Why would a perfect God create humans?

[spinninglink]

If something is perfect, it is complete; it needs nothing else.

Also, why does He get angry? Doesn’t He KNOW what everyone will do already… why is he suddenly surprised with disobedience in the Bible, and decides to punish his own creation? Being omniscient, He should have known what they were going to do BEFORE HE CREATED THEM!

These things just don’t make sense to me, thanks!

 

[MarcoPolo]

Part of God’s perfection would include God’s love, in that He gives His love to creatures such as humankind. Humans don’t add to some “imperfection” in God. Also, with regard to the text of Scripture, particularly the Old Testament. The text must be understood through the eyes of the authors as well. When they assign emotional attributes to God, such as God’s “jealousy” or “anger,” etc… they are using anthropomorphic terms to describe that which God would recognize as sinful. For instance, if Israel was unfaithful to God, that was metaphorically likened to Israel behaving as an adulteress with other “gods.” This might be described as God’s “jealousy” in the eyes of the Scriptural author. What the use of that emotion signifies, since God is unchanging, is that the behavior was inappropriate. It is as if to be unfaithful to a spouse. Same thing with anger. If a sinful act is said to draw “anger” from God, the use of that emotion signifies disapproval, meaning that sin is wrong and we should avoid it. In either case, what is indicated is that a certain behavior is an affront to the God worthy of a better response on man’s part. The theology is better developed in the New Testament, although the Old Testament contains a youthful generations’ understanding, still fully truthful if understood correctly.

 

[bzkoss236]

If something is perfect, it is complete; it needs nothing else.

Also, why does He get angry? Doesn’t He KNOW what everyone will do already… why is he suddenly surprised with disobedience in the Bible, and decides to punish his own creation? Being omniscient, He should have known what they were going to do BEFORE HE CREATED THEM!

These things just don’t make sense to me, thanks!

First, we know God didn’t create us because he needs us, because God doesn’t need anything, or anyone. And God, being a creator, wouldn’t really need a reason other than he felt like it. It was something he wanted to do, as a creating being, he wanted to create. We can’t know God’s exact reasons, at least not until we reach heaven (for those of us that will), but he doesn’t really need any other reasons other than he wanted to.

And, even though you know someone will do something it doesn’t change the fact that they will do it. Anger has nothing to do with being surprised. If I have a rebellious child, and I’m leaving for a few days trip for work and I tell him no parties at the house, even though knowing him, he will have a party to spite me, I can still be angry with him knowing he will have a party. The difference being that I (as a human) won’t know for sure that he will have the party until he does.

 

[spinninglink]

“Part of God’s perfection would include God’s love, in that He gives His love to creatures such as humankind.”

—That would imply that God was not complete until he created humans, therefore not perfect.

“First, we know God didn’t create us because he needs us, because God doesn’t need anything, or anyone.”

—This directly contradicts the first answerer, who said GOD’S PERFECTION INCLUDES creatures to love.

" When they assign emotional attributes to God, such as God’s “jealousy” or “anger,” etc… they are using anthropomorphic terms to describe that which God would recognize as sinful. "

“And, even though you know someone will do something it doesn’t change the fact that they will do it.”

—This makes a lot more sense, however, God KEPT punishing mankind. He punished us for almost everything we did, even destroyed Israel itself and flooded the planet! If you knew your children would be a sinners and would have to KILL THEM, would you still have them? As a person we don’t know what our children would do, but as a GOD you DO know… so basically he created us knowing he was going to wipe out practically the entire planet! Being perfect and all, you would think he could have come up with a better plan…

 

[cessnawag]

Why do people have children? We know they will disobey and make us angry. We will lose countless hours of sleep and we will be financially strapped. Because we LOVE them that’s why. We are willing to put up with all the rest simply because we love them. We want to selflessly give our lives to them and help them grow. That’s the way god wired us… I his own image

 

[spinninglink]

Why do people have children? We know they will disobey and make us angry. We will lose countless hours of sleep and we will be financially strapped. Because we LOVE them that’s why. We are willing to put up with all the rest simply because we love them. We want to selflessly give our lives to them and help them grow. That’s the way god wired us… I his own image

