What gives God the right to be "holy"?

I agree 100% with jaywill on the definition of God's holiness: The Hebrew word "to be holy" is quadash which is derived from the root word "qud" which means "to cur or separate". God's holiness is a very unique and incomprehensible attribute. His holiness permeates His entire being and makes His other attributes unattainable by any human, angel or any other created being. Thus His love is holy, His justice is holy, His mercy is holy, one could say that all the attributes attributed to Him make them His because they are holy. They, as an aggregate of holy attributes, make Him separate from the rest of creation. He is in a league by himself and no one can enter that league by their effort, no matter how earnest, pious, or charitable they may be. Two Biblical examples that speak this out loud are Moses' and Isaiah's encounter with God. When Isaiah sees God in a vision, He is completely distraught on looking at his sinful nature when in the presence of holy God:Is 6: 1In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.2Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.3And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.4And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.5Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.When Moses encounters God in the burning bush, God tells him to remove his sandals because the place he ground he was standing on was holy because of the presence of the Lord in that place.Exodus 3: 1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.2And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.3And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.4And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.5And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.6Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.Now, as to God self-proclaiming Himself to be holy--and we understand that holiness is a sum total of all His attributes--I, don't see how or why that is a problem. You have looked at the Fall in a most twisted perspective. Sin separated man from God. It was just one sin that separated man from God...and a lot of people contend that eating an "apple" surely doesn't warrant eternal punishments like hell etc etc...". And I mean separated in the most literal sense of the word. For we were dead in our trangression...says the Bible. Man died spiritually. The good nature that God had given Adam and Eve was no longer active, it died. Period. Not only was their no communication between man and God, but also the communication could never take place again unless God facilitated a way for it to. And that's exactly what Jesus did on the cross. God did not create hell for rule-breakers. For that matter, I break rules (not on purpose, mind you), does that mean I'll go to hell. No, I believe that Christ payed for my sins and they no more are attributed to me. Who then goes to hell if its not the rule-breaker? Its the God-rejector. THATS who hell was made for. For those who like being separated from God who are content with their fallen state. Rule-breaking is out of the question (when it comes to the Fall). Lets talk in terms of the Bible. In terms of togetherness and separation if we are talking about the God of the Bible. You could correct your last sentence to say "{He}it consigns A&E and all of their {unbelieving} descendents to ETERNAL SUFFERING... And this just because God hsa decided that it is holy {God provided a way of salvation}, and cannot abide rule-breaking {remove word and insert " rebellious separation from Him"}. Now, that would be reasonable and Biblical. You are right on about God making a choice to be holy. He decides what He will be. However, His decision to be holy does not result in the creation of hell for unbelievers. Like I said, God did not make hell for rule-breakers, He did for God-haters. If you want to way to say God-hating is a kind of rule-breaking, sorry, but the bible would disagree.
Edited by Dr. Sing, : words!

A common misconception in the minds of atheists is that God payed Himself the price He had set for sin; that paying yourself a price is as good as not paying anything at all. One can their put their feet in most dreadful slew like this who either have an incomplete, unguided interpretation of the Word of God or a self-glorifying, God-hating worldview. It cost Jesus his life, his blood, tears and sweat, not His weekend, to pay for mankind's sins. Furthermore, and most important of all, God the Father viewed Christ (also God) as a sinner hanging on the cross. When Christ took on mankind's sin on Himself, he showed them to God and said "look God, take these sins that *so and so* committed as mine, and I will suffer for them. Give me the punishment that ALL of them deserve, I'll take it gladly, but please, FORGIVE THEM"Why do you talk about pointlessness and tyranny? Why do you hate a God that is just and loving? I see no other sane explanation that mere God-directed insolence???One might argue that the judgment for sin/hell/suffering/pain can b avoided if God just didn't care so much about Himself and keeping His commandments. I think one of His attributes, Immutability, provides a an answer to this argument. Once God decides on someone, He cannot and will not change his decision. Infact, there is no need for Him to change anything. He does not evolve. Perhaps that's why God can't just say "alright, I know you didn't mean to sin, you guys are innocent, lets just forget it all and be happy forever and I'll take of that devil" (well, God will take care of the devil, that's for sure.) I mean here, that once God's makes a law, He cannot change it. And this not a lack of omnipotence at all. Its His immutability. He cannot somehow attain a evil nature, and an evil nature is surely required to contradict one's own law/overlook sin without punishing it. Edited by Dr. Sing, : No reason given.Edited by Dr. Sing, : explanation in last paragraph

