Is God Good?

Kinetic type animation that briefly explores the nagging question, "If God is all-good and all-powerful, why is there evil in the world?" Thanks to Cornelie (VO) and Tim Gale (Audio).

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• kinetic type
• animation short
• apologetics
• atheism
• god
• evil
• suffering
• logic
• animation
• freedom
• of
• choice
• logical
• contradiction

[jordan81197]

@claudbase well put.

[Zangomatic]

re: having strong convictions.

If you go thru life without strong convictions about much of anything, you do avoid the possibility of being PROFOUNDLY WRONG.

Similarly, if you never get married, you avoid the possibility of an ugly divorce...and (cue inspirational music)...and if you never try to climb a mountain, you'll never have to worry about falling off a cliff, and...

So I guess it just depends on what kind of life you wanna live.

[Zangomatic]

re: Jesus or Mohammed?

Excellent question. What I'd do is compare 1) their LIVES and 2) their TEACHINGS.

Jesus claims to be God, to have authority to forgive sins & judge mankind, to be the One predicted by OT prophets, to have risen from the dead, to have lived a sinless life, to be the way, the truth, the life.

Unlike Mohammed, Jesus never stoned women, never tortured or beheaded people, never permitted stealing, never encouraged rape or wife-beating, never advocated crucifying others, etc.

[Zangomatic]

re: "where they were born" - Christianity, like any worldview, is often passed from parents to children. So, yes, Christians are likely to be where Christians are. Presently, Christians are found nearly everywhere on every continent. Even in muslim nations, where conversion to Christianity is punishable by death, the church is growing.

[claudbase]

@Zangomatic Then since there are thousands of different gods followed by humans, we can at least say that we are 99.9% in agreement. I understand your position completely, but then why not believe in the message of the prophet Mohamed for example. He is also said to have received knowledge from god but contradict what Jesus was saying. How should we make a choice? Fate seam such a bad tool. In fact, the choice theist make is visibly more correlated to where they were born than anything else...

[Zangomatic]

It's kinda like this: You're exploring. You wander into a dark cave. You're not sure, but you think you see a bag full of diamonds sitting in the dirt. You think there might also be some pennies scattered next to it, but, again, you're not sure. When you pull out your flashlight where will you shine it first?

And after you know the bag of diamonds is real, the pennies have no existential relevance. Zero.

[Zangomatic]

There are other gods. Anything besides GOD that is worshiped or given supreme value is a god.

Does Vishnu, in particular, exist? I dunno. Never given it much thought. Because of my connection with the one and only God who is both personal and infinite, I can afford to be agnostic about Vishnu. Any harm, threats, rewards, advantages or claims upon my person Vishnu, if he exists, might allegedly make are UTTERLY INSIGNIFICANT precisely because I belong to Jesus Christ, who is over all.

[claudbase]

@Zangomatic What I would like to know is your position in regards to the gods described in other religions (not the Christian god, ex: the Hindu gods...). When you're saying that other gods are irrelevant, are you agnostic or atheist ... in regard to the gods defined by other religions?

[Zangomatic]

Neither. I'm a theist. There are 2 kinds of deities:

1) INFINITE: the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe. "I am God, and there is none else: I am God, and there is none like me." (Isaiah 46:9)

2) FINITE: a being or object believed to require worship. "You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3). Visit any Hindu community.

Because God is infinite, he matters. Other gods are irrelevant

[Zangomatic]

Some questions are existentially irrelevant - they don't matter much:

- Is Pluto a planet? How many wings does a housefly have?

Others are existentially relevant - they profoundly effect our lives:

- Do I have cancer? Is my spouse faithful? Does this airplane work?

Some approach the question of God's existence with indifference, as if it was merely academic, as if it belonged to the first category.

What do you think?