As mortals, we DON’T know with perfect clarity what will happen, we have a HOPE they will become successful and good people, and will attempt to raise them right. God, however, DOES know exactly how everyone will turn out. As I said, theoretically he KNEW what every single human being ever born was going to do, say, and become. He also KNEW he was going to KILL his children before he “had” them. Not just punish them… but completely wipe out 99.999% of his children. Tell me again… if you KNEW your children would have to be drowned/tortured/stoned/burned/etc… would you still have them? He just doesn’t seem so perfect… having to do that…

 

[spinninglink]

And yes I know… God’s “mysterious” plan. But ask yourself… does it even seem like a plan? Or more like a toddler with god-like powers stumbling around the universe making mistakes like everyone else? To me, much more the latter.

 

[openmind77]

If something is perfect, it is complete; it needs nothing else.

Also, why does He get angry? Doesn’t He KNOW what everyone will do already… why is he suddenly surprised with disobedience in the Bible, and decides to punish his own creation? Being omniscient, He should have known what they were going to do BEFORE HE CREATED THEM!

These things just don’t make sense to me, thanks!

I know you are looking for an answer from a Christian perspective, but let me answer from a Hindu point view.

God is complete in himself. He does not need anything. Hindus believe that God created the world because he wanted to play - basically do something interesting. So the act of Creation is part of a divine play (in Sanskrit this is called lila - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lila_(Hinduism ) .

As for Biblical stories about God getting angry or surprised or punishing people - I personally find them hard to believe.(As to why bad things happen to people - we believe in karma).

 

[bzkoss236]

And yes I know… God’s “mysterious” plan. But ask yourself… does it even seem like a plan? Or more like a toddler with god-like powers stumbling around the universe making mistakes like everyone else? To me, much more the latter.

Can you really judge? Being stuck inside time? God may be perfect, but we are not. God has to work around us to fulfill his ultimate plan, which may not come to fruition for a long time, not because God is imperfect, but because it is the most perfect way when working around us imperfect and feeble beings.

 

[Least]

1. I don’t speak for HIM, I don’t even get the memos, might not understand them if I did.
2. YOU had a thought, you typed your question here. GOD had a thought, and it was YOU, he made the rest of us, and all of this, for YOU (so quit complaining ).
3. If HE put HIS face in the sky (instead of the Sun) you would (at a very early age, upon becoming aware of HIM) lie prostrate before HIM until you got hungry or bored or expired, so there had to be some separation (you cannot choose-HIM without options).
4. We are made in HIS IMAGE, HE (may) have no less a desire to create than us, and we have a very strong urge to create and creativity is a very powerful force.

 

[Petaro]

The same question came to me when I read in the OT that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, thus implying an intervention in his free will. However I feel that there is a distinct sociological context in the writings of the OT that we cannot appreciate. God getting involved in wars like some Greek God appears to me to be implausible however I do not read the OT as literal.
However we are told we are created in the image of God, thus implying that he may have the same emotional framework; otherwise how would he love?
No, much is difficult to understand for a simpleton like me and I prefer to leave it to the experts and that is why our interpretation of the Bible must be guided by the Church.

 

[vsedriver]

If something is perfect, it is complete; it needs nothing else.

Also, why does He get angry? Doesn’t He KNOW what everyone will do already… why is he suddenly surprised with disobedience in the Bible, and decides to punish his own creation? Being omniscient, He should have known what they were going to do BEFORE HE CREATED THEM!

These things just don’t make sense to me, thanks!

yes, God needs nothing else, but God is Love and Love shares Love. God’s creation of us is a sharing of his divine Love.

God of the Old Testament was our Father. As a father it was necessary to discipline his children from time to time. God did not do this willy nilly, he gave everyone ample opportunity to correct their bad behavior. Remember, most of their bad behavior was directed at their fellow humans. Since God is our creator he, and he alone has the right to take life when he sees fit to do so. Cleansing the world was a means of saving the righteous. Punishment can be an act of love.

