If you were God, what would you do different?

I'm always amused to hear people say they could do better than the God that created them. If He has sufficient knowledge to have created not only us, but hundreds of thousands (at least) of different life forms and an entire universe that we're not even capable of exploring, why on earth would you folks think He didn't know what He was doing and that you could do better? There are a handful of things I consider myself to be pretty good at. Creating worlds and populating them is not on that list.

Katzpur said:

I'm always amused to hear people say they could do better than the God that created them. If He has sufficient knowledge to have created not only us, but hundreds of thousands (at least) of different life forms and an entire universe that we're not even capable of exploring, why on earth would you folks think He didn't know what He was doing and that you could do better? There are a handful of things I consider myself to be pretty good at. Creating worlds and populating them is not on that list.

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In my opinion, we would have a better world if God spoke clear messages to those who seek him... It would certainly fix a lot of the division and confusion.

Unless...of course... Division and confusion is what God wants. Perhaps, it is all for the greater good that God hides himself and hides the truth.

Katzpur said:

You know, that's really not a very accurate statement. First off, every human being who has ever lived has the potential of attaining godhood -- not just Mormons. Secondly, it's not exactly this automatic thing. C.S. Lewis, who was obviously not a Mormon, understood the concept very well. He said:

"The command Be ye perfect is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we were 'gods' and He is going to make good His words. If we let Him – for we can prevent Him, if we choose – He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said." (Mere Christianity; pages 205-206)

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Sorry, not being a Mormon myself. Thank you for the clarification.

It's true no human can create the universe like God does, but it would appear to me in my opinion that some humans have a better idea of Justice and compassion.

For instance, God once ordered a lot of bloodshed and ordered people to be killed for working on the wrong day of the week.

There are a lot of people who are horrified by those policies and would never follow through with them...in my opinion, with my understanding of compassion, I see those people as more compassionate than God.

Probably use an adverb

PopeADope said:

In my opinion, we would have a better world if God spoke clear messages to those who seek him... It would certainly fix a lot of the division and confusion.

Unless...of course... Division and confusion is what God wants. Perhaps, it is all for the greater good that God hides himself and hides the truth.

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Maybe the seeking is a large part of what God wants from us. Perhaps this world is some sort of school or training camp for our souls.

David1967 said:

Maybe the seeking is a large part of what God wants from us. Perhaps this world is some sort of school or training camp for our souls.

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I think so

PopeADope said:

I think so

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I think so too. Doesn't necessarily make life easier, but I doubt its supposed to.

PopeADope said:

It's true no human can create the universe like God does, but it would appear to me in my opinion that some humans have a better idea of Justice and compassion.

For instance, God once ordered a lot of bloodshed and ordered people to be killed for working on the wrong day of the week.

There are a lot of people who are horrified by those policies and would never follow through with them...in my opinion, with my understanding of compassion, I see those people as more compassionate than God.

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Okay, so here's how I look at it. You have a 1-year-old child who has grown over his first year of life to totally trust his parents. He understands very little, but does know that these two people will never hurt him. One day they take him to the pediatrician for some immunizations. As his mother holds him, a stranger comes up to him, and jabs a sharp needle into his little thigh. His mother does nothing to stop that horrible person. She doesn't even attempt to protect him, though she obviously could. That little 1-year-old is simply incapable of understanding that his mother is far more knowledgeable than he is and that there is a very good reason for her having allowed someone to hurt him. We are simply incapable of understanding the complete picture in our mortal state. I don't believe that God allows anything to happen to us for which there is no good reason. And I don't believe it gives Him any satisfaction at all when He sees us suffering. That doesn't mean that we will be able to understand all of the trials we have to go through, even years later. But there will come a time when it will all make sense to us and when we will know that God knew what was best for us.

1 Corinthians 13:10-12 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Remember, endings in mortality really aren't endings at all. Sixty, eighty, or even a hundred years may seem like a very long time to us right now, but in the end, the time we spend on earth will be but a split second in the entirety of our existence.

If i were god is show myself and provide hard evidence of my existence so that all those i made would worship me. Seems odd that its never happened . ahhh.

Oh yes and I'd make sure the world, flora and fauna I'd created was actually for for purpose.

Katzpur said:

Okay, so here's how I look at it. You have a 1-year-old child who has grown over his first year of life to totally trust his parents. He understands very little, but does know that these two people will never hurt him. One day they take him to the pediatrician for some immunizations. As his mother holds him, a stranger comes up to him, and jabs a sharp needle into his little thigh. His mother does nothing to stop that horrible person. She doesn't even attempt to protect him, though she obviously could. That little 1-year-old is simply incapable of understanding that his mother is far more knowledgeable than he is and that there is a very good reason for her having allowed someone to hurt him. We are simply incapable of understanding the complete picture in our mortal state. I don't believe that God allows anything to happen to us for which there is no reason. That doesn't mean that we will be able to understand it, even years later. But there will come a time when it will all make sense to us and when we will know that God knew what was best for us.

1 Corinthians 13:10-12 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Remember, endings in mortality really aren't endings at all. Sixty, eighty, or even a hundred years may seem like a very long time to us right now, but in the end, the time we spend on earth will be but a split second in the entirety of our existence.

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Katz, that was great!

PopeADope said:

In my opinion, we would have a better world if God spoke clear messages to those who seek him... It would certainly fix a lot of the division and confusion.

Unless...of course... Division and confusion is what God wants. Perhaps, it is all for the greater good that God hides himself and hides the truth.

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I don't think he wants division and confusion, but I think He really wants us to have to work at getting knowledge. Things that are easy to obtain are seldom of much real value.

PopeADope said:

Regarding contradictions in the Bible, God said Thou shalt not kill and then God himself killed a bunch of people and ordered people to be killed for silly things like picking up sticks on Sabbath, and ordered people to annihilate entire cities killing women and children and babies.

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The one thing you seem to forget is that the Creator of life also has complete jurisdiction over it. Since justice is one of his cardinal qualities, there is no way that he is even capable of committing an injustice. No one dies at God's hand who doesn't deserve to. There are factors that are not obvious to us flawed mortals.....he can read minds and hearts....all we can do is examine circumstantial evidence....not all is as it seems on the surface. I trust God's judgments way more than I would trust my own. Besides, God has the ability to restore life to whomever he wishes. Christ died for sinners so all those who never heard the "good news" about him, will be resurrected to start life anew. (John 5:28-29)

There are plenty of other contradictions... I don't feel like sifting through them
https://ffrf.org/legacy/books/lfif/?t=contra

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Seriously....you take this from a site called "The Freedom from Religion Foundation"?

I can take every one of those apart and show you that they are not contradictions at all. They are twisted ideas from people who want to undermine the faith of others. Who do you suppose wants them to do that?

I've seen and heard a lot of debates between Protestants, Catholics, and Christians of various denominations and each of them have scripture that supports conflicting beliefs.

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And what you take from that is one simple fact...they cannot all be right. The ones who are right are the ones living their faith...not just talking about it. (Matthew 7:21-23) Just calling Jesus your "Lord" is meaningless if you don't obey his teachings.

Take for example the Commandment..."thou shalt not kill". The word "kill" is actually a Hebrew word meaning "murder". Is there is a difference between "killing" and "murdering"? Absolutely......otherwise the death penalty could never be implemented and we know that those who committed capital offenses in Israel, were put to death. Was the executioner a murderer? If the killing is sanctioned by God, then it isn't "murder". This is the kind of reasoning from the scriptures that we all need to do instead of taking everything at face value.

I see that most of the churches of Christendom have no problem in ignoring God's word when it comes to war. They seem to want to use Israel as an example to justify their involvement in bloodshed. What they forget is that all of Israel's wars were sanctioned by God because it was in defense of their God-given land. Since God has never given any other nation their land, and most have taken it from its indigenous inhabitants, then no war fought by man over political issues was ever sanctioned by God. When Israel tried to fight wars where they allied themselves to foreign nations, God did not back them up.....he told them...."And when you spread out your palms, I hide my eyes from you.
Although you offer many prayers, I am not listening;
Your hands are filled with blood." (Isaiah 1:15)

Do you see that there is no such thing as a "just war" in man's squabbles? Christ told us to 'love our enemies'....how can you do that with guns, tanks and bombs?

The treasure of God's word is hidden....remember? (Proverbs 2:1-5) It requires effort to understand what it really teaches....but it is well worth the effort.

I've seen scriptures that clearly support the idea that Jesus was divine, and other scripture verses that clearly support that he was not divine.

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The Bible teaches that Jesus, as the Logos, was the divine son of God. But it also says that he was created by his Father (Revelation 3:14; Colossians 1:15)....so there is your answer. Jesus isn't part of a godhead and never was. He is a divine spirit who became a human so that he could rescue Adam's children from the debt he left them. After his death and resurrection, Jesus returned to his former place at God's right hand.

Jesus even objected to somebody calling him a good teacher... As if he was no good. It makes no sense

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Here again, it is beneficial to use other parts of the Bible to understand what is not obvious at face value.
Evidently, the man was using the words “Good Teacher” as some kind of flattering title. Jesus modestly directed such glory to his heavenly Father, who is good in the supreme sense. (Proverbs 11:2) But Jesus was also affirming a profound truth. Jehovah alone is the standard for what is good. Only he has the sovereign right to determine what is good and what is bad.
Adam and Eve, by rebelliously taking fruit from the tree of "the knowledge of good and bad", sought to assume that right themselves. We can see where that has led.....humans now confuse the two. (Isaiah 5:20-21)

Consider too what "good" means to God rather than what it means to us. In his closing declaration at the end of the creative days God said that everything was "good" for the first 5 days.....but at the conclusion of the sixth day he said everything was "very good". How did God make a distinction between "good" and "very good" if everything he made was perfect? Can you see how words can have degrees of meaning?

Still and all, the big picture makes all the small stuff insignificant. There is only one truth and it is available to everyone....but you have to have eyes of faith to see it. God will give you an invitation if you show him that you not only love him, but that you trust him with all your heart. (John 6:44; James 1:5-8)