If God is omnipotent, why can't He smite the devil?

[Routerider]

Why did God not destroy Satan?




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Had the devil been immediately blotted out of existence, some would have served God from fear rather than from love. The influence of the deceiver would not