tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648480292622180743.post6990712949882109697..comments2023-06-25T01:20:35.889-07:00Comments on Very Rarely Stable: The Magician’s NephewDaniel Copelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05944461326199566111noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648480292622180743.post-79414669148148367062015-04-29T17:02:29.498-07:002015-04-29T17:02:29.498-07:00Personally, I call Him God because I don't bel...Personally, I call Him God because I don't believe in others, and I'm not aware which others I should believe (I know others exist ofc but very superficially). Maybe there could be others, I think part of the insistence in believing in one "god" only is wanting to figure out if we want to believe in Him or not and then be done with it, ie convenience. Believing in many gods doesn't strike me as less suspicious though, because we can argue it's arrogance to think we not only know gods exist, as we also can neatly compartmentalize them and what they're about.<br /><br />That was what I was told at catholic school too, but I like the other interpretation better, since I agree with you it's simply no good to try and conciliate a good all powerful Creator with the existence of evil.<br /><br />I'm totally on board with you on Narnia, granted, in this case I think Lewis was in a catch 22, it feels nonsensical to either have Aslan randomly spare Jadis or to have her randomly appear in this otherwise all good world just in time to have the hundred year rule and be defeated by the kids, I don't see a solution for how to justify Jadis sensibly.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07906890777837063836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648480292622180743.post-1668694578585600402015-04-29T00:06:01.650-07:002015-04-29T00:06:01.650-07:00Many people do believe that God is all-powerful. ...Many people do believe that God is all-powerful. I used to. I now think I was wrong to think an all-powerful God exists. If there is a reality outside and previous to God, why are we calling him "God"? Isn't he then just "a god"? (And could there be others?)<br />Those who believe God is all-powerful, and also believe in the Bible, a subset which includes my childhood church, say that Genesis 1:1 gives the context for Genesis 1:2 -- that is to say, the formless, void earth was the earth that God had just created, before he got to work on light and separating the waters and living things and all that stuff.<br />And -- this is more to the point that I was making -- even if God started with raw materials and constraints, we would still expect him to do better than humans do given raw materials and constraints. We would expect him to get rid of the threat Jadis poses once and for all when she's right there in front of him. We would expect him, while building a universe, to correct little flaws like "this one word when uttered aloud will destroy all life". These are things a human builder, engineer, or gardener would not neglect to do.Daniel Copelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05944461326199566111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648480292622180743.post-73107634537775090472015-04-28T06:18:40.323-07:002015-04-28T06:18:40.323-07:00But if you both demand "God" to be all p...But if you both demand "God" to be all powerful and then point how that's an impossibility, aren't you defining God so that He can't exist? It feels disingenuous to do that and then criticize people's beliefs.<br /><br />In the Bible it says that "The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters." which I always took as implying that there is a reality outside of and previous to God and the Creation, which means God isn't all powerful.<br /><br />Using the program analogy for the creation you did in your previous post, even if I create a program from scratch, I'm not all powerful, because though I can do what I want, I'm limited by the rules of programming, logic, the software I'm using, and the capacity of the computer. Why wouldn't it be the same with the Creator?<br /><br />I hope I'm not annoying you by this point or comming across as defensive, I reall appreciate this discussion.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07906890777837063836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648480292622180743.post-85582147849175858782015-04-27T22:07:43.178-07:002015-04-27T22:07:43.178-07:00I don't see how a Creator of a Universe can no...I don't see how a Creator of a Universe can <em>not</em> be all-powerful within that universe. Granted, they could voluntarily cede certain powers over the universe, but if they did so with perfect knowledge of the consequences and perfect freedom to choose otherwise, then that's the same as being able to act in the moment and choosing not to.Daniel Copelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05944461326199566111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648480292622180743.post-51827343760436307872015-04-25T05:24:51.299-07:002015-04-25T05:24:51.299-07:00Does the word "God" imply all powerfulln...Does the word "God" imply all powerfullness? I know plenty of people who believe in God, and that He isn't all powerful (myself included). I agree about Aslan, his power is consistently emphasized.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07906890777837063836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648480292622180743.post-59907249526122704982015-04-24T23:54:40.051-07:002015-04-24T23:54:40.051-07:00In which case I would also be reconsidering the ap...In which case I would also be reconsidering the appropriateness of the word "God"; and I don't think we're expected to conclude that Aslan isn't all-powerful.Daniel Copelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05944461326199566111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648480292622180743.post-42911771914248183072015-04-24T10:58:19.932-07:002015-04-24T10:58:19.932-07:00"The idea of a good God simply cannot be reco..."The idea of a good God simply cannot be reconciled with the ongoing existence of evil."<br /><br />You just have to remove the "all powerful" part.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07906890777837063836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648480292622180743.post-15170243390602581422014-04-15T13:59:37.962-07:002014-04-15T13:59:37.962-07:00Depends on your definition of "soon-ish"...Depends on your definition of "soon-ish". It is only a couple of posts away, but with my work and what not I'm finding it quite difficult to blog even as much as once a fortnight. Which is obviously not winning me any regular readers. I'm contemplating interspersing my original pieces with weekly reblogs of whatever I've found most interesting on the internet in a given week, with some short commentary.Daniel Copelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05944461326199566111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648480292622180743.post-43896950460002055622014-04-15T00:07:37.747-07:002014-04-15T00:07:37.747-07:00I stumbled on your blog a little while back and I&...I stumbled on your blog a little while back and I've been enjoying your pieces on Narnia a lot. Any hope of seeing The Last Battle soon-ish? :)Theonoreply@blogger.com