Is God Evil?

Hi PurpledawnThis topic is about whether or not God is evil. It is not about what God is ABLE to do, it is about what he SHOULD do.Do you really think that whatever God does (or has done), it makes no difference, it must always be good? Is there one moral code for God and a different one for the rest of us?Edited by Jumped Up Chimpanzee, : No reason given.

To me, you seem to be very confused about the difference between laws, power and morality.What is right by the law, is not necessarily the same as what is morally right.Similarly, what any being (supreme or otherwise) chooses to do because they are powerful enough to do it, is not necessarily the right thing to do.In a particular context, a powerful being might have the freedom to choose between killing someone or not killing someone. Would it be morally the right decision whichever option they took?I would say, no. Whether the decision was morally good or evil would not depend on how powerful the being was that made the decision.

I don't know what you mean by talking about God abiding by today's standards or past standards.Are they God's standards or human standards?Who is deciding the moral standards of the day - God or humans?Surely an eternal being should have eternal standards. Or at least they ought to have been developed beyond those of bronze age humans long before God was smart enough to create the universe.You ask "What purpose does it serve to judge God's past actions by today's standards". Well, my purpose is to show what a lot of nonsense the Bible is as a moral code and how unlikely it is that anything like the God of the Bible ever existed.And I would ask, bearing in mind that "purpose" of life is a major facet to the Christian doctrine, what purpose does it serve for God to demand certain moral behaviour, and wipe out civilisations that fail to abide by that standard, and then change the standard over time? What IS God's purpose? And why should we pay any attention to him?

Hi WotakYes, God is evil - although almost certainly a fictional character. For reasons stated in my messages to Purpledawn, it is inconceivable that a being so advanced it could create the universe, would be so feebleminded when it came to understanding morals. That's why I think you raised a very good topic.

You appeared to be arguing that God wasn't evil because he was following the moral standards of the day.It is quite obvious from the Bible and from CONTEMPORARY Christian preaching that God is meant to be the provider of good morals for humans to follow, not the other way around.I believe it is equally obvious that this topic was meant to question how God could be held up as an example of a good moral being, when the Bible claims he has instigated so many mass killings, for example.If human beings can develop a moral standard infinitely quicker than God (i.e. compare how far we've come in 2000 years, or even 100 years, compared to how far God had come during eternity), we, my friend, are the supreme beings.

"So what is wrong with God evolving to what he has become today?"I'm not clear as to whether you believe God is real and that he has evolved of his own accord, or that you accept God is a fictional character that has been changed by humans.Either way, what I would say is wrong is to hold God up as a supreme being. If he is real and he can't decide from one millenium to the next whether he should wipe out whole civilisations or be all lovey-dovey and forgiving, then he is not worthy of worship. If he is fictional and his character has been changed by humans to reflect the morals of contemporary society, at best he is nothing more than a useful tool; but I would say a grossly misused tool.