Would you worship an evil God?

[Jake]

I've heard atheists such as Matt Dillahunty (whom I greatly admire) claim that if they believed in the God of the Bible, who is obviously bloodthirsty and malevolent in many cases, they would refuse to worship him. But wouldn't you do anything to avoid eternal torment? Do any of you honestly claim that you would go to Hell before bowing to an evil God? If Hell were simply a place without God, as it is often described, that would be a different matter. But assuming Hell is a place of infinite pain, who would honestly let themselves be sent there? Even if you had to sacrifice your own child, wouldn't you obey God to avoid ultimate suffering?

[postroad]

One could argue from scripture that God is the devil.


.2 Samuel 24:1
[ David Enrolls the Fighting Men ] Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.�

2.1 Chronicles 21:1
[ David Counts the Fighting Men ] Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.

[The Me's]

[Replying to post 10 by Jake]

If you don't know how to communicate with God, you were never a Christian.

It's not about being a member of a group, it's about being born again, and this requires direct contact with him and a response.

He speaks intuitively to us (and to you as well). All you have to do is get accustomed to what his voice is like. Isaiah called it "the voice behind you telling you to turn to the left or the right". Elijah called it "that still small voice." Jesus called it "the comforter". Paul called it a voice that prays for you with sighs that can't be expressed in words.

[Jake]

Except that Satan does very little wrong in the Bible. He's more of a mischievous trouble-maker, whereas God is a bipolar mass murderer.

[postroad]

[Replying to post 13 by Jake]

Satan seems to be the go to guy for dirty deeds.


1 Kings 22:19-23

New International Version (NIV)


19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. 20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’

“One suggested this, and another that. 21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’

22 “‘By what means?’ the Lord asked.

“‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.

“‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’

23 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you

[The Me's]

Except that Satan does very little wrong in the Bible. He's more of a mischievous trouble-maker, whereas God is a bipolar mass murderer.

No one who has ever read the Bible takes this view.

Ezekiel makes him sound far more evil than just "trouble-maker".
Revelations 12-13 makes him the source of all evil.
Jesus said in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats that hell was designed with him in mind.

(Are you a Bible reader?)

[Jake]

God is responsible for the creation of everything, including Satan. God is all-powerful, and could destroy Satan if necessary. Furthermore, God kills indiscriminately, whereas Satan does not.

[Kuan]

About 1/3 of the world's population claims that God is available for questioning. I do it whenever the mood strikes.

Bandwagon fallacy?

It could be that you haven't tried.

Maybe we have but the results were inconclusive.

[help3434]

[Replying to post 10 by Jake]

He speaks intuitively to us (and to you as well). All you have to do is get accustomed to what his voice is like. Isaiah called it "the voice behind you telling you to turn to the left or the right". Elijah called it "that still small voice." Jesus called it "the comforter". Paul called it a voice that prays for you with sighs that can't be expressed in words.

It could also be called a construct. Everyone occasionly has thoughts and feelings that stand out from the mundane. Those who were taught Christianity were encouraged to attribute this to being from God. That does not mean it actually is.

[McCulloch]

[Replying to post 12 by The Me's]

Mental health professionals usually define hearing voices as a symptom of mental illness. Many people who hear voices are able to live with them and may consider them a positive part of their lives. Hearing a voice when no-one is present with you, or which other people with you cannot hear, is considered to be a hallucination.

[The Me's]

[Replying to post 12 by The Me's]

Mental health professionals usually define hearing voices as a symptom of mental illness. Many people who hear voices are able to live with them and may consider them a positive part of their lives. Hearing a voice when no-one is present with you, or which other people with you cannot hear, is considered to be a hallucination.

The basis for this post is a deplorable anti-religious premise: that people who hear God's voice MUST by default be crazy.

I'll leave that aside for a moment.

Your response also "assumes" that God doesn't exist and that he doesn't have a voice that can be heard. You and I both know that you've never taken the time to prove these claims, so I have to wonder why you'd try to pass them off as the truth?

Let's make it easy for you:

I personally have heard God's voice both intuitively and audibly. I invite you to demonstrate that I'm crazy, that I hallucinated, or that I have some other issue that prevents me from realizing that it just didn't happen. If you can't, I hope you're willing to retract your claim.

If you won't even try, I hope you have the decency to admit that your premise is based on intentionally inflicted ignorance.