God’s foreknowledge is not the cause of people’s bad behavior. we all have free will and God honors our choices. It is not God’s fault that some turn to evil, even if he knew they would ahead of time. This is why it is so important to evangelize and get the word out that God is so merciful that anyone can repent, change their behavior and be saved.

 

[autumnmoon]

If something is perfect, it is complete; it needs nothing else.

Also, why does He get angry? Doesn’t He KNOW what everyone will do already… why is he suddenly surprised with disobedience in the Bible, and decides to punish his own creation? Being omniscient, He should have known what they were going to do BEFORE HE CREATED THEM!

These things just don’t make sense to me, thanks!

God is perfect in His thinking, His decisions, His creating, His reasons answers the why. God also gave us a free will to choose Him and love Him anyway no matter what happens in our lives that try to it seems sometimes constantly pull us away from Him, or trying to keep many from finding Him. The Bible teaches us that prayer is a powerful thing and can change the course time. The Bible tells of Gods people on one occasion became so rebellious that He was going to destroy them and Abraham prayed for them to be spared and God changed His mine. Your concept of God knows what people will do any way, may seem like that but He created us with that free will to make decisions that chooses Him or not. God loves us so much and He has so much to offer us even in this world of chaos. He says you can not have two masters, you will love the one and hate the other.
God will have those that choose Him, and Lucifer and his band of cohorts will have those
that choose him. People choose in this life, God wanted it that way. Because the Bible says “It’s not God’s will that no man perish but come to repentance.” The book of Psalms talks about God searches the heart to its deepest part. If He knows everything why does the Bible speak of rules or laws He gave us to give us a good life, teaching us to stay close to Him so we can have a long life. He wants to bless us, and give us peace, and long, life,and to be there to comfort us when we endure times of sorrow. We will not always be on the mountain top and things be good all the time, to keep us needing Him, loving Him anyway. He wants us to talk to Him, to be His friend, to watch us grow from His love in caring and helping others to be Him here on earth in the flesh living out His love and will on earth as it is in heaven is why Jesus gave us the Lords prayer.
There are a great many things we will never understand the why. But in my own life I have seen prayer change the course, God loved me to Him, when I was so lost I couldn’t see the light of day, He carried me a long time and I didn’t know it. many years ago one night I was going to take my life, and right when I was to do it, the room light up, and these words I heard, “I miss that little girl that use to lay flowers on rocks for me.” I for got about that, when I was a little girl I would pick flowers and lay them on big rocks in the woods. God is giving us the opportunity to shape and mold the world He gave us.
God Bless you my friend.

 

[spinninglink]

yes, God needs nothing else, but God is Love and Love shares Love. God’s creation of us is a sharing of his divine Love.

God of the Old Testament was our Father. As a father it was necessary to discipline his children from time to time. God did not do this willy nilly, he gave everyone ample opportunity to correct their bad behavior. Remember, most of their bad behavior was directed at their fellow humans. Since God is our creator he, and he alone has the right to take life when he sees fit to do so. Cleansing the world was a means of saving the righteous. Punishment can be an act of love.

God’s foreknowledge is not the cause of people’s bad behavior. we all have free will and God honors our choices. It is not God’s fault that some turn to evil, even if he knew they would ahead of time. This is why it is so important to evangelize and get the word out that God is so merciful that anyone can repent, change their behavior and be saved.

I understand where you’re coming from, but discipline is one thing, killing is another. If your daughter keeps picking on another little girl, and has been warned time and time again, you don’t say “oh, you’ve had ample opportunity to correct your bad behavior, time to kill you!” Of course not, that’s ridiculous! No matter how much of a “lost cause” they might seem, you don’t give up on them! And just because god “created” us, it’s definitely not “all-loving” to straight up murder 99% of the population. Consider a scientist who has just created a sentient being capable of love. Does he then have the right to kill it, just because he created it? Especially if it’s just living up to HOW IT WAS CREATED, which was using its free will. No way! What kind of a god punishes his creation for using what he himself gave the creation?

