And I am in no way an authority on the subject. I'm simply someone trying to make sense of it all and learn just as we all are doing. So let me see if I can even begin to draft a worthwhile argument to your above post...

(Bear in mind that I have already struggled with these questions and I have yet to put them behind me. So I'm about to debate against that which I haven't been able to understand or at least come up with an acceptable and comfortable answer.) Let's see where this goes...

>>Well, bear in mind that the omnipotent Lord created the fake friends to begin with. He could just as easily have created a universe in which all His creations were worthy of his favor. If God is the original source of all things, he is the original source of evil, as well as good.>How important is faith to you in your view? Do you think only members of a certain faith are allowed into paradise?>No-one is perfect. Everyone has traces of evil in them. Thus, if any human enters heaven as he is, heaven becomes less than perfect. It's just a matter of degree.>The test is rigged. If God is truly omnipotent and omniscient (i.e. knows the future), he knows from the beginning who will and who will not pass the test. He creates human beings with certain traits and flaws, knowing the choices they will make as a result of those traits. By what right does he hand out rewards and punishments to those who are nothing more than what they were created to be? A set, knowable future and free-will are mutually exclusive.

• yeah - whomi - May 25, 2003 - 02:20 UTC
  • Your humor is as welcome as always - stormcrow - May 25, 2003 - 02:30 UTC
    • how about reposting that list of Bible verses? - whomi - May 25, 2003 - 05:37 UTC
• Very tough - stormcrow - May 25, 2003 - 02:44 UTC
  • I'm gonna take the easy way out... - smartguy - May 25, 2003 - 22:14 UTC