Jan Ardena:
I notice you ignored the second half of my reply to you. I made two consecutive posts, but you only replied to one. I would appreciate a reply to the rest of what I wrote.
I think you're assigning the word God to anything you like (in this case, a negative characteristic).
Why should this character be aligned with God?
No, I am asking a question about the actual God you believe in. I am asking whether we can know whether that God is good or evil.
Your answer, although typically evasive, seems to be that God is both good and evil. It follows that to say that God has a bias towards good rather than evil is to make a false claim about God.
Is this a fair representation of your views?
Evil God, would do anything you asked, because Evil God is whatever you want it to be. Now you want put this character out there as a possible alternative to God. Where is the possibility of this concoction being anything like God, from a theist perspective?
Perhaps Good God is whatever you want it to be. Now you want to put that character out there as a possible alternative to Evil God. Or am I wrong?
My understanding of the perspective of certain particular types of theists, such as Christians, for example, is that they believe that God is Good. Do you think this is a mistake? Are they ignoring God's evil side?
'' ...if God is good...'', what does that mean? If theists say "God is good", then that is the personal testimony of those individuals. If I say "James is good", that is because of what I have heard, or experienced. Not that it is a universal construct. The reason being my perception is not
So you're saying that God is not good and not evil. Or maybe that God is both good and evil. Or maybe that the terms "good" and "evil" can't be applied to God because they are the subjective interpretations of individual human beings.
Can you clarify what you're saying, please? You're not making yourself clear.
How is this constructive? Isn't it better to learn about God, and then ask pertinent questions?
I am trying to learn whether the moral nature of God is discernable. Do you think it is, or not?
I think this is a pertinent question.
I take it if we were to discuss this, it would go no further than this point. Ring any bells?
Save it for a different thread.
Currently you don't have a good comprehension of God, thus anything you suggest is not in the context of God.
The point of the question is to show the reality of what your attempting.
Because of the internet, people perform evil acts. But is the internet evil. Or is it good.
I would argue that it is good, because it is good for me. Some may say it's evil , because that's how they see it. But the internet itself, is neither good nor bad, outside of perception.
Ok. What I'm getting from you is that God is what he is, both good and evil, depending on human perception of him.
So your conclusion is that we can't know the moral nature of God, then. We will see God as we want to see him. Interesting.
It still puzzles me why so many religious people assert that God's nature is primarily good, and that God cares about human beings and so on. You are saying that they are misguided in making that assumption, and that this is just their own fallible perception of God. Correct?
People die anyway. That's not only natural, but inevitable.
No. God could make people immortal if that was his will.
You also regard it as natural, and neither good nor evil. Don't you?
Death? Well, death has its definite minuses, but there are probably some benefits too, though on the whole not for the individuals who die.
I agree that death is a "natural" process, in that it happens to all of us at some point. On the other hand, causing the death of another person could potentially be construed as either an evil or (more rarely) a good act, depending on the circumstances.
Out of interest, what do think God is, outside of philosophical discourse, first cause, creator, etc...
Take it to another thread. That's off topic for this one.
Have you ever experienced anything that is purely evil?
My experience of evil, is always in relation to its counterpart, good.
I don't see how my personal experiences are relevant to the thread topic.
I have no problem with your comparing good to evil.
What does God have to say about good and evil, if anything? Does God prefer one over the other, do you think? Or is he neutral on the matter?
I think this would have been a better discussion if it were about good and evil, rather than adding the word "God"
"What if we were all perfectly evil, would there be any difference to world we currently inhabit"
But no, it's a perfect opportunity to be negative about God. Isn't it?
What have I said that is negative about God?
I'm asking whether we can know whether God is good or evil. It seems to me a reasonable question to ask.
No. Good is the basic standard.
You mean you don't know that?
No, I don't know that. Hence this thread.
Whose basic standard are you referring to? God's? Does that mean that God is good? How do you know that God's basic standard is not evil?
People don't hate happiness. They love happiness, they may even they perform evil deeds to achieve that goal. Do you see how it works now?
As far as I can see, we agree on this point.
I've already said God is the standard.
But to maintain that standard isn't something you simply do, It is a development.
What is God the standard of? Are you saying we should act in particular ways because God prefers us to act in one way over the other? Does God have a preference for whether we do good or evil?
God is God.
If we discuss an entity as evil, or good, that entity isn't God. There are plenty of good humans, but that doesn't mean they are God. So to ponder on God being evil, is to concoct images in your mind of a human performing evil deeds, and calling that human, God.
So, which is it:
(1) God is both good and evil, rolled into one (and has no preference one way or the other); or
(2) God is neither good nor evil, but is morally neutral.
?
Jan Ardena said:
James R said:
My question is: is this current world we live in more consistent with God being good, or with God being evil?
Neither.
So, the world we live in is equally consistent with God being good as it is with God being evil. Which is kind of where I started with this thread.
It took you a long time to get to an answer, but I think we have it. Thanks, Jan.