Quote (D_urRRR @ Oct 1 2025 03:27pm)

Made in his image. You weren't created gay.

Quote (Shadowoffury @ Oct 1 2025 02:54pm)

God is not a bearded man in the sky deciding whether or not it's going to rain today.

God is everything, the alpha and the omega. Instead of asking why God allows evil to happen, you should first ask why you allow evil to happen. You could prevent a lot more evil if you put some effort into it, so could I. Huh, it's almost like that's the point.

Quote (AlwaysFair @ Oct 1 2025 07:58am)

A lot of popular religions believe that their god is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good. However, there are a lot of contradictions in the existence of such a god

For those who believe in such a god, how do you resolve the following issues?

1) the problem of evil — why does god allow so much evil to occur? Starvation, torture, murder, people stealing fg
- If you choose a free will rebuttal, how do you handle the issues of natural disasters, divine intervention for some prayers, and lack of religious text claiming this to be reason?
- Or if you go with a divine mysticism rebuttal, doesnt it feel completely dissatisfying? Practically, i would imagine this stance takes away a lot of comfort. “God is looking out for me” will now always be qualified by “if it fits in its divine plan”, which is really feels like “he’ll look out for me if he really wants to—i hope he really wants to”

2) the problem of divine hiddenness — why doesnt god reveal itself more clearly to us? This is especially problematic for religions that claim believers will be rewarded and nonbelievers will be punished. There are hundreds of religions with very similar levels of “evidence”, which usually is just a circular reasoning level of evidence:
- we “know” our god is the true god because our religious text says so, and
- we “know” our religious text is correct because our god is the true god
But if every religion can and does claim the same thing, how is anyone supposed to correctly choose the right religion over false religions?

3) omnipotence paradox — if god is all-powerful, then can he create a boulder so heavy that even he cannot lift? If he can, then he’s not powerful enough to lift the boulder. If he cant, then he’s not powerful enough to create the boulder. Either way, being omnipotent / all-powerful isnt logically possible

4) the problem of hell (only applies to those who believe in eternal damnation) — it’s unjust to give infinite punishment for finite sins. We each have a finite lifespan, so we can only commit a finite amount of sins. Hell is eternal damnation/suffering though. Isnt nonbelieving already sufficient for going to hell for many religions? Would a just god actually punish people infinitely for a finite number of sins? Seems unjust


There are many more, but this is getting long so ill pause here

/edit:
@mods, I think there’s actual debatable content here, and it’s not simply a “i believe in god” vs “i dont believe in god” pointless thread, but feel free to close it if it violates the forum rules

Quote (AlwaysFair @ Oct 1 2025 06:00pm)

It’s not me who’s causing earthquakes that tear cities apart, and it’s not me who’s causing hurricanes and floods in so many places. And while i can send supplies and donate to the cause,
- it might not be enough
- it wont reach everyone
- and people (including innocent kids) will suffer, starve, and die in the meantime

Wouldnt you expect an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-caring god to prevent these from happening or step in to help? Why doesnt it?
- is it not powerful enough to prevent or help?
- does it not know these will happen or are happening?
- or does it not care enough to prevent or help?

Please share how you reconcile all the evils happening in the world while still believing in an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-caring god

Quote (majorblood @ Oct 1 2025 03:56pm)

#1 Evil doesn't have an ontological status, it was not something created by God. Why do we have the capability to commit evil acts is free will. If you're asking why do natural disasters occur, the Christian position is it's the outcome of a disordered state of nature from the fall. If you have more questions about the problem of evil specifically try to be more detailed.

#2 God does reveal himself to us, I don't see the problem. You seem to be instead asking for a logical entailment of a particular religion here which can be expressed most coherently using TAG

#3 The definition of omnipotence is power to do anything possible, incoherent logical contradictions are not things. This isn't a defeater to omnipotence, it is a incoherent category error.

#4 Hell is not a legal or punitive sentence, but the natural consequence of freely choosing eternal separation from the life and light of God. It is the person's own rejection of the uncreated grace (energy) that is God's presence. God allows this choice and the entire point of the incarnation is the Word of God giving humanity the ability to freely choose union with Him. God became man so we can become like God.

Quote (Shadowoffury @ Oct 1 2025 04:06pm)

No, I would not expect God to prevent all evil, that's our prerogative.

I already told you. We have the opportunity to turn from the wrong path, and to prevent evil. It's a gift. Without evil, there is no good. This isn't a trite figure of speech, it's perfectly literal.

If you can't be devastated, it's childish to imagine that you are blessed. This is a curse. There is no purpose without fragility.

I understand how you could feel like Ivan Karamazov, everyone with an ounce of good in them feels that way. If you want to answer your own questions, you can't lean on a fantasy world though. We know how reality works, that evil exists. The solution lies within this framework.

Quote (AlwaysFair @ Oct 1 2025 07:48pm)

In your view, are all evils that occur in the world necessary then? Even those that dont serve as a lesson and arent the result of choices?

If an innocent child is hit by a hurricane, and all their friends and family are killed in the initial hit, wouldnt you agree that it’s an unnecessary evil if the child were all alone, injured by the disaster, and subsequently starved to death?

Do you believe god prevents these unnecessary evils from occurring? Or there’s never an unnecessary evil?

Quote (Shadowoffury @ Oct 1 2025 05:06pm)

Asking whether evil is necessary or unnecessary is exactly like asking whether electromagnetism is necessary or unnecessary. It exists.

Again, if you want to solve a problem you must work within the framework of reality.