God is Love?

[_MCB]

I opt for multiplicity. One God is better than all other gods. And the Mormon god is not The One.

[_quark]

I opt for multiplicity. One God is better than all other gods.

Do you mind sharing with us your personal reasons for this choice? Thank you.

[_Justlooking24]

In other words, God is just a regular joe, like you and me.

H.

Well, either God is just a regular joe, or those who describe him in scripture were regular joes, ascribing their personal attributes to God.

I think maybe what some ancient peoples considered positive attributes (such as warfare and revenge) are no longer considered so positive, and so we seek to explain away those troublesome attributes within the paradigm of our newer set of positive attributes (such as love and mercy).

This can lead to ridiculous conclusions.

See Justlooking24's comments.

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

P.S. Sorry if I seem all over the map on this issue. It is not settled in my mind. The one thing I am certain of is that God's reported killing of men, women and children en masse at several instances in the Bible cannot rationally be imputed to his fatherly kindness.

Con,
Are you now considering yourself Agnostic?

If not how do you explain why God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah?

Also when did your definition of "love" become "fatherly kindness"?

Does a father who kicks his drug addicted, dangerous son out of the house to protect his family do it out of love? Does this father love the child he kicked out any less than his other children? Did God not love Jesus when he sent him to die on the cross in the place of his other children (us)?

I don't think its "ridiculous" at all to recognize that God has a different view of love due to his nature (allpowerful, allknowing, omnipresent.)

I hope that you are not falling into the Mormon trap of trying to drag God down to man's level. It's eternally deadly. God is set apart from humans to an infinite degree. That's why they call him Holy Holy Holy.

[_quark]

Does a father who kicks his drug addicted, dangerous son out of the house to protect his family do it out of love?

Does a father kick out all of his children because his oldest son is addicted to drugs? That is Sodom and Gomorrah.

Someone once warned me against throwing out the baby with the bathwater...

Also, there is a big difference between kicking a kid out of the house and killing the kid(s), which is what happened at Sodom and Gomorrah.

[_just me]

Does a father who kicks his drug addicted, dangerous son out of the house to protect his family do it out of love?

Does a father kick out all of his children because his oldest son is addicted to drugs? That is Sodom and Gomorrah.

Someone once warned me against throwing out the baby with the bathwater...

Also, there is a big difference between kicking a kid out of the house and killing the kid(s), which is what happened at Sodom and Gomorrah.

A loving father would put the kid in rehab (assuming that was a possibility).

[_MCB]

I opt for multiplicity. One God is better than all other gods.

Do you mind sharing with us your personal reasons for this choice? Thank you.

Worshiping any other god is idolatry. Including the one that avenges rather than disciplining those whom He loves. The individual who sees God as an avenger is pronouncing himself a god, in judging others harshly. This is evidence of the Fall, which Mormons have re-defined, as they have done with most other aspects of conventional Christian theology.

[_quark]

Thank you for sharing your personal feelings about this, MCB.

Worshiping any other god is idolatry.

I realize that within Abrahamic religions, idolatry is strongly forbidden. Thus, anything suspect of bordering on idolatrous would be severely frowned upon. Might I propose that worshiping physical objects is idolatry, which is independent of the number of gods being worshiped? Also, might I propose that worship with the thought of physical imagery in one's mind approaches idolatry, despite it being the single, Abrahamic God?

Including the one that avenges rather than disciplining those whom He loves. The individual who sees God as an avenger is pronouncing himself a god, in judging others harshly.

How, pray, is a person who sees one attribute over another pronouncing herself a god?

Thank you for your time.

[_MCB]

How, pray, is a person who sees one attribute over another pronouncing herself a god?

Thank you for your time.

Those who judge themselves to be superior because of their ancestry, and judge others to be inferior because of THEIR ancestry is definitely a form of idolatry. I refuse to get into the details.

[_mercyngrace]

A loving father would put the kid in rehab (assuming that was a possibility).

According to LDS theology, hell is rehab.

Worked for Alma and Jonah.

D&C 76 says it'll work for every else who ends up there.

[_ludwigm]

The Bible is clear.

Proverbs 13:24
He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

Proverbs 19:18
Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

Proverbs 23:13
Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

Proverbs 29:17
Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

Eternal truths...