God's nature and actions contradict one another?

Question

God is omni benevolent (all loving) isn't he? Can someone help me understand a few things.

1) sodom and gomorrah - God would've saved the city if 10 righteous people were found but they failed so He destroyed the city, correct? But if he destroyed the city doesn't that mean that children and babies would be killed along with the sinful people? Surely innocents can't be counted as sinful?

2) The great flood - the same reasons as before, how could God kill innocents?

3) There are two creation storys - in Genesis there are two creation tales, one states that man was created on the 6th day as the pinnacle of creation but another one state that Adam was created then God shaped the world to meet his needs. Which story is the correct one and why are there two?

Sorry if these questions seem to stem from ignorance, never learnt about religion until recently.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

All interesting questions, so I will attempt to answer your questions as best as I can.



1) Well in the religions of Judaism and Christianity, it is one of the basic beliefs that all men are sinful, despite whether they did something wrong or not. Our very free will, the choice we have to do wrong if it is our wish, keeps us from being innocent. In Christianity, we must put our faith in Jesus Christ, the messiah, to deliver us to salvation so our sinful nature does not doom us to hell. Followers of the Jewish faith are still awaiting the messiah, for they do not believe Jesus Christ was the messiah prophesiced in the Torah (Old Testament).



2) If you read the story of the great flood, you will learn that nobody was innocent. Man was killing, stealing, and raping left and right so their punishment was just (except for Noah and his family, who were richeous and chosen by God to survive). Now you might be thinking "Wait a minute, don't people do that now?" Yes, but God promised man that he would never deliver such a punishment onto mankind again.



3) Well, I feel it may be somewhat of both. God created man, but he created the world to suit man's needs as he evolved from the very beginning. He didn't change it, for man had complete dominion, or control. Although I've only heard one version of Creationism.

Answer 2

With the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, God said that he would save the cities if you could find even ONE righteous person. So either there were no babies or children or there were but they too were effected by the corruption of the cities. You have to remember, Sodom and Gomorrah were very evil cities they were doing a whole lot more than just idolatry, the babies would've been better off being reborn elsewhere.



The great flood occured because the world was being overrun by the Nephelim (half breed between angel and human) and these "babies" were growing up to be evil, sadistic giants. You also have to remember that in the bible it also states that we inheret the sins of our fathers, if the world so bad that God had to flood the earth then those children were also carrying that evil seed.



What creation story said that God shaped the world to man's needs? The story goes that God rested on the 7th meaning he was officially done with shaping the earth and gave man dominion over it but the world already had everything man would ever need.



Hoped I helped

Answer 3

1. God Hates all sin ... He loves the person.. when you are sick in order to save you the doctor has to kill the bug that is making you sick.

2. What God does is he destroys sin ... when you decide to sin you will be subject to God's judgment. Parents are responsible for their children and will teach them as they believe, their sinful ways. Most of all, God is never wrong, we just don't understand his ways.

3. No two people will tell the same story the same way . Maybe God kept shaping the earth as Adams needs changed. The way it's today our land keep changing, we might have something to do with that to.

Answer 4

Good questions!



Not one of us is innocent, as we are all born in sin. Also, would you not punish a man who abducted, raped, mutilated, and finally killed a child because he had an infant at home?



There is only one creation story, but there is an uninformed belief that there are two. Genesis 1 and 2 simply focus on different things during creation.



The more you know and understand about the Bible, the more blown away you will be about how it does not contain contradictions but instead how smooth, accurate, and truly God-breathed it is. (I'll get loads of thumbs down for this; it's by folks who haven't studied the Bible and probably never even read it.)



www.answersingenesis.com has loads of good information, as do the following websites:



www.desiringgod.com



www.gty.org



www.wayofthemasterradio.com (you can call in or email them with questions)





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Answer 5

well im not religious, but i can try to help you out. maybe play a little devil's advocate too.



as for #1. maybe God simply did not know about the innocents. or maybe he did know, but did not actually possess the power to individuate people and save them separately. same with #2. (this is just to prove that if you're going to play with the problem of evil. at least tie up the loose ends. state that he is also omniscient and omnipotent. it makes for a more powerful argument and leaves less holes for the opponent)



and for 3. the reason you see two tales, is because it is a manmade religion. and you are seeing the result of a book written by numerous authors over a large span of time. before any knowledge of science or the natural world. many errors and contradictions are going to be made. it makes perfect sense if viewed in that light. if you view it as God invented man, instead of the other way around, then it makes no sense at all.





edit: why am i getting thumbs down. lol u idiots, im not defending christianity. if you actually read my answer fully, u will see im just trying to teach him a lesson on how to better state the problem of evil so he can argue more effectively

Answer 6

The whole point of the Christian religion is that God's actions and logic cannot be comprehended by men.

Answer 7

...god does not exist...religion is man made to control the populace...