Return to David's theory of evolution, purpose & theodicy (Evolution)

by David Turell , Wednesday, September 25, 2024, 19:37 (22 days ago) @ dhw

Schools of theology

DAVID: No schools think as I do.

dhw: From following several schools of theological thought in March. you have now rejected them all! Next you accuse me of ignoring schools of theological thought although I have already named two which you have dismissed, as if not being mainstream disqualified them.But no schools think as you do, so why don't you dismiss your thoughts as not being mainstream? You have acknowledged that your approach to God is schizophrenic, but you also claim that you never contradict yourself. I respect your faith, and I acknowledge the powerful argument you make for design, but your way of thinking about your God has led you to endless contradictions. Maybe it's time for a rethink?

Having been given guidelines as to how to think about God. I follow them and what I have presented is the result. I'm not preaching it for any group but myself. I see no contradictions in the sort of God I present as purposeful, selfless, and all-everything as in the way Western religions describe Him.

Humanization

DAVID: My non-human God can be compared to my dog in the sense that non-human individuals can logically have human-like attributes without in any way be human.

dhw: If they have human-like attributes, they are like humans in those particular ways, but that does not mean your dog or your God is human. For instance, your beliefs that your God is benevolent, or might enjoy creating, or might want to be recognized and worshipped, are all human-like attributes but they do not “humanize” him, any more than your dog’s love for you and desire to be loved by you make him a human being.

We agree here.

99.9% v 0.1%

DAVID: Of course, we are part of the surviving 0.1% which descended from the 99.9% now extinct.

dhw:Please explain why you were insane when you agreed that we are only descended from the 0.1% of survivors? Please explain why, as part of what you call the statistics of “all species lumped together”, we should ignore your own theory that 100% of pre-Cambrian species were not our ancestors, and 99.43% (or possibly 100%) of dinosaurs were not our ancestors.

You are so confused about Raup. The 99.9% extinct and the 0.1% now living are all of evolution lumped together in one overall statistical description of all of evolution. Of course, pre-Cambrian forms are part of our ancestors, not your nutty interpretation of my presentations. Forget dinosaurs!!! I'm not slicing up evolution as you do. Raup's estimate is an overall look.

Theodicy

dhw: Your omniscient God gave us free will, knowing that we would use it to commit evil. How does that make him all-good? If he needed help in correcting problems he was forced to create, how does that make him all-powerful? You have blamed him for creating natural disasters and murderous bugs. Please tell us why you blame him. What authority do you have for claiming that your God did not deliberately create good and evil in order to avoid the boredom of a Garden of Eden? (April this year: “DAVID: That God did not want a boring Garden of Eden for us, is a reasonable guess.”) How did you gain such access to your God’s way of thinking, bearing in mind that no schools of theology think as you do? And why do you keep asking me what experts/schools of theology support my alternatives when you boast that your theories are entirely your own?!

dhw: Almost all of these questions remain unanswered.

We go round and round as you ae unwilling to accept my reasoning about theodicy issues. No point in continuing to constantly be giving you the same answers I've presented previously. We must accept the style of life we have. There is none other than God could provide.

DAVID: I look at God as presenting a challenging form of life. We have the God-given brains for it.

dhw: Now you’ve gone back to the challenge or test theory, which suggests the deliberate creation of evil to see if we could conquer it with our brains. And somehow that is meant to confirm that your God is all-powerful and all-good.

Only an all-powerful could create life. Anything evil is a side effect.