how can there possibly be 1 almighty god?

[MET]

I was thinking of something on day, about good and evil and stuf. and i realised, how could their possibly be one almighty god. ( it doesn't count for more gods though.) anyway, heres the idea: a god can do whatever he feels like, so if he's a good god, like the christian one, then he would ban all the evils out of this world. then only the good would be over. but the problem is, if there is no evil, their is no good. if their is no good, we have nothing to hope for, nor to believe in. so we wouldn't believe in that god. so simply, he can't exist, and if he did exist, nobody would believe in him.

my problem is, i feel like i left something out. or that something isn't right. also i thought for hours about things that could be said against it, but couldn't think of any. any suggestions?

[tnick777]

This belongs in Ethos.

It's one of those questions that can't be answered.

[Perikles]

Moved

[Da Skinna]

There is one huge unknown God going "What a ****ing race of retards..."

Or some huge entity or presence that we make in the likeness of ourselves because we're a race of selfish, self-aggrandizing bastards.

Either way, if this entity speaks, this thick fog of magic or divinity or whatever, it's still going "What a race of ****ing retards..."

NOTE: I'm kinda disillusioned with the human race right now...

[Irishman]

You seem to be edging on the problem of evil. It is what is sometimes reffered to as the "devastating objection" to God. No person has adequately explained how God could exist with this ammount of evil in the world, especially natural evil.

Just for fun, in one of my university classes, I tried to rectify the problem (even though I dont believe in God) and I came up with an interesting (but very shaky argument). It is 8 pages so I cant post it but if your interested, let me know.

[MET]

i'm definitly interested.
i don't believe as wel, but after history (especially WW 2) religious problems are the most interesting.
but my problem is not really, how could their be a god with all this evil. it was rather: how can their be a god without evil?
( and the christian god was rather to be used for my argument, it could have been any god. i just mean almighty gods as a whole)
@ da skinna lol

[Perkele]

Since we're on the subject...if God is almighty, can he create another GOd mightier than him?

[MET]

That's a good one, is it possible to be mightier then almighty?

[Irishman]

Good and Evil can exist separately (it is logically possible -ie- it contains no contradictions), and God (in the christian sense) could have created a world in which no evil existed. So I guess my question is, why do you think that evil must exist for God to exist?

EDIT__

To the above, no it is not possible, because in that possible world you would be creating an explicit contradiction.

There is no way that a being which is omnipotent could be surpassed by definition.

This is akin to the unliftable stone paradox.

[William the Bastard]

Don't worry MET he/she is only ****ing with you. Thats why I am an atheist/agnostic/whatever just to annoy em!

[MET]

it's a bit hard to understand for me, i'm just sixteen(and dutch). so if you would simplefy that for me, i would be pleased

like i said, if there where no evil, a god would be useless, like i said before and nobody would believe in it.(although the god might exist.)

now i'm busy over it anyways, i've always found christianity polytheistic cause catholic christians have the devil, they worship jezus, and they have all the saints. so pherhaps it doesn't really count for them. pherhaps allah would be an better example.

@ corporal
all questions are to be answered, but for some it is better not to know the answer of.
edit: what questions do you mean?
@William
looooooooool

[Justinian]

Good and Evil can exist separately (it is logically possible -ie- it contains no contradictions)

But for that to be true, if there was one infinitely good and infinitely powerful God, there would also have to be one infinitely evil and infinitely powerful God, which would make neither God the most powerful being in the Universe, thus pretty much negating the idea of God entirely.

[MET]

But for that to be true, if there was one infinitely good and infinitely powerful God, there would also have to be one infinitely evil and infinitely powerful God, which would make neither God the most powerful being in the Universe, thus pretty much negating the idea of God entirely.

scary, that's exactly what i thought.

[Justinian]

scary, that's exactly what i thought.

Which is why the only religions that aren't utter buckets of shite take into account the eternal balance between good and evil and represent the two as two equally powerful forces, instead of some bollocks along the lines of God being a good and happy person who loves everyone except the people he damns to an eternity of pain.

[MET]

Which is why the only religions that aren't utter buckets of shite take into account the eternal balance between good and evil and represent the two as two equally powerful forces, instead of some bollocks along the lines of God being a good and happy person who loves everyone except the people he damns to an eternity of pain.

i'm stunned, can't say anything but agree!

[Ó Cathasaigh]

This goes in with the concept of Free will. We could of course all be pawns to God and no one would do anything bad, but that just wouldn't be right, now would it?

No one wants to be a pawn, and thus evil exists.

But those questions your asking are just silly.

It's like the traditional "Can God microwave a burrito so hot that even he can't eat it?"
While Ammusing, I wouldn't base your spiritual, or lack there of, life around questions that aren't meant to be answered.

[Ó Cathasaigh]

What I'm saying is only this.


There is a school of thought that says we have free will, and one that says we have no freewill and we are predestined to heaven or hell.

Most people would agree that Free will is what we have. Of course there was the possibility that God would say "no free will for you, you'll all be nice and whatnot and never commit evil deeds".

Obviously that didn't happen. So we either have the free will to choose between good or evil, or no free will at all.
Now, as to weither Evil is necisary for a God, I disagree. God could very well have made us with no free will and we'd always choose to be good, but even then he'd still exist regaurdless if we beleived in him. I think if that were the case people would still beleive in God, but look at him more of a Ruler than a morally superior being.

[iKossu]

no freewill and we are predestined to heaven or hell

In that case our God isn't a decent one after all because some people are destined to go to hell even before they born.

[MET]

i'm not talking about what the humans want. i'm only talking about the god.
i asumed, that if a god is a good god, he would of course, want the best for his people, and he would wipe out all evil. so evil doesn't exist at all anymore, as a follower you don't really have much choice.

[Hells Bells]

I was thinking of something on day, about good and evil and stuf. and i realised, how could their possibly be one almighty god. ( it doesn't count for more gods though.) anyway, heres the idea: a god can do whatever he feels like, so if he's a good god, like the christian one, then he would ban all the evils out of this world. then only the good would be over. but the problem is, if there is no evil, their is no good. if their is no good, we have nothing to hope for, nor to believe in. so we wouldn't believe in that god. so simply, he can't exist, and if he did exist, nobody would believe in him.

my problem is, i feel like i left something out. or that something isn't right. also i thought for hours about things that could be said against it, but couldn't think of any. any suggestions?

he starts out perfect but then they need to make him imperfect for humans to understand. Therefore he is human, for are we not gods over this earth?