God the father

The Problem of Evil is still the Problem of Evil, no matter what you call the deity.Jon

Well, anyone who tortures their own son to death as part of some ritualistic display of 'love' is pretty well certifiable in my book.

I suppose there is little point in trying to have a reasonable discussion about God with someone who thinks he's the 'boo boo' master who uses unspeakable pain as a delivery medium for 'sugar plums'.

That's not what's actually going down. Abraham isn't asking whether it's a bad thing; he is telling God that destroying the fifty righteous with the wicked is not right, and asking whether God is going to do what is right or what is wrong.God replies by agreeing to do what is right.Abraham then says that it is also wrong to destroy even forty-five righteous people with the wicked ones and again asks God if he plans on doing what is right or what is wrong.God replies by agreeing to do what is right.And so forth.Granted, it is not clear that God did not intend to do what is right to begin with. There isn't a lot to tell us that God didn't already have in mind to save the city for the sake of ten or even fewer. But the incident does set a precedent that it is the duty of a good Jew to speak up when they think God is about to do something wrong and to tell God what they think is right. Even when God may already have things well under control. The examples jar has given present a pretty good outline to the changes of God over time. In fact, there are even parallels in the Christian myths of Jesus.In Mark 8:22—26 (our earliest gospel), for example, we see Jesus heal a blind man in two tries using mud made from his spit. It reminds us of the way the God in Gen 2 creates not with mere words but from clay and elbow grease. When we get to the last of the canonical gospels to be written, John, we see a much more distanced Jesus. He turns water into wine without touching anything (Jn 2:1—11), and raises the dead with a shout of his voice (Jn 11:5—44). Indeed, the elevation of Jesus, over time, continues until Jesus is not only equated with God, but is God.The evolution of the God of the Jewish legends happens in similar fashion, beginning with a very human and intimate being and ending (it is actually still going on) with a super deity who brings things into existence by speech alone.Jon

Oh stop. Any all-powerful being has the power to control, at the very least, its own actions. And there is no logic in construing omnipotence as also being control over the actions of others. Absolutely no Christian whatsoever takes it to mean that. And it certainly has no place in the 'God as father' belief.Besides, few Christians even take to the notion of an superbly omnipotent God; the idea seems, ironically, more popular with Atheists.So if you want to babble on about some ridiculous tri-omni super deity, you're probably in the wrong thread. This thread is about the Christian God, in particular the characterizing of him as a father with all the powers and restrictions such a role entails.Jon