By saying that you cannot move backwards I time, I mean that you cannot move back to 1986 and undo the mischief you caused then.
You see, I would like to very much go back to 1986, and undo some slaps I irrevocably caused due to a youthful sense of mischief.I could go on about an ex presidents daughter and the sorrow I caused her, here, but that would be digressing.
But I cannot do that. Even though I want to disown these acts. Why?
I am aware of Einstein's Relativity.I have been reading it for the past 20 years. You actually have it backwards. The higher you live (farthest from the source of gravity) the faster time passes, the slower you age.It is very easy to confuse the fact that the faster time passes, the slower you age, and to think that the faster time passes, the faster you age. I can totally understand why you made that mistake. Relativity is a bit counterintuitive. But the real fun is in Quantum Physics.
My question was simple. Why did God create a universe in which evil is possible if indeed God had all the power, the knowledge and the love to do so.
Your answer, that God decided to create a world which would be perfect if humankind did not sin, does not answer my question, and answers a different question.
Your answer answers the question "Which world did God create?" . This is not my question. I know the world I live in. I know the various religious texts that asserts God as the creator of this world.
I can draw a logical conclusion from the books that, according to the books - primarily Bible and Quran- you are right. God created a world and gave it the conditions you stated, that if humankind followed his way, no evil could have existed. I get that. Since Sunday School. I come from a long line of Bishops and Pastors. We used to sing a hymn, read the Bible, say a sermon and pray every night.
Long story short, I understand your answer. I have found it inadequate for the last 21 years.
You see, the question you have not answered is still the same original question. Because the question you answered is a different one from the original question asked.
A month ago, you quoted my question. At the risk of coming off as pretentious, I will paste it again here. Please forgive my ignorance with this interface. I am still not entirely familiar with it.
On August 08 2016 you quoted me writing the below, for the record and benefit of thse who can't find time to scroll up.
"The bible says it was not God's intention for there to be suffering. That suffering is a result of Satan tempting man in the garden of Eden.
But why did God create a universe in which Satan is even possible to be in? Why create a world in which suffering is even possible if God was able and loving enough to create a world in which suffering is not possible?"
My question was a why question. Why questions are some of the hardest questions around. Because they deal with the underlying reasons, the deepest part of inquiry, the root cause, not just the explanation of how things are as they are, but the deeper causative and - motivational or chaotic- facts that makes the explanation into what it is. Professor Stephen Hawkins talks about his desire to understand not only the equations of the physical nature, but the also what breathes fire into the equation. Now, a lazy mind will easily jump to the God conclusion. But I would like to stay away from that crowd. I would like to investigate everything and only state that which is certain within a logical framework, to a practical, pragmatic and an acceptable margin of error.
Why do I find your answer unsatisfactory?
To begin with, it does not answer my question.
To put it simply, my question was "Why did God create this world, while he could have created a better world". The question asks for the reasons that made god to create this world, even as he could have created a better world.
These reasons were not given.
Instead, an explanation of the logic of why God created this world was given. That is good. But it does not answer my question.
It is like landing at Dar airport from London and asking the way to Kariakoo, and being told how to get back to London. Thanks for the tip on how to get back to London, but that is not what I asked!
Again, the question is, why did God create a world in which evil is possible, while he could have created a world in which evil is not possible?
Free will is not an answer. We do not have freewill. I can't even move to 1986 to un-slap a girl.
Satan is not part of the answer. I am asking why did god even chose to create a world in which Satan is possible?
Human fallibility is not an answer. I am asking why did God even create a world in which humans are fallible?
Think careful before you answer this question. I have been looking for the answer for the last 21 years at least, diligently, to no avail.
Just to put this in perspective, the current Roman Catholic Pope, no slouch in matters theological by any stretch of imagination, was asked a version of this question, and decided to duck it, because he had no clear answer.
Read more here
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/665971/pop ... ren-suffer
The Pope clearly does not have an answer and diverts from the question. Much like you did.