To me, its sure sounds like it. It sounds like a lot of atheists hate the God of the Bible when they speak. Their questions seem to stem from hatred rather than inquisition. I'm not saying you do. No, it is insolence direct towards God. Or maybe ignorant people heading towards the jaws of death hoping to see a world of pleasure, beauty, and fulfillment only to know that they will be disappointed, to say the least? The Bible says that Jesus is God.I don't care about all Christians getting together to decide on what the Bible says more than what the Bible itself tells me. And this is all that should matter to you when you are studying the Bible.The Bible says that Jesus Christ (the second person of the Trinity) took the form of a human being to provide man with an escape from eternal damnation. To answer your question, Jesus was God in man's form.John 1The Word Became Flesh1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood[a] it.6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.[b]10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God 13children born not of natural descent,[c] nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,[d] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,[e][f]who is at the Father's side, has made him known.Also, God is not to be thought of as a name, but as an essence. The essence "God" is characteristic of God the Father, Jesus the son and the Holy Spirit. Perhaps this clears some ambiguity? Edited by Dr. Sing, : typoEdited by Dr. Sing, : No reason given.Edited by Dr. Sing, : No reason given.

Your answer... And now for hooah's personal mega-rant: And here goes Larni... And now its Kitsune's turn... Seriously, what is the intent of this thread? To blaspheme God? Then why wasn't the title "alright, thread for God-haters to gather, pour out their hateful words, demean believers, demean God, enjoy, and have great fun"? Why was I deceived into thinking that this actually was a discussion about the God of the bible?

Ahhh, I seeee. My! How foolish I had been to wear my rose colored glasses to such an important, eye-opening, illuminating and logical discussion! Poor you, what will you do with me?? I pity you, for you had to bear with me. Sigh. All this while when *I* had been blasphmeing you, you stood silent, you dared not raise your voice, you showed me utmost kindness in return for my blasphemy!Your statement is most deuced! Yes, its no longer sufficient to be kind when the thread has dissolved into such a stinking, disgusting garbage disposal spot for all God-haters to throw their tantrums, garbage if you will. Since when did words like "fucktard, arse, theological babble, associations with Hitler and Stalin, Dungeon Monster, a succinct "I hate God", wacky, ass-backward, narcisst, cruel-bastard, begin to be used in logic? The above words are from the 88 posts in this thread/garbage bin. In carrying on a *logical* discussion...how logical to say " I hate your God, this thread was made to demean him, he's a bastard* in response to a "God loves mankind"! How logical indeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To exhibit your views using demeaning words towards the object of the discussion is the sign of weakness, not meekness or greatness. If all you have to offer is attitude, then why pose to be scholars of wisdom and put attractive titles for your threads? You might as well be honest...that will surely bring you more customers/garbage disposers, will it not?I talked about Jesus' deity. It was rejected. The discussion was steered away towards Christians being "incongruent" in their beliefs. I pointed out that Jesus' death was not pointless. It was also, rejected. Not only was it rejected, but the replyer proposed a method of action that he thought was suitable. (as if we all should bow down and thank you for proposing that crappy method) Jano spents loads of time replying to your undeserving posts. Very clearly. No takers at all. Only retorters. Jaywill gave a brilliant explanation about how Adam and Even willingly brought themselves under God's law and that they lawfully deserve punishment. In reply, it was said that God did not have to have law, sin, and punishment if He didn't want to, if He cared about the millions dying and going to hell/suffering on earth. In other words, it was proposed that God become a LIAR! That God not stand by His own nature! That God lose His justice! Become a puppet in your hands. And you call this a logical discussion.If this is my last post in this thread, let me leave by saying, all you that despise the God of the Bible, JUST-IN-CASE, the Bible turns out to be true afterall, you will highly regret your words. Let the future reveal everything there is to know.-Dr. SingEdited by Dr. Sing, : No reason given.Edited by Dr. Sing, : No reason given.Edited by Dr. Sing, : No reason given.