If God is supreme, how does the devil rival him?

[Sava]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

but then isn't the whole good vs evil battle really a blowout? I mean, satan can't win...

Maybe he can .

"I'd rather rule in Hell than serve in Heaven". Satan, the first libertarian

actually, I remember an old thread of mine where I argued that God is unfair because worshipping him is a prerequisite of heaven, and an unfair god doesn't deserve to be worshipped...

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by Sava
uhmmm but if you knowingly do something that you know will be evil, aren't you responsible?

No, because God did not do something evil. God created the demons as good. They freely chose to become evil, and the responsibility is theirs.

[monkspider]

Because of love.

[MrBaggins]

Originally posted by jimmytrick
If God were female the world would be a neater place.

and there'd be Armageddon every month?

[DRoseDARs]

Originally posted by Shi Huangdi


Sure, I argue with my more conservative Catholic brethren all the time.

But that's different: you can go have a drink with them afterwards and drown the disagreement in sweet, sweet alcohol.


*Says the non-drinker *

[Imran Siddiqui]

actually, I remember an old thread of mine where I argued that God is unfair because worshipping him is a prerequisite of heaven, and an unfair god doesn't deserve to be worshipped...

I'd agree with that. Why would I worship a God who says he loves you, but will only let you in to his special place if you not only love him, but worship him?

[joncha]

Originally posted by Sava
yes because those uniforms are ****ing ugly

Come to think of it, most of the teams I like had ugly uniforms (and some still do!) when I started following them...

New Jersey Devils
Vancouver Canucks
Hartford Whalers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New England Patriots

I figure it gives me a right to cheer for them later (ie, now) when their unis improve and they actually start winning games.

jon.

[Aeson]

How could they choose evil if it (evil) hadn't been created already?

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by Aeson
I don't take the old testament literally. It says there is a God, which I certainly don't take literally.

If you believe in God based on a book, why not believe in the other things based on the same book?

The Bible is not the sole source of Christian faith. Moreover, while it is extremely valubale as a source of Christian teaching, it is not nessecarily the best historical account of how things transpired.

[Capt Dizle]

I believe in God. I believe that the Bible is inspired, that the Bible should be spiritually interpreted rather than literally, but God, who is a spirit, is also real, alive and among us always.

Satan is the master of this world only by the will of God, which surpasses our understanding. Satan is no rival of God, but is also a spirit and also real, alive and among us always.

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by Sava
actually, I remember an old thread of mine where I argued that God is unfair because worshipping him is a prerequisite of heaven, and an unfair god doesn't deserve to be worshipped...

You have the wrong idea of heaven. It's not a place of a bunch of clubs and fat babies with wings playing on harps, nor is hell a cafe with a bunch of men in red tights poking you with pitchforks.

Heaven is complete and perfect spiritual union with God, and the spiritual state in which we are most happy. Hell is the state of complete and perfect isolation from God, and the spiritual state in which we are most unhappy.

If you don't love God, why would you want to be in heaven and united with that which you do not love.

[Nubclear]

So then hell isn't bad either, for those who don't believe in god.

Oops

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by Aeson
How could they choose evil if it (evil) hadn't been created already?

Evil is not a distinct entity onto itself Rather, it is lacking of goodness. Similar to how cold is not an entity onto itself, but rather a lack of heat.

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar
So then hell isn't bad either, for those who don't believe in god.

Oops

See the point made earlier. Hell is the spiritual state in which we are apart from God and isolated from the universe, and in which we are most unhappy.

[Aeson]

Heaven is complete and perfect spiritual union with God, and the spiritual state in which we are most happy. Hell is the state of complete and perfect isolation from God, and the spiritual state in which we are most unhappy.

Do you have to choose before you experience each? I mean, wouldn't everyone choose where they would be most happy if they knew that's where they would be most happy?

If we have to choose at a point where we really don't know either way, and then have to deal with the consequences of that choice for all eternity, it seems pretty much like a crapshoot.