The Anti-theist Thread

[Andúril]

The fact is Anduril, that there are contradictions in the Bible that can't be explained. No one is denying that.

Would you be so kind as to give a few examples of these?

Actually, some, if not most fundementalists deny the existence of biblical contradictions. It is really entertaining to see some of the reconciliations that they provide, that in their eyes make the problematic passages sensible or coherent.

Maybe I am a simpleton, but I need not know the indentity of what temps me - that is uneccessary hair-splitting.

Your needs aren't the issue here, contradictory text is.

God uses sin to strengthen us and teach us of our own sinful ways - and how great the glory of redemption is through him (as Twilight so eloquently said).

Not interested. This has nothing to do with the identity of the provoker.

The explanation is that God (whom is omnipotent, and at times wrathful) allows Satan to temp us and use painful experiences to grow and to learn.

Apart from being pointless regarding the question at hand, this opens up a new can of worms. God is at times wrathful? What does the prefix omni represent? All. God is claimed to be 1) Omnibenevolent (can/does not perform evil acts and does only good, therefore no possibility of wrath) and 2) Outside of time (by some) - so the statement "...at times wrathfull" is meaningless.

Why wouldn't an omnipotent creator also be wrathful or want to us to prove our mettle? In the end, it is how we handle such tests (not who they come from) that is important.

Really? Is it really important how we would act in actuality, as opposed to our actions in thought? What I mean is, if God is omniscient, hence knows the future, he would know exactly how we would act, before creating us. Actuality therefore becomes a rather pointless exercise, don't you think?

But taking such suffering at face value misses the point that it can all be resolved in a manner more beautiful than you can imagine. This is where the faith part of the equation enters (and that is where we may forever be divided): that an omnipotent creator has a plan, and even though said suffering is horrible and greiving, it is part of a plan that is greater than we as humans can imagine. Nature's complexity has already proved baffling to us, why then do you strive against understaning the mind of a holy, imnipotent being? The simple fact is we can't - nor can we ever hope to.

In short, you are saying that you have absolutely no idea of what God is thinking. You don't really know what you believe in, do you? You have answered a mystery (why pointless sufferering/natural disasters? etc) with another mystery, even more mysterious/unknowable than the first one.

Through science we can, in whatever small way, continue to learnn the hows of the small rock we live on, but it will never tell us the whys

Assumption that there is an actual answer to Why?.

And that I will continue to doubt until you see my sources (who are from times both ancient, and modern), and can unequevicoally disprove them.

If you plan on positing evidence about historical events such as tribal relocations and other non-mythical and non-supernatural events, don't bother. As I said before:

...the Bible (which probably has some truthfulness, regarding certain historical events...)

it is possible that many events as described in the bible, actually happened. Non-theists have no problem with that. It's the supernatural make-believe fantastical faith-requiring myth that makes point and laugh.