More reading here. I won't beat you to death with it. It's not really my thing.
http://www.reformed.org/calvinism/
And a bit of contrast:
http://evangelicalfocus.com/magazine/1085/10_differences_between_martin_luther_and_john_calvin
Rebuttal. David Hume's Problem of Evil
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/evil.html
Key Points:
- A good God would destroy evil.
- An all powerful God could destroy evil.
- Evil is not destroyed.
- Therefore, there cannot possibly be such a good and powerful God.
Calvinism sees no problem. God knows everything. Past present and future. God created everything, including evil, for a reason. We puny humans with our puny minds will never grasp it, according to this school of thought. It's our job to be as devout as possible bc it's like Johnny Cash said in the song I posted. It's all said to be pre-ordained.
Theodicy.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/evil/
7.1 A Soul-Making Theodicy
One very important type of theodicy, championed especially by John Hick, involves the idea that the evils that the world contains can be seen to be justified if one views the world as designed by God to be an environment in which people, through their free choices, can undergo spiritual growth that will ultimately fit them for communion with God:
The value-judgement that is implicitly being invoked here is that one who has attained to goodness by meeting and eventually mastering temptation, and thus by rightly making responsibly choices in concrete situations, is good in a richer and more valuable sense than would be one created ab initio in a state either of innocence or of virtue. In the former case, which is that of the actual moral achievements of mankind, the individual’s goodness has within it the strength of temptations overcome, a stability based upon an accumulation of right choices, and a positive and responsible character that comes from the investment of costly personal effort. (1977, 255–6)
Hick’s basic suggestion, then, is that soul-making is a great good, that God would therefore be justified in designing a world with that purpose in mind, that our world is very well designed in that regard, and thus that, if one views evil as a problem, it is because one mistakenly thinks that the world ought, instead, to be a hedonistic paradise.
I believe ^ that was V's point. That is the role of the sociopath to the good little Xtians in the world, according to his family's religious tradition.
V is having a chuckle over it, no doubt. :)
Anyhoodle... pretend it's Judgement Day.
Where do you sociopaths see yourselves in terms of convincing this (obviously hypothetical :P) god to let you into his heaven instead of getting tossed on to the pile with the other 'bad' people?
Wth kind of god would let you be born semi-soulless just to beef up some chosen elites at your expense, and then toss you into a lake of fire when it's all finished?
Thoughts?
Sugar stated: source post
completely destroyed any interesting angle of this thread
Yup. Your need to be the center of attention does that every time I post anything on any thread here.
Boohoo. Poor Sugar.
Xena stated: source post
Meh.
You people are so literal.
This could have been a fun thread.
Throw it on the pile with jim's "r8 the trap's butthair" spam, I guess.
You boring fucks :P
Primal stated: source post
Wellll...shiiiiiiiiiiitttttttt gurlie....if that's the case....ADD to it, instead of just BIATCHING about it...lol..
Xena stated: source post
Sure P.
As if you'll read it if I do. ~
But if it means that much to you, here you go.
Hint: I jumped in twice to save this thread.
Primal stated: source post
Seriously....I doubt God gives a shit....lol...why would s/he/ it?
Seriously? Well.. if we could understand the inner workings, desires, and nuances of G-d with our three pound water sacks floating between our ears... well... wouldn't be much of a god then would it?