Is God Perfect?

[ThisYouWillDo]

Which of the mainstream Christian faiths continue to hold the Bible as free from fault? A quick skim over Wikipedia indicates that the main faiths hold the Bible to have been inspired by God, and this is represented in both tradition and in scripture. I believe that this means that conflicts are recognised and that the Pope, Council of Bishops, Holy Synod or some other authoritive body will then determine what the correct interpreation is.

It is clearly recognised that the Bible, to be "properly" understood must be "properly" interpreted, and, where there is doubt, the Church must give its definitive guidance.

Other faiths - more fundamentalist in nature, it seems, believe the Bible to be without error ... mostly, the King James Bible, or its equivalent in other languages.

But having said that, it is no help with my original question. Although Tom's "solution to thodicy" might be. There is no good, and no evil. Indeed, before Adam and Eve ate the Forbidden Fruit, they had no concept of such things. But then the "subtil" serpent said to Eve, "For God doth know that in the day ye eat [the forbidden fruit], then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:5) And so it transpired, they ate, and knew good and evil (ie, they became aware of their nakedness, and were ashamed).

As a result, God banished Man from the Garden of Eden, and posted Cherubims to guard the way to the Tree of Life:

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden ...
Gen 3:22-23

I conclude God was jealous of his divinity and wished to prevent mankind becoming immortal and omniscient.

TYWD

[TomOfSweden]

Which of the mainstream Christian faiths continue to hold the Bible as free from fault?

Exactly. Here's more on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_inerrancy

I'd call your attitude very modern.

BTW Christian fundamentalism by definition means they believe in Biblical inerrancy and is a philosophical and logical dead end.

I conclude God was jealous of his divinity and wished to prevent mankind becoming immortal and omniscient.

Anthropomorphism per chance? Aren't you now starting to read in human qualities in God. Why would an omnipotent entity be jealous? Isn't jealousy expression of man's competitive nature? Why would anything omnipotent compete with anybody ever about anything? It'd win every time.

Let's assume God exists. Maybe it's more like this. God speaks the "Truth" to people. But what they hear/understand/interpret is an adapted version to the culture they live in. This is including the authors of the Bible and any other holy text. As human culture evolves and the more we hear the same divine messages we will eventually get it. And now human spiritual evolution is somewhere in the middle. How about that theory? It holds together logically, doesn't it? It doesn't offend anybodies religious sensitivities either, does it?

I personally don't think this is very satisfactory since it doesn't answer the question why God would do it. But then again, neither does inerrant Christianity either. And none of us could even begin to reason about what an omnipotent being would or wouldn't do, so anything could be true.

[ThisYouWillDo]

[QUOTE=TomOfSweden;562764]

Aren't you now starting to read in human qualities in God.

QUOTE]

Very probably I am. But I used the term "jealous" to mean "protective": God wanted to protect his divinity from becoming commonplace by preventing Adam from eating from the Tree of Life. I was not suggesting competition between God and Adam.

I am begining to think of God as a rather insecure divinity who needed to be oppressive to demonstrate his power.

[TomOfSweden]

[QUOTE=ThisYouWillDo;562765]

Aren't you now starting to read in human qualities in God.

QUOTE]

Very probably I am. But I used the term "jealous" to mean "protective": God wanted to protect his divinity from becoming commonplace by preventing Adam from eating from the Tree of Life. I was not suggesting competition between God and Adam.

I am begining to think of God as a rather insecure divinity who needed to be oppressive to demonstrate his power.

Couldn't that simply be down to human interpretation? If we interpret Gods activities and messages as humans we're bound to insert all kinds of unwarranted judgements on why God did what and his motivations. If God lies beyond our scope of good and evil it is very hard for us to make any judgements as to what Gods character is.

[Thorne]

[QUOTE=TomOfSweden;562770]

If God lies beyond our scope of good and evil it is very hard for us to make any judgements as to what Gods character is.

Our concept of good and evil comes from God, does it not? At least in the Western world, those areas once dominated by the Catholic Church, our laws and morals are derived from the Bible. And the Bible is God's word, is it not? So we must conclude that God's character is similar to our own.

Of course, it could be that God is more like American lawmakers, passing down his commandments as they pass down laws, but absolving himself from adhering to those commandments, as our lawmakers will absolve themselves.

More likely, though, is that God evolves over time just as humanity does. As humanity became more "civilized" so did God, or our perception of God. As the Church fragmented and developed into multiple religions, so did God. Now each religion has their own concept of what God is and what he wants us to do. The only thing they are even remotely united in is their fear and hatred of nonbelievers.

[ThisYouWillDo]

[QUOTE=TomOfSweden;562770]

If God lies beyond our scope of good and evil it is very hard for us to make any judgements as to what Gods character is.

But I don't believe he does lie beyond our scope of good and evil: and the passage I quoted form Genesis supports this view because it says that, after they ate the Forbidden Fruit, they knew good and evil.