I think a discussion like this always boils down to “god’s ways are too complicated to understand so just accept it”. Well I’m not made that way. I mean how convenient, that we’re not allowed to question, because WATCH OUT we might actually figure something out for ourselves! If there is a god, then he created me THIS WAY, with a rational mind that questions, and does not blindly accept. He then asks us to blindly believe in something, or be punished for not believing? Even though we have “free will”? Right. And on top of that, he can’t even spread his message himself, he needs others to “evangelize” for him. What kind of all-powerful god is that?!

See, these are the questions that we are NOT allowed to ask, because “god works in mysterious ways”, and is thus exempt from any scrutiny or examination. But these are the kinds of questions I ask myself. And I think it’s important to ask them, because we now live in a world that we can. Because now we won’t be burned at the stake for being “heathens.” But most importantly, because choice of religion is one of the most important decisions in life… so we should be damn sure we made the right choice, or we could be living a lie the rest of our lives.

 

[fjoseraj]

No doubt God is the creator within Himself and does’nt admit ruining of his body and soul which he incarnated by his own creation of humanity on the last day of his creation before he took rest as said in the book of Genesis. While he created every thing he satisfied himself that his creation was good. But only by the inducement of the evil doer, Satan, the man and woman admitted themselves for their own destiny and ruination. God knows everything, and so advises not to eat the fruit of the the tree which has the seeds (bad vices) of the evildoer, but what worsens is the man himself had fallen into the hands of the evil, and it is not the fault or omission of the creator, but of the son himself just as said in the parable of the prodigal son.

 

[mikekle]

It was something he wanted to do, as a creating being, he wanted to create.

Ive wondered about this alot too, if you look back at the earths history, it is obvious our God is one who loves to create things, that makes me think he most surely did not stop creating when he made us, and probably will create MANY Many other races, entire civilizations of beings after we are long gone, even he said he is unchanging, so that means his creative nature will always be with him.

I think this is good evidence for life elsewhere in the universe too. If God loves to create, why would he stop after us, of course he did not, he has probably created billions of different races, civilizations, but have to wonder if each one of them has their own set of rules, like we do, their own version of the bible, etc.

It is truly amazing to think of such things!

 

[MarcoPolo]

—That would imply that God was not complete until he created humans, therefore not perfect.

No it wouldn’t. The creation of people only occurs along the string of terrestrial time. God exists outside that realm. You can’t assign “before/after” attributes to God. Creation and its entirety is enveloped by God, and thus there is no God “before” and God “after.”

 

[spinninglink]

No it wouldn’t. The creation of people only occurs along the string of terrestrial time. God exists outside that realm. You can’t assign “before/after” attributes to God. Creation and its entirety is enveloped by God, and thus there is no God “before” and God “after.”

Either way, if “the entirety of creation is enveloped by god” then that means there WILL BE AN END to creation, since “all of it has already been done”. If ALL has been seen already, then ALL has been completed, and end to creation is implied. If god is unchanging, then how can STOP creating?

 

[Tradosaurus_Rex]

Either way, if “the entirety of creation is enveloped by god” then that means there WILL BE AN END to creation, since “all of it has already been done”. If ALL has been seen already, then ALL has been completed, and end to creation is implied. If god is unchanging, then how can STOP creating?

Who said God is going to stop creating?

 

[spinninglink]

No it wouldn’t. The creation of people only occurs along the string of terrestrial time. God exists outside that realm. You can’t assign “before/after” attributes to God. Creation and its entirety is enveloped by God, and thus there is no God “before” and God “after.”

Either way, if “the entirety of creation is enveloped by god” then that means there WILL BE AN END to creation, since “all of it has already been done”. If ALL has been seen already, then ALL has been completed, and end to creation is implied. If god is unchanging, then how can STOP creating?

Who said God is going to stop creating?

MarcoPolo just said… “Creation IN ITS ENTIRETY is enveloped by god.” How can he continue creating beyond entirety? If that’s the case, then NO, the entirety of creation is NOT enveloped by god. All you can say is, “god’s all powerful, therefore he can do it if he wanted to”. Which is just more circular reasoning which doesn’t help any.