Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: tblake@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu (Thomas Blake) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: man mere play things? Message-ID: Date: 25 Apr 91 01:18:04 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: State University of New York at Binghamton Lines: 53 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article lindborg@mirror.cs.washington.edu (Jeff Lindborg) writes: >I believe the Bible to be written by men (males of the human race) in much >the same way every other religious text created throughout the history of the >world are also products of human minds to serve human needs. (The author the "The Book of J" may disagree with you on this one. He suggests that "J" [one of the theoretical Old Testament authors] may have been a women. [Female of the human race].) > Again, then, what was God's motivation for creating a being capable of the > 'unrighteousness' that humans are. He had to have known before hand that > mankind would "fall" into sin etc... what's the point. Well, let's see, we're created in God's image right? (Personally I don't believe we could be created in God's physical image. Assuming that God existed before the cosmos, if he had lungs he would have quickly died.) Therefore we must be like God spiritually (as suggested by Genesis). In order to create humans which were incapable of sin, God would needed to have created us with no free will. (No freedom to choose between good and evil.) Humans would need to be automatons. We would therefore be very poor images of God. (I seem to be suggesting that the serpant aided in the completion of the full creation of mankind [at least in the second creation story] interesting...). Think of the parent who must eventually allow their children "to make their own mistakes", even if those mistakes mean that the children will disobey their parents, and their parents will punish them. (I can't help it, I love the image of "God the Father"). The parent knows that unless they give their children the freedom to make their own mistakes, they will never learn, and they will never mature. Freedom to make mistakes does not mean freedom from consequences. We as children of God are responsible for the consequences of our actions, just as when we were children we were responsible to our parents for the consequences of our actions. You imply that a "loving" God would not punish his children. I assume your parents punished you as a child. Would you say that they didn't love you? Tom Blake SUNY-Binghamton >"... if there's any justice in the sky, if there's a reason to live or die, >expose yourself, destroy our fears, loose you mask!" > Queen "Oh yes, we'll keep on tryin' We'll tread that fine line Oh oh we'll keep on tryin' Till the end of time." Queen