Does God owe us an explanation?

In the Biblical book of Job, a guy loses his health and his wealth.
He puts up with all of it but wants to hear from God as to why those things happened.
God shows up and starts asking Job questions like "where were you when I made goats?" and "where is lightning kept?"

Modern-day religious scholars say God doesn't explain but her explodes. God tells Job that to try and explain these things would be like trying to explain physics to a clam.

This is where I personally have a problem.
If God indeed is the creator of all things and he can do anything, then why can't he explain things to his creation in a manner we can understand?

So I believe that at some point God needs to explain things to us because we deserve at least that.

You'll find out all those things when you die, even the question of whether there is a God or not....

The whole 'we don't have the capacity to understand' is nonsense when you consider that we are supposed to be made in 'His' image. That includes self-awareness and a moral principle (something that they keep banging home could only come from an intelligent designer).

So, are we 'special' or not? You (meaning they, not you) can't compare us to clams one minute and point to our intellectual supremacy the next.

BubbleBliss wrote:You'll find out all those things when you die, even the question of whether there is a God or not....

Unless you cease to exist after you die (likely), in which case you find out nothing.

Then it's not really worth wasting time thinking about it, is it?

kronos wrote:

BubbleBliss wrote:You'll find out all those things when you die, even the question of whether there is a God or not....

Unless you cease to exist after you die (likely), in which case you find out nothing.

BubbleBliss wrote:
Then it's not really worth wasting time thinking about it, is it?

It's like I told Matt once;

If I'm wrong and Matt is right that there is no God, then nothing lost. If I'm right and he's wrong, Matt's will need an ice cube jacket where he'd be going.

I've said it time and again, I'm not religious. I believe there's a God and the Son and that's it. I don't quite believe that things are as the Bible states to a tee. Maybe I'm a cross between a fundy and an agnostic?

TexasBlue wrote:If I'm wrong and Matt is right that there is no God, then nothing lost. If I'm right and he's wrong, Matt's will need an ice cube jacket where he'd be going.

Ah yes, Pascal's Wager!

Of course, this assumes that there are only two choices: believing in no god, and believing in your god. But there is a third possibility: there is a god that is completely different from the one you believe in (which, in this scenario, does not exist). And to this god, believing in "a" god is inadequate. You must believe specifically in HIM. Or maybe this god is female, and is really touchy about being called "He." Or maybe this god is some sort of genderqueer and wants to be referred to as "it" or "they" or "xe." Point being, this god gets furious when its creations worship false deities like Zeus, Odin, Quetzalcoatl, Ahura Mazda...and YHWH.

And there's a fourth possibility: the god that exists doesn't punish people for not believing in him. There are actually an infinitude of possibilities--one for each god that could conceivably exist. And then you get into the possibility that there is more than one god, and the infinitude gets bigger.

So, while it's possible that you're wrong and Matt is right, and that Matt is wrong and you're right, there are also infinitely many ways for you both to be wrong. There is also a way you both can be right: if hell exists, but god doesn't.

BubbleBliss wrote:
Then it's not really worth wasting time thinking about it, is it?

Unless you enjoy thinking about such things.

TexasBlue wrote:

kronos wrote:

BubbleBliss wrote:You'll find out all those things when you die, even the question of whether there is a God or not....

Unless you cease to exist after you die (likely), in which case you find out nothing.

BubbleBliss wrote:
Then it's not really worth wasting time thinking about it, is it?

It's like I told Matt once;

If I'm wrong and Matt is right that there is no God, then nothing lost. If I'm right and he's wrong, Matt's will need an ice cube jacket where he'd be going.

I've said it time and again, I'm not religious. I believe there's a God and the Son and that's it. I don't quite believe that things are as the Bible states to a tee. Maybe I'm a cross between a fundy and an agnostic?

Live and let live. I think the Bible is a theological book and that trying to base science on it is utter nonsense. I also don't believe in/or agree with everything in the Bible. I really don't care what religion you are or whether you believe or not, I just don't like it when other people try to push their views on me because I don't do it to them.