I’m speaking strictly from a celestial standpoint- nowhere am I asking “why did god make people/the physical world this way.” The point was that it’s pretty clear that the protection argument (e.g. putting a killer in prison so he doesn’t kill more innocents) doesn’t really apply in an afterlife.
Expulsion is fine and has not been objected to. Eternal torture is disgraceful and petty.
And when this father says: I used the same method you use. I just came to a different conclusion. In fact, I will borrow your “different strokes” paradigm and just say that I have used a different stroke than you have, Bradksi. After all, there is no right or wrong. Only thinking so makes it so.
I’m sorry. I don’t understand this.
Well here’s the rub. In the next life you don’t get to decide what is disgraceful and petty.
Disgraceful? Yes. Petty? Not so much
Sorry, lots of discussions and I forget what’s been established with whom. We have, in your view, the capability to suffer eternally. I’m wondering why a good god would even create such a capability.I’m sorry. I don’t understand this.
Can you rephrase it?
Maybe I’m having one of my dumb days.
And, for most, I hope the better choice is to find a nicer god that won’t torture those who don’t follow his rules- or possibly no god at all.Disgraceful? Yes. Petty? Not so much
At any rate, that’s why it’s so important to make good choices while you’re alive.
Because it’s just what happens when you have an immortal soul. It’s part of the inherent definition of…immortal. That means it is…eternal.
Fair enough. “Nicer god” is what you’d like.
Well, that’s the nature of eternity. It lasts…forever.
He cannot do anything but Love, Animal. And if Love is loathsome to some individual, God cannot stop Loving because this person finds it icky.
We also punish as a means of justice.
Is there some sort of rule that says “symbolic” must NOT be explicit?
No one is arguing that our theology doesn’t evolve. That’s why we have the Church. And theologians. And great doctors of the Church.
If by “the ancients” you mean the early Church, then you are incorrect. The Church has never proclaimed a literal 6 day creation. Nor did the Church proclaim that God intentionally inflicts suffering upon sinners.
It’s an argument against god as you’ve presented him- an all knowing, all powerful, all loving figure that also built the a celestial eternal torture chamber.
I don’t think so.
We’ve already established many groups where the Christian god doesn’t damn people to an eternity of suffering- to them, an eternal torture chamber is not consistent with a loving god. To you, I suppose it is, or you wouldn’t believe in both things simultaneously. The question is why did you version of the all loving being create us in such away that eternal suffering was going to be an outcome for some?
How about inflicting suffering, which is what I’ve been alleging?
Would you agree that the god pictured by Augustine is notably crueler than the one you yourself believe in?
Ancients meaning people living a long time ago. Augustine being an example of the thought of god inflicting suffering, and me simply suspecting that people living before the enlightenment believing that Genesis was literal. Whether or not this became an official proclamation of the church I can’t say.
So… this is really not an argument I expected. How do you distinguish between a literal and symbolic command? Maybe the 10 commandments and everything Jesus said were symbolic. The quotes are about as direct as they can be- leave nothing breathing, including men, women, children, and infants? What is that a symbol of? Perhaps Mein Kampf was symbolic as well.
If you’re a parent, you’ve cooperated with inflicting suffering (at least, if you’re a good parent).
That’s why we have a Church, Animal.