Rodfish. No deep anger here just amazement at what people are willing to believe without any rational structure to support it.
Thanks for the reply, some good points, let me highlight and comment on some of them:
Why did God create man? First of all, for His own glory. Since we're commanded to glorify Him in Scripture, it follows that that is one of the reasons for which we were created
I get that answer a lot and to me it is totally incomprehensible. Beings wishing to be glorified tend to be egotistical, self-indulgent maniac despots. Why would a God create a species to be glorified? What kind of being would create a lesser species to have it marvel at oneself? Not very impressive behavior or motivation in my book. Does that really not bother you or makes you at least wonder why?
It's also probable that He created us for fellowship
Are you implying God has a need? He is lonely? I think that’s a contradiction in terms?
2. Why did God create man with a lack of wisdom? Possibly because it's one of the gifts God likes to give individually. (not as a "blanket" blessing upon all of mankind.) James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." NIV
Sorry but “possibly” is a bit shy of certitude. I think the honest answer is we don’t know. But I think it is one of the central questions to all religious belief. Why would a God create inferior beings with limited knowledge incapable of seeing “the light” so to speak clearly as evidenced by the myriad of religions and interpretations? It just doesn’t make any sense, and certainly not to us which emphasizes the validity of the original question.
Worship, is the admission of the worshipper that God is the creator and owner of everything, and places us at His feet where we belong
You seem very certain about that. Why can you be certain? If you are certain why is your belief correct whereas the belief of Buddhists for example is incorrect?
4. Why does he set rules bearing horrific punishment when he knows man is "sinful" and is bound to break them?
Any parent can give you a good answer to this one. We set rules to protect our children and hopefully to help them grow into responsible adults.
Correct, but we don’t kill or torture our children. And as parents we also know that continued interaction, communication and reinforcement of the message is critical to parental success. That’s how our species works. Appearing and speaking to a few select representatives and then disappearing for 2,000 years is not an effective way of communicating as evidenced by the utter confusion of religious interpretation in the world today.
There is no real idea of how God wants us to live.
Another example of why God is not a very communicator
I would argue that God did Not create man to be sinful. He created man with the freedom to be sinful, and there is a difference. Man had the free will to choose and he chose to sin, knowing the punishment that was to come.
Not sure this is logically correct. Man was created the way he was. God either did or did not know that man would sin. Again if he knew he would why get angry? If he didn’t know he isn’t God.
Adam and Eve supposedly had a choice, I didn’t. I would venture to guess that if a booming voice out of the heavens or a voice out of a burning bush were to talk to me I may most probably listen very carefully and obey since I don’t want to be tortured in hell (free will eh?) or alternatively I may check myself into the next psychiatric clinic for observation (fun pun intended).
6. What does heaven really look like? What do you do there? Stare at God lovingly all day long?
I sense a bit of good natured sarcasm in this question
Yes indeed
Yes, I believe those in heaven will spend some of their time gazing at Christ and God in loving awe and wonder, but I think there will be more. I mean after all, He created the wonders of this earth and the majesty of the universe. The world itself holds incredible wonders for our enjoyment, can you imagine what God has planned for the joy of His family for eternity? No, of course you can't. Actually, the Bible says you can't: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"- NIV 1 Cor 2:9
So we don’t know but we hope for the best, since we believe he is good. Sorry but that’s just really thin. I suppose I can’t take my flutes with me, so Irish Trad is out, bummer (more sarcasm I know).
To crystallize the message:
We don’t know why he created us to be inferior
We don’t know why he has a need.
We don’t know how he wants us to live (your quote)
We don’t know why he is not very good in communicating his message
And we don’t know what he actually offers besides glorifying him.
I submit to you that believing in a deity without the ability to clearly articulate answers to these questions (and there are others of course) is (to me) a blind faith based on wishful thinking, in other words believing without a critical assessment of the facts.
And if God wants to be worshipped by people who just want to glorify him for glorifying's sake while choosing to stay ignorant about his motivation then at least he is consistent as he created us ignorant and wished us to stay ignorant. Again why?
Best..