One reason that I don't believe that 'my God' is insecure is because we have the ability to choose what to do with our lives. If God were to force us to worship and glorify him, then I might agree with you but the fact is we have free will. No matter what happens, we can always choose what to do when it comes to our relationship with God. I believe He designed us that way because it is then that much sweeter to Him when one of us turns to worship Him.
Sam
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Sam,According to your beliefs, what happens to those who do not glorify him? If it is some form of damnation? Then it is not much of a choice: worship or BURN. This sort of ultimatum, if issued by a human, would be profoundly vainglorious, but from a deity it is somehow excusable by believers.
Regards,
John
----My friend, it is still a choice.
Yes, anything that Almighty God does is 'excusable' by me.Although I'm sure that it wouldn't go down like this, let me pose a (rather tounge-in cheek) hypothetical situation that I suggest taking with a grain of salt:
Suppose God completely reveals Himself to you. He's bigger than the universe, infinitely talented, and has great hair. You guys fly around time and he shows you how he oh-so-cleverly designed everything, including you. One day over a bunless burger and a can of C2 he says: "Worship me or burn in hell." Would you say "How dare you, God! That's the most vainglorious thing I've ever heard! How dare you ask me that?" Or would you be amazed enough to bow down and humbly glorify him?
----Sam,
Fun hypothetical there. The dilemma of good and god goes back to Socrates, at least: Is something good merely because God decrees it so, or is good prior to God? It seems to that you have a case you are willing to bite the bullet and say God’s might makes right.
Sure, I would bow to the malevolent God you propose, just as others have had to struggle under the oppression of despots. Call me stubborn, but a talented, powerful asshole is still an asshole and engenders no true worship or love from me. And, if a chance came to overthrow such an immoral being, I would readily seize the chance. Morality does not rest in mere authority.
Luckily I do not believe in such a tyrant. As a corollary, bowing to an imaginary tyrant is tragically absurd to me.
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Is something good merely because God decrees it so?Yes.
Or is good prior to God?
The God I know stretches back in time ad infinitum and into the future ad infinitum, so i'm afraid there isn't anything 'prior' to God.
The very act of saying "worship me or burn" makes him not worthy of worship. Do you not see that?
No, I don't see it that way. But hey, like I said earlier there is a choice to be made here. You're entitled to see it that way if you want to. I suppose that in my silly hypothetical situation you'd rather take the hot road rather than sharing a vanilla coke with the Lord?
Why do I bother?
Posted by John at February 21, 2005 09:37 PM