Australian Politics Forum - Does Gods character evolve?

Sprintcyclist Moderator Offline OzPolitic Posts: 40735 Gender:	Does Gods character evolve? Apr 26^th, 2010 at 12:29am Does his character evolve? Does he alter? Does he "mature", as do other fathers?
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NorthOfNorth Gold Member Offline OzPolitic Posts: 17258 Gender:	Re: Does Gods character evolve? Reply #1 - Apr 26^th, 2010 at 12:36am Sprintcyclist wrote on Apr 26^th, 2010 at 12:29am: Does his character evolve? Does he alter? Does he "mature", as do other fathers? For god to evolve, would be to say he develops from a lesser being to a greater one... which would be meaningless in the context of an omniscient, omnipotent being.
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Grendel Gold Member Offline OzPolitic Posts: 28080 Gender:	Re: Does Gods character evolve? Reply #2 - Apr 26^th, 2010 at 3:34pm "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."
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mozzaok Gold Member Offline OzPolitic Posts: 6741 Melbourne Gender:	Re: Does Gods character evolve? Reply #3 - Apr 26^th, 2010 at 4:10pm That's funny, so am I.
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Grendel Gold Member Offline OzPolitic Posts: 28080 Gender:	Re: Does Gods character evolve? Reply #4 - Apr 26^th, 2010 at 4:28pm What's funny? So are you what? If you want to be a wag at least be a comprehensible one.
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Sprintcyclist

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Re: Does Gods character evolve?
Reply #5 - Apr 26^th, 2010 at 7:29pm

yes, still throughout the OT and running into the NT Gods character seems to ... soften.

in some parts of the OT he seems pretty hardnosed.
In much of the NT, Gods really plays hardball.
Which is quite his call
At times (sodom and gemorah) it seems he is amenable to moses please to change his mind.
then later on, God gets what he wanted initially anyway.

later on in the bible, I think with david, it seems God really does reconsider a decision.
I'm sure there is one other area God genuinely changes his mind on a matter.

then in the NT, Jesus is really a different kettle of fish.
Hanging around with hookers, forgive others their sins ...........

that ain't the God of the OT.

Where's the continuity ?

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Grendel

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Re: Does Gods character evolve?
Reply #6 - Apr 26^th, 2010 at 8:03pm

Ahhh why do you suppose there is an Old Testament and a New Testament?
Are they not God's covenants with man?

So perhaps there was one set of rules and we "evolved" and then a second set of rules.

For example you can't reason with a 2 year old but when they are older and wiser you can and your expectations of them and their understanding is broader.

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« Last Edit: Apr 26^th, 2010 at 8:25pm by Grendel »

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Sprintcyclist Moderator Offline OzPolitic Posts: 40735 Gender:	Re: Does Gods character evolve? Reply #7 - Apr 26^th, 2010 at 10:35pm the OT is just for jews. the NT is for everyone. people have not changed since "adam was a boy." hehehehhe
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Grendel Gold Member Offline OzPolitic Posts: 28080 Gender:	Re: Does Gods character evolve? Reply #8 - Apr 26^th, 2010 at 11:20pm oh dear and the NT... who did Jesus preach that too? Oh right Jews. Nope you have it a bit wrong there sprint. People and their understanding of nature and human nature has changed a lot since "Adam was a boy"
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Sprintcyclist Moderator Offline OzPolitic Posts: 40735 Gender:	Re: Does Gods character evolve? Reply #9 - Apr 27^th, 2010 at 9:04am he preached to people like the Samaritan woman at the well she had had 5 husbands and now was living in sin. people still experience hunger, pain, jealously, anger, greed, shame, they still lie, kill and decieve. anyway, so you think God has not .... mellowed ?
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NorthOfNorth

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Re: Does Gods character evolve?
Reply #10 - Apr 27^th, 2010 at 9:19am

Sprintcyclist wrote on Apr 27^th, 2010 at 9:04am:

he preached to people like the Samaritan woman at the well
she had had 5 husbands and now was living in sin.

people still experience hunger, pain, jealously, anger, greed, shame, they still lie, kill and decieve.

anyway, so you think God has not .... mellowed ?

Sprint, I know you accept that biblical scripture is man-made. Human relationship to the divine, determined by humans, morphs over time and across cultures.

In Abrahamic theology, god is immutable and transcendent.

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Sprintcyclist

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Re: Does Gods character evolve?
Reply #11 - Apr 27^th, 2010 at 3:51pm

in the OT, people did not do what God wanted them to.

almost without exception, everyone walked away from God.
I believe there were 2, maybe 3 people who did exactly what God wanted of them for all their lives in the whole of the OT.

our relationship with The Divine has always been ....... flawed.
from ever since adam was a boy

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NorthOfNorth

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Re: Does Gods character evolve?
Reply #12 - Apr 27^th, 2010 at 4:48pm

Sprintcyclist wrote on Apr 27^th, 2010 at 3:51pm:

our relationship with The Divine has always been ....... flawed.
from ever since adam was a boy

Would you expect any other? Human existence is contingent, human nature imperfect. We are, in Buddhist terminology, bound in samsara - the wheel of suffering and some seek refuge through an ideation of the absolute, the immutable and unconditional - the divine.

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mozzaok

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Re: Does Gods character evolve?
Reply #13 - Apr 27^th, 2010 at 5:08pm

I really think that the whole question could be better phrased as;
Does our concept of god evolve?

Now that is a far more interesting question, and certainly one that allows for a decent argument on the positive side.

Many very intelligent, caring people, who live by strong humanist principles, and who display great empathy for their fellow man also develop a concept of god, be it christian, or muslim, or hindu, or whatever, that they can assimilate into their core principles, albeit with a need to rationalise away many of the more extreme dogmas that the organised branches of religion espouse in a rigid, literal way.

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Amadd Gold Member Offline Mo Posts: 6217	Re: Does Gods character evolve? Reply #14 - Apr 29^th, 2010 at 10:56am The concept of God doesn't evolve because "God"" is a given. In any religion, God is a gven. Religions are stangnant without the pressure of movement, they don't evolve. They are a story like "Dick and Dora, they don't evolve voluntarily. Preaching to the converted I know..carry on.
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