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

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar

While the devout Christian may have a closer relationship with God, both the Christian and the athiest are equally in a God-Filled world that was God's good creation.

But a devout Christian is closer. Therefore happier, correct?
Your acting like a religious fundie....

It depends. That person may acknowledge God publicly, but we don't know the interiror state of the relationship with God. But to answer your question, yes, if they are much closer, and their wants and desires are most pefectly aligned with God's as we have seen in some of the Saints, that is when we will have the most true happiness on Earth.

[Ancyrean]

Originally posted by jimmytrick
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.

God cannot be defined as "alive", which connotes there's death for him too. He's omnipresent and allpowerful

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.

Heaven is a state and a place of happiness and maturity from "sin".

Hell, on the other hand, is as much a place of pain as it is one of maturation, a process of getting rid of your side that forced you to do the "sins" that you did. It's a place of purification Even the satan will get his share of purification, but it will be rether, ah, "long", before this happens.

And God's onminpresence means that nowhere are you isolated from God. He's the creator of all the universes, known and unkonwn to us, he's present all around us, in all of those universes. He knows our heart and mind. He's forgiving

By the way, this is the way some (not all) aspects of God and heaven or hell or evill is explained in Islam. I find it much more consistent

[monkspider]

Titles like Christian, Communist, Libertarian, they are ultimately meaningless.

There are ultimately only two schools of thought in the world. Those that choose to represent God's true nature of love, cooperation and brotherhood and those that choose to represent the opposite.

I have chosen to adopt the title of Communist simply because it is mankind's best effort so far to manifest God's true nature. It is not perfect, but it is a decent first step and that is something that humanity can be very proud of.

[Aeson]

With perfect knowledge, you ask why anyone would not choose God. While it is certainly in our interest to choose God, and that would be the most rational choose, we don't not always make the best or most rational choice as is plainly visible.

But we don't have perfect knowlege. Hindsight is 20/20, and most of us would do things differently given our knowlege of what occured due to our choices. That is given a better knowlege of the circumstances and consequences. With a perfect knowlege of the circumstances and consequences, wouldn't we all make the choice that is best for us? (ie. one that we would not regret and want to redo, because it would be our 'perfect' course of action and we would know so)

[Sava]

God did not create evil. He gave the created the ability to choose.

so? he still knows what we will choose... and he still knew that Satan would be evil... so he created evil

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Shi Huangdi


It depends. That person may acknowledge God publicly, but we don't know the interiror state of the relationship with God. But to answer your question, yes, if they are much closer, and their wants and desires are most pefectly aligned with God's as we have seen in some of the Saints, that is when we will have the most true happiness on Earth.

Alright....

Athiests, are you miserable?

[Shi Huangdi]

"And God's onminpresence means that nowhere are you isolated from God. He's the creator of all the universes, known and unkonwn to us, he's present all around us, in all of those universes. He knows our heart and mind. He's forgiving "

God also wants to fufill what we want, and some people just don't want anything to do with God. For those who don't want God, he withdraws or conceals his presence from them.

[Aeson]

I'm miserable, but I'm agnostic. I was Christian growing up, and was just as miserable.

[monkspider]

Originally posted by Sava
so? he still knows what we will choose... and he still knew that Satan would be evil... so he created evil

God created us to have the option to choose, some of us choose evil, others do not. Lucifer just happened to choose evil.

[Shi Huangdi]

Also, Ancyrean, I pose to you this, if Hell is temporary, what if I don't want to ever be with God or a slave to him if I hate him so much? Why should I ever have to go into perfect union with Allah? If in the end we all have to choose Allah anyway, that there really isn't a whole lot of free will.

"Athiests, are you miserable?"

I never said that. As I said, Athiests are still in God's world and God can still act on them through their conscience.

[Shi Huangdi]

Monkspider, would you mind relieving me here? It's late here on the east coast and i'd like to get a bried workout in before I go to bed.

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Shi Huangdi
I never said that. As I said, Athiests are still in God's world and God can still act on them through their conscience.

But what of their free will? Why would god influence them when they clearly want nothing to do with them?

This is fun

[monkspider]

Originally posted by Shi Huangdi
Monkspider, would you mind relieving me here? It's late here on the east coast and i'd like to get a bried workout in before I go to bed.

No prob. Good night.

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar


But what of their free will? Why would god influence them when they clearly want nothing to do with them?

This is fun

Free will persists. The Athiest can choose to ignore any external influence and do what they want should they so choose.

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by monkspider


No prob. Good night.

Night Monkspider.