of an originating universe have zealously tried to pursue various "steady state lite" theories, such as the colliding brane theory, each of which are outrageously unfalsifiable.

To say God is without evidence is to overclaim a little, as it is not quite true.

Answer 3

If you take the time to look at history, you will discover that the overwhelming majority of mankind (modern polls place the numbers in the high 70% or better) believe in God. Apparently there is enough evidence to convince 3/4 of all the people who live to believe in him.

But the real issue is why does God require faith. There is an old saying "A person convinced against his will is of the same persuasion still". If God were to walk up to you and shake your hand, you would know he existed. But it would have absolutly no effect on whether you wanted to love and serve him or not. How many people know their spouses exist, but neither love or honor them? (If you believe the divorce rates - over half).

God first interest is not in whether your head knows he eist. It is in whether your heart is willing to follow him. If he gets the heart, the head comes along for free. Getting the head does not guarantee the heart.

Is there evidence for God? The existence of the world and universe around us screams of the existence of a Creator. The universal consciousness of a God - every culture and people, even if isolated from the rest of mankind, believes in him - shows that there is an inner understanding of his existence. The desires with in man (and no other being) to understand his own existence to to seek for - or even be able to understand the concept of God - argues that God is out there. The revelations of himself through the scriputres. Fulfilled prophecy within the scriputres. Miracles which happen to people everyday. Answered prayer. And so much more.

But it takes a willingness to look for those things. A decision that God exist, and then a seeking of him. Then he is easily found. Because, he always begins with the heart, not the head. He saws himself to those who look with the heart first.

Answer 4

The quote "God made us in his image" basically means we have the capacity of all virtues of God himself. The only reason we make wrong decisions is because of our animal side, which comes from the physical human body. In the next world(heaven, nirvana, etc.) we'd have left our body and therefore be as virtuous as God himself, and merely regret any wrong decisions that we made on earth. He did not set us up for failure. Also, the reason he does not stop us from making these wrong decisions is because he gave us the freedom to make our own decisions, in other words, we have something called "will" , which is something that can't be taken away by anyone. But God is not just gonna watch us make mistake after mistake, for he has a plan to create a Greater Peace.

God sent down the messangers(Jesus Christ, Buddha, Moses, Muhammad, Baha'u'llah, etc.) to tell us of his existence, in other words, they tell us the "evidence", so to speak. Many people don't believe in God because they'll only believe what they see. ("I'll believe it when I see it")

Um, you don't have to believe what I'm saying right here though, and I'm sorry if you got confused, since I'm not good at explaining. These are my beliefs, and I'm not gonna force you to believe them.

Answer 5

Image of God, not a clone of God or perfect replica of God but an image.
We have the ability to be like God. Not in our sinful state, not in our human form.
If we are as intelligent as you believe you are, why are you asking this question? I mean you would seek the answer on your own. Form your belief based on the merit of your own study instead of looking for someone who is willing to tell you how and what to believe.
As far as evidence, do you have food and is there air for you to breathe? Are you alive? You claim to be of intelligent design. Do you not believe something much greater than you made it this way, provides you with what you need to live and think and breathe?

Answer 6

I couldn't believe without evidence, but I disagree with you that God provided none of it. I see and have experienced quite a bit of evidence -- it wasn't the evidence I had demanded, but once I encountered it, it was inarguable.

What kind of evidence do you need to believe in God? Have you actively looked for it? Have you actively asked God to provide it?

I do think it's kind of funny that a lot of us (Americans especially) will take another person's word as absolute evidence -- news media, textbook authors, politicians or political commentators, a friend, a relative, etc. -- in ALL cases except when it comes to the existence of God. Rather odd that we carry such a double-standard, isn't it?

EDITED TO ADD RESPONSE: But what KIND of evidence were you looking for? And what KIND of evidence have you rejected out of hand? Obviously, you've rejected the personal testimony of other people who do know God exists...why? Do you reject the word of other people in all other circumstances too, as a general rule?

You've also rejected the natural order of the world as evidence of God's existence, it seems. Why? Doesn't it take as much faith to believe that order accidentally came out of chaos (which has never happened since and cannot be recreated in a scientific experiment) than it does to believe in God?

Also, what does it meant to "practically beg" God to give you some proof? Did you ask for a specific thing, like turning your local river into blood or getting you some great job or appearing before you in a golden light? Or did you leave it to Him to decide how He was going to show Himself to you? Either way, did you set some sort of time period? Did you prepare yourself to receive the evidence in some way?

You must agree, of course, that if God exists, He is a sentient entity with some opinion in the matter and some control over how, when, why and where He makes Himself known to people. One could no more order God to put in an appearance than one could write to Vladimir Putin and expect him to show up on your doorstep at the exact hour of your bidding in the exact way you wish him to.

Answer 7

Hi Linz -

I think a lot of it has to do with HOW you look at/your preception of God. I noticed that you refer to God as a "he" - and so - I'm guessing that might be the beginning of why you are having trouble seeing yourself the same as It.

I don't see God as a big Daddy in the sky. Judging. Deciding whose prayers to answer. Walking around on the golden streets of heaven. Sending people to hell because they "died with a mortal sin on their soul."That's not what God is to me. And if I believed those things - I would have trouble believing that I was made in Its image.

As I've said a bunch of times on here - I believe that God is Love. The Power of Love. It's all the good stuff. Love, Compassion, Joy, Wholeness, Friendliness - on and on. That's what God is - and we all have It within us. So yes - we are made in Its image. We all get to use our God qualities if we choose to do so.

There is evidence of LOVE everywhere. You don't have to be smart to see God/Love. So for me - it wasn't about believing in something that was hard to believe in. It was about changing my perception of God.

FAITH is the tough part. But once I truly decided that everything is as it should be all the time. (whether I can see it or not) Things got a lot easier for me.

Namaste!!

Answer 8

God made us in his image, that is, with a mind which is imprinted with God. Science tells us that there is a part of our brain called the "God Module". When this area of the brain is stimulated it created a spiritual experience. Some people say this proves that God is a product of the human mind. Others say that this proves that the human mind is designed to seek after God.

Another issue of the "made in His image" story deals with quantum mechanics. It seems that the fabric of reality consists of elementary particulars which operate at random. However when consciousness is added into the equation then some form of order is observed. It seems that our minds are intrinsic to operations of creation.

Did God set us up for failure??? Every life has meaning and purpose. Everything you do has significance, every word you speak has its affect and every thought that enters your mind lives eternally. Your soul is the sum product of everything you do, everything you say, and every thought that enters your mind. No, I don't think that God set us up for failure.

Answer 9

I guess that depends upon your definition of evidence. I've noticed that what is obvious evidence to some is confounding to or written off by others.

Like I tell my daughter on a regular basis life is not fair.

Answer 10

When the Jewish Scriptures were translated into Greek....he word "image" spoken about in the first Book of Holy Scripture is translated as "ikon" - meaning "spiritual imprint".

Spiritually, we are searching for God. That's all He asks. Not that we fully understand Him. That would be impossible, unless He was a very small God indeed.

Answer 11

God does not need to prove himself to you but you need to prove yourself to God.

He gave us the freewill to make decisions on our own, sure he gave us the commandments, sins and deadly sins. He does not control what we do so that means he does not control if we fail or not. We fail by our own hand or another's hateful, spiteful hand. Our actions set us up for what we end up doing, feeling or turn out to be. God is not a crutch for us to lean on and cast blame or congrats to, he is here to give us the strength and morale to go through with life as righteous as we can. We control our outcome, not God.