How do we know God is "Good"?

RiVeRratGood answer RR,That clears things up immensely.

Whats so hard to understand?
Why are you sarcastic? Does that justify you not believing in God?Can you picture a world without there any bad choices to be made?
Or a world where the thought of a bad choice wouldn't even enter your mind?At first this might sound beatiful. Or even what heaven is going to be like. I don't know, that will be another demension, will good and bad even play a role? But life is all about choices. Everything we do in life can relate back to making the decsion of whether something is good or bad.Tell me one choice you could make that doesn't represent good or bad in some sort of fashion.It completely represents our ability to think, and rationalize.

riVeRrat OK So before eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are saying that Adam was capable of understanding the consequences of an action he undertook. I am stating that without the knowledge of such things one is incapable of making an informed decision just as a child would be.
We do not hold childern responsible for their actions and in the context of the myth of eden god was wrong {since he had knowledge of his actions}for punishing Adam for disobeying a command that Adam could not know the ramifications of.

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"Calling Atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair color."
--Don Hirschberg

Your comparing Adam to a child, thats not fair.
Adam was capable of understanding what would be bad for him, but did not know how to commit "evil"To think that all things bad for you are evil?*edit*
Just noticed your sig, kind of silly, some people have no choice if they are bald.This message has been edited by riVeRraT, 11-12-2004 07:45 AM

riVeRrat Oh really?!! Would you care to explain why he was punished then for something evil when you agree with me that he had not an idea of evil? He did not die either so what was that about?

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"Calling Atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair color."
--Don Hirschberg

That's me all right. However, I have exactly the same non-choice as far as my religious beliefs.

He sure did die.
We all die now.He was punished for bad, not evil. Stop confusing the two.

You have no choice for your religious beliefs?
You choose not to believe, thats your choice.
You made an intelligent decsion based on the evidence, right?

The nature of my thinking processes are such that I have no choice. I arrive where I am because of what is put in front of me.If I am forced at gunpoint into a car of a terrorist I might say afterward "I had no choice." It seems you would be arguing I did.I am forced by external circumstances and my nature to come to the conclusions I have. I would like to believe. Others have said the same thing. It is not possible for me.It is also, as you say, a choice made on the evidence but that evidence allows me no other path so I don't see it as a choice.I perhaps, am more making a choice to be bald ("ish" if you please ) since I could pay to do something about that.

That is why I do not condemm atheism. Ah! so you admit it is a choice, that you have no choice over. lolMy comments on baldness being a hairstyle is refering to those who shave there head, even though they can grow hair.

Just as I certainly don't condemn religious beliefs.

Of course he would die just like us. He was mortal according to the bible.Yet you reflect the idea that Adam was given mortality as a punishment when this is not the case.Why would you punish a person with death for taking a choice that you did not like when you set up the ability to choose in the first place and then tempted the person.Think,man,is this the work of a moral being?

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"Calling Atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair color."
--Don Hirschberg

This is almost like circle jerk.We have been explaining to you, without choice, there is no "be".
I think, therefor I am.
What do we think about?
We think about what is good for us, and what is bad for us.
Good cannot exist without bad.I cannot choose, therefor I am not.For us to exist, and think, we must be given the right to choose.
Its part of life, a precious gift from God. Being and freedom.
Enjoy it.

riVeRrat Why is it you won't take your own advice and put yourself in Adam's shoes? He had no bad to compare to did he?We have a a world with examples to gauge by and Adam did not.Why do you refuse to directly answer my questions?

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"Calling Atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair color."
--Don Hirschberg

Because you keep leading us around in a circle.
Lets take this step by step.Do you agree that bad and evil are 2 different things?