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Subject: 
Re: One of my issues with the god of the old testament
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.debate
Date: 
Thu, 15 Nov 2001 20:05:55 GMT
Viewed: 
940 times
  
In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler writes:
In lugnet.off-topic.debate, James Simpson writes:
I'm not sure I understood your notion of the source of morality, except
that you state that God didn't create it, and that confuses me.  Didn't He
create everything?  And is He or isn't He subject to it?  If He is, then
we're back to something greater than God.  If He's not, then we're back to
how do we know He's good?

Just jumping in for James, my guess is that he'd say that it's akin to
mathematics. God can't suddenly make 1==2 or 3+9=234. Humans "invented"
the basic rules mathematics, and the rest is true based on those rules, no
matter what. To take away the basics would no longer be "math". And likewise he
says that morality is an inherent function of conscious (and maybe lesser?)
living beings. To change morality would be to make us not alive and/or not
conscious. So while God (now I may very well be overstepping my estimation of
James' point) may be able to change/create morality by shaping the basic rules
of what we are (insofar as we are "alive" or not), He can't change morality but
leave our consciousness untouched, because morality is based on it. Make sense?

I won't try and answer for James on the "how do we know He's good" question,
though I can think of a few paths for him to take on it...

DaveE



Message has 2 Replies:
  Re: One of my issues with the god of the old testament
 
(...) Sort of, but I'm not sure that I agree with it. Why should an infinite being be constrained by our notions of impossibility, even if those notions seem absolute to us? I'm also not sure about the practical equivalence of math and morality: our (...) (23 years ago, 15-Nov-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
  Re: One of my issues with the god of the old testament
 
(...) Hmmm...I partly agree with you here. God indeed cannot make 1=2, because that would be an absurdity. I wouldn't say that humans invented the rules of math, insofar as 1+1 actually equals 2 across time and space. (Obviously, though, our (...) (23 years ago, 16-Nov-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: One of my issues with the god of the old testament
 
(...) Hmm. One of the long-standing concepts of God is "greater-than-which-...-thought." That is, of course, a formulation of the ontological argument and is therefore insufficient to prove His existence, but let's assume it (those of us who don't (...) (23 years ago, 15-Nov-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

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