Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!ittvax!bunker!bunkerb!garys From: garys@bunkerb.UUCP (Gary Samuelson) Newsgroups: net.religion Subject: What should God be like? Message-ID: <291@bunkerb.UUCP> Date: Sat, 11-Feb-84 14:30:53 EST Article-I.D.: bunkerb.291 Posted: Sat Feb 11 14:30:53 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 12-Feb-84 21:54:11 EST Lines: 30 Many have said that the God described in the Bible, and especially the Pentateuch, is not worthy of worship, because he is despicably evil. Now, if you have decided, as some have, that you would not worship any God, no matter what, then this question is not directed to you. But, if you believe that, although the God of the Bible is not worthy of worship, some other God might be, tell me: What would a God worthy of worship be like? Apparently, to please everybody, God would have to act within the following constraints: 1. God should in no way restrict the human right to make free choices, or, through threats or bribes, attempt to impose his will on others; BUT God should not allow war, murder, rape, theft, or tailgating. 2. God should have made the world a much nicer, safer place in which to live. Earthquakes, violent storms, sickness, and hangnails simply have no place in a perfect world; BUT God must provide challenges to be overcome and problems to be solved, or humans will become too bored. 3. God must regularly provide miracles to prove his existence to skeptics; BUT God must not interfere with the orderly course of events, since that would make scientific knowledge impossible. (Regular miracles would also make it impossible to distinguish between the miraculous and the normal.) So I put it to you: What should God be like? Gary Samuelson