I argue that the christian god is not good. That he certainly acted immorally.
My proof is that he killed innocent children. He even created a divinely inspired book for you guys so you could see how ruthless he was. This is not a being worth revering
Here’s the problem Birdpreacher: A proof that God killed children is not a proof that it is always wrong for God to kill children. We are speaking of the Creator and Author of all life, here. We are not speaking of Joe down the street.
If God has the wherewithal to create all that exists including children from nothing, then he has complete authority and power to take life at will and give life at will. In fact, that God, in a very real sense, brings about by his providential will the death of every human being who has ever lived means that your charge of genocide doesn’t stop with Amalekite children, but includes every child who has ever died prematurely along with every other human who has ever died for any reason whatsoever. If you wish to be scandalized then at least be scandalized to the full extent that is consistent with your logic.
Death is death BP. Whether an innocent child dies by the sword, by disease, by being hit by a truck or by drowning, every instance is under the control of Almighty God. Why not hold him equally accountable for all those deaths, as well, then? The same Scriptures that report on his command on the Amalekites report that death came to Adam and all mankind by the judgement and command of God. Why use cheap binoculars to focus on one particular instance of death when the entire landscape is an open field of death?
You will die, as well, by the way. Do you understand what death is and why it occurs? Do you really understand?
For all you know, death could be more like a metamorphosis, taking on an entirely new and glorified body – given the proper disposition and God’s timing. This is, in fact, the claim of Christianity – the resurrection of the body as an historical event and promise.
You don’t know – that is the thing. BUT God does KNOW. He knows perfectly, completely and finally what death means. AND is entirely in control of its effects.
For all you know, God could have mercifully torn open the chrysalis-like sac of each of those Amalekite children using the swords of the Israelites, just as the crucified Christ rose from death in a glorified body. For all you know you could be completely, miserably and incomprehensibly wrong in your judgement. The thing is, for a proof to actually be a PROOF, you would have to KNOW – with certainty – much, much more than you presume to know.
You are ready to condemn God based upon your myopic view of things, but not ready to admit that if God is indeed God, an infinitely expansive range of possibilities exists for why God would issue any command he does. Possibilities that do not limit him to the constraints of your logic or your imagination.
If you wish to put God on trial, you will need to first have him provide HIS reasons for why HE did what HE did, not prejudice proceedings determined by your narrow, limited and biased perspective. Unfortunately, you will have to wait on God’s time, just as you had to wait on his time to come into existence.
Given that you have no clue what death even entails, I would suggest you show a tad more restraint and humility making judgements on matters you know very little about. You may find that eating crow is not much to your liking, nor made more appetizing by heavy doses of presumption and hubris. You don’t know as much as you think you do.
): what’s the nature of the evil of genocide?