Friday, October 23, 2009

Response to Comments

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - An anonymous passerby left some really cool comments yesterday.. I figured I'd respond as a new post and maybe get some dialogue going, as these really were very good questions.

Question 1 -
Why did God give us free will so that we can make choices (because we do not want to be robots) yet, when the earth & heavens are destroyed, and those who will go on to live with Him in heaven will be back to square one (in the beginning). Won't heaven be a place where we all worship God, no evil thoughts will come to mind, it will all be for His praise & glory? Then why would He create the heavens & earth, man, free will in the first place if we will be back to the Alpha (square one) some day?
I've wondered the same thing.. Here's my shot at it in a roundabout way.. First, it seems very peculiar to me the way our universe is set up - especially with regards to our physical laws. Were gravity the slightest bit stronger stars would burn out quicker than planets could form - we would not exist. Were it the slightest bit weaker gases would not compact in on themselves in order to create stars, thus planets would have no heat in which to sustain life - we would not exist. The same goes with our nuclear laws and laws of thermodynamics - the so-called "Fine Tuning" of the universe - you may have already heard of all this already..

In any case though, maybe a physical universe - the one we know as our current reality - is the only type of universe in which creatures can have true, free will? That's my thought; of course it's speculation. But this subtly seems to be scripture's answer. It seems to explain that the next existence we enter into is somehow different; I take this to mean that natural laws are different in this universe. Scripture also seems to hint at the idea that our free will is somehow modified (though not necessarily removed) in this next universe. The creatures that want to exist eternally with God make that choice in universe #1, then move on to their desired door #2 - where the idea of free will as we know it is not as necessary anymore. How else would God know who to allow into His presence without this testing of our hearts?

Question 2 -
If heaven is a place of purity (no unclean thoughts, words, or actions) how could Lucifer (if he was indeed an angel in heaven) ever plot to pull one over on God?
Awesome question.. There are many things regarding Satan and God that I struggle with to be honest. I think in your question though, we could probably both agree that the creator of our universe cannot be out-done. Scripture would answer your question with something that has a little to do with your previous question - that God allows Satan to exist purely for His own purposes.. To refine his creation through testing, and to weed out unbelievers from true believers in preparation for the next universe.

Question 3 -
In the ten commandments God states that we should have no other gods before us because HE IS A JEALOUS GOD...yet, there are passages in the Bible that states He is a jealous God...Jealousy is an unhealthy emotion...one that seems very human...how could this be?
Those verses describing God as a "jealous God" bothered me plenty the first time I read them.. It does seem very human, not divine. The word "jealous" we've come to know generally only has 1 connotation - a negative one. Check out 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul makes it clear that there is such a thing as a "godly jealousy" - something basically foreign to us English speakers. The original world in which these were written had other uses for "jealous" than just negative. An example I've seen supposes a husband seeing another man flirting with his wife. He has a right to be jealous - simply in that the proper relationship belongs only with the husband and wife. And in fact, God is only "jealous" in regards to idolatry - something to which God literally compares to committing adultery.

Check out this article for a little more on it: http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/jealous_god.html

Final Comment -
You see, I beleive in God,Jesus, and I am seeking to know just how much of the "HOLY"Bible was indeed God-inspired or human-interpreted. I don't want to ever feel as though I'm going against God's word yet some of the things I read are contradicting.
In my opinion, this is the only way to develop a true faith - especially one that can be defended. Asking tough questions, and more importantly, seeking answers to them, can only result in something pure and true. You are also doing it in a very respectful way. Answers are out there. I hope, whoever you are, that you continue seeking. And feel free to drop by whenever!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Theodicy

"Theodicy" is a branch of theology that attempts to answer the question of suffering in a universe created by an all-good, all-powerful God. There's a somewhat famous quote "Is he willing to prevent evil, but not able? then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? whence then is evil?"

I recently read an article that I felt answers this question quite nicely. The run of the logic will follow as such.

1. Natural laws are fixed & unchanging. Both science and the biblical text (Jeremiah 31:35-36) state this. For further evidence, note that the beliefs of scientists that have made the largest contributions to their fields ascribe to a picture of the universe as one with fixed natural laws.
2. Why not create a world in which "natural evil" such as earthquakes, hurricanes, or tsunamis didn't occur? To remove any of these "natural evils" would always ultimately preclude our very own existence. Just a few examples (many more can be found within the article)
- The root cause of earthquakes are tectonic movements ontop of a liquid core. Removing the liquid core removes our magnetosphere, which removes our protection from radiation bombardment, which precludes us from ever existing.
- Remove radiation then. Unfortunately, to remove radiation from the universe removes the mechanism that heats stars, which again, precludes us from ever existing.
- Remove hurricanes. Hurricanes exist due to uneven heating around the globe, which is due to the tilt of our planet on it's axis. To "correct" this tilt to a perfect 90 degrees would result in constant cooling at the poles, which would ultimately accumulate ice at the poles until the oceans were gone, again, precluding our existence.

So the question must be asked, which would be worse? Natural evils, or none of us ever existing to be able to ask this question?

3. Ok, so why not intervene to prevent bad things from happening? Couldn't God dissipate a hurricane? Or stop an earthquake from rumbling? This violates #1 above, and creates an unstable environment in which we cannot properly observe, measure, or understand our own environment. Science would no longer exist without fixed, natural laws remaining constant.
4. Why not create a "perfect" universe then? To do so would require the removal of evil, obviously. Removing evil removes free will, as one no longer has a choice to make. All beings would then basically be programmed computers. What's wrong with this? Biblical texts give an answer all throughout: love. If I program a computer to prompt out "I love you!", does it really? Of course not.
5. Conclusion: it appears that this universe was created for the purpose of free will (which in itself is a flaw, as evil must be present for free will to work).

Virtually every process that makes human beings unique require the operation of thermodynamic laws. However, these laws also result in almost all natural evil. So, it is unclear how the laws of physics could be substantially different from what they are and yet still produce a universe in which sentient creatures would be allowed to make moral choices.