Purpose and design (Evolution)

by David Turell , Saturday, April 29, 2017, 00:58 (2764 days ago) @ dhw

dhw:I do not “know” anything. If you think that instead of hiding himself he guides you and may respond to your prayers, you must think him “human” enough to understand your needs and care about you as an individual. No problem if that’s what you believe. But it makes a mockery of your dismissal of any alternative view of your God because we can’t “know” (which is why we both speculate) or because it is a “humanization” that differs from your own humanization.

His consciousness and mine can obviously communicate, although from our viewpoint it is unidirectional. I'll stick to a definition of Him as 'a person like no other person we can know'.

dhw: Thank you for agreeing that relief of boredom and loneliness is a possible purpose underlying the creation of life on Earth.
DAVID: Where did I agree? I admit it is a possibility, but I don't agree with it.

dhw: Please read what I wrote. Agreeing that something is “a possible purpose”, means agreeing that it is a possibility.

Yes, most anything is conceivably possible, but I strongly feel God is more purposeful than emotional. I find boredom and loneliness as highly unreasonable.

TONY: Only this... IF it was only to cure his own boredom, why would he put up with the crap from us after allegedly coming so darn close to wiping us off the face of the earth. Why go through all the headache and heartache of it all when he could have just wiped us out if the only reason we mattered was to alleviate his boredom.

dhw: Because the crap, just like the sweet scent of love, empathy, charity, could all be part of the show. The very fact that he does NOT wipe us out suggests that he is not fed up with it. I offer this merely as one hypothesis. But if you think he’s sick of all the crap, perhaps he’s simply turned his attention elsewhere. I’m only looking for logical explanations of life’s history from a theistic perspective. Your Bible will no doubt offer other alternatives.

Note that the Bible tells us He is very forgiving if you are contrite enough. The meaning of Yom Kippur!