Why would God decide to create things?

[John_Martin]

Life, being, in full act of being is generating its like - thus the Father begets the Son from eternity. The Father and the Son are One Being.
Again, life, being, in full act of being knowing itself, also then always knows (understands) the “not I”, the “other”, the other “being like I AM”, but “not being myself”
Knowing himself and what is not himself, the not himself has being (is created in his knowing, then speaking, of “not ME”).

For example, imagine God understanding eternally “I know all eternally, and the ‘not me being that is like me’ will know all but not from eternity, but come to know all temporally. So we shall both know each other, but not in the same mode of knowing.” And God said, “let us make man in our likeness and image…”

God only has to know himself to know all things not Him but like Him in some manner - everything created moves toward a ‘goal’ of a likeness to God (that is the mark of a caused being, that it is moving into some likeness to God)

 

[laocmo]

Life, being, in full act of being is generating its like - thus the Father begets the Son from eternity. The Father and the Son are One Being.
Again, life, being, in full act of being knowing itself, also then always knows (understands) the “not I”, the “other”, the other “being like I AM”, but “not being myself”
Knowing himself and what is not himself, the not himself has being (is created in his knowing, then speaking, of “not ME”)…etc.etc.etc.

John, you have completely lost me this time. I have no idea what you just said. Could you un-vague it up a bit?

 

[John_Martin]

John, you have completely lost me this time. I have no idea what you just said. Could you un-vague it up a bit?

Sure;
Everything caused is like its principle (like God) in the extent of its being.
So, God did not “imagine” unknown things to create, but everything created was seen by him in his own being.
Every individual thing “is”, “has being”, and in that regard is like God who is “being itself”.
Every being is individual, which is like God, who is One.
Since God is One, there is none other that is God, therefore all other “created things” are likenesses of the un-created One, whether a rock, or a tree, or a puppy, or a man, or an angel, each having a likeness to God in one way or another or more.

God knew / knows them all in simply knowing himself. And his “goal” is to share the utter joy of knowing himself with a creation that can both know Him and know its own delightful likeness to Him. God himself is the “reference material” of creation (both for creating and for creation referencing back to Him to see its own wonderfulness).

 

[laocmo]

Sure; Everything caused is like its principle (like God) in the extent of its being…

Thanks John, that’s better!

 

[EmperorNapoleon]

Here’s my theory based on my limited understanding. God is love. God is the source of everything that exists. Everything can be traced back to him. And He is the answer to why anything at all exists. Going back to God is love. God’s essence is his existence. His love is his essence. His knowledge is his essence. God acts out of his essence. Since his essence is love, knowledge, goodness, etc that is his reason for his actions. Including creating the world.

The creator god of the Old Testament certainly was not one of love and goodness. I would even say, despite breaking out the feels in the New, he isn’t there either.

 

[Eric_Hyom]

The creator god of the Old Testament certainly was not one of love and goodness.

Mankind was probably just as corrupt during the times of the Old Testament, as they are today. I can imagine God looking down, and seeing the injustice we inflict on each other today. Our lust for greed, war and power allows around twenty thousand children to die every day from grinding poverty, preventable disease and starvation.

I can imagine why a loving God would be angry, when he looks at how we care for each other.

 

[fisherman_carl]

I was reading the catechism today and came across this which I think beautifully addresses this question of why God created us.

God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life. (CCC 1)

 

[fisherman_carl]

The creator god of the Old Testament certainly was not one of love and goodness. I would even say, despite breaking out the feels in the New, he isn’t there either.

That is a biased and wrong characature of God that I see many atheists fall in to. I think that even Jews who do not have the benefit of the NT do interpret God as good and love. You read the Bible out of context and apart from Tradition of course you are to come to all sorts of wrong conclusions. Both Jews and Catholics know this. Just read the Song of Songs, considered by many Jews the most sacred book, because it is seen as a poem about God’s love for his people, God as the bridegroom, and his people as the bride.