God is not what you think He is, and you are not what you think you are. No matter what you think of God, or what you think of yourself, God is more, and you are less. Somehow, some way, God is infinitely more sovereign over His creation, including us, than an author is over his novel work. We are not the authors of our destinies or the captains of our souls. We are novel characters in a novel work that is not about us.
He's going to do what he wants with me no matter what I do, so **** him. If he really does exist and if he sends people to hell just for not 'knowing' him then I don't really want to spend eternity with a mean ******* anyway As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII [All the world's a stage] William Shakespeare - 1564-1616 Jaques to Duke Senior All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slippered pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
So there is no free will then all of our sin is God's sin, if he wrote us to be sinners than he is sinning not us. If I am not the author of my destiny I can't be held responsible for it.
What's the difference between what other people think God is and what you think God is? What makes you so certain that you're right and everybody else is wrong?
The difference between an infinite and a finite is always infinite. As finites, the infinite is always beyond us. I gave this example of the limit to my imagination. I cannot imagine a more sovereign/subject relationship than the relationship between an author and his novel characters. The difference between a human author and his novel character is vast; it's almost beyond my understanding, but I can quantify the difference between them. After all, no matter how vast the differences between an author and his novel character, they are both finite. Therefore the difference between them is finite. The difference between God and man is infinite. The infinite is, by definition, beyond the finite, we the finite. No matter what one thinks of God or of us, God is more and we are less.
But again if we are not the authors of our own destiny, we are not capable of sin. We are just otamatons acting out our program
When I refer to God, I refer to necessary being - as opposed to contingent being. Anything subject to change is contingent in its being. All matter is subject to constant change and is therefore contingent in its being. If contingent being exists, necessary being must exist. That's why I believe in necessary being. I call it "God" because that's what it is called in the bible. I don't believe in a God because I found one in the bible. I believe in the God of the bible because He uniquely fulfills the implications of a necessary being. We are obviously not gods. We are not necessary. We are not only subject to change, we are defined by it. We are a complex of intellectual, emotional, willful and corporeal processes. A process is a prescribed sequence of changes. So you see, we are not only defined by our changes, we are also prescribed. We are all from the same author, the same consciousness, but we ourselves are novel characters. We are not the captains of our souls or the authors of our fates.
If this author Wright's our faith and our destinies then we are incapable of sin. You can't have send without free will. All you have is a cruel cruel "god" deciding who gets punished in the afterlife based on things that this so-called "god" made them do.
That means that ostensibly we have no innate or learned sense of right or wrong and thus cannot be held responsible and accountable for our actions and deeds because we are merely puppets. That, in turn, means that crimes should not be punishable because the criminals are not responsible for their actions. To each his own but I do not agree. That's a cop out.
In relationships between equals, one responsibility to the other extends from their authority over them self. In relationships between sovereigns and subjects, the subject's responsibility to the sovereign extends from the sovereign's authority over the subject. In a sense, everything in a novel is the author's fault, but the bad guys in the novel are still responsible for what they do in that novel. There is no way for an author to be "fair" with his novel characters. No where in the bible does the bible say God is "fair". God does not read minds; He writes them. Some of the things that God have written into my character are strong preferences as to what role my character plays in God's revelation of Himself. God wrote me in such a way that I want to be an example of God's grace, mercy, love, wisdom and strength. I do not want to be a walking, talking example of God's patience with the objects of His wrath. God made me this way, and I tell Him that in prayer every day. I have no real control over what role I'll play on tomorrow's page: but on this page, I've written to care a great deal about it.
Again if God writes your mind and you have no mind of your own, and you are not capable of sin. Why don't you ever address this?
You can't hate God if God writes your thoughts. And if he writes your thoughts to hate him and then condemns you to hell for it then your god is a demon.
So, god told Adam to bite the apple then? Since Adam has no real will of his own? I find this bizarre. We are all just evolving divine spirits here to have a human experience, and to learn from it. We absolutely have free will, though we also have feelings to guide us. When we feel love and joy, we know we are on the path we are meant to be on, but we can always choose another path. But this will only lead to pain and suffering. All religions have elements of truth in them. But organized religion has been corrupted by man into tools to control others. The best way to find the truth in the universe is within you, not through priests or books. If you search within, you will find that the universe will begin to show you the truth.
What are you talking about "no will of his own"? Of course we have wills. We intellects, emotions and wills; however, our intellects, emotions and wills are contingent in their being. They are not necessary. We can come to know, come to emote, come to will, come to be or not be. We are not-necessary. We are contingent in our being.
There is no such thing as hell. We are here to learn and evolve as spiritual beings, not live in fear of eternal punishment.
Why hate something that does not exist? It is pointless to waste emotional energy on a vacuum. Better to spend that emotional energy on LOVING someone real who can actually BENEFIT from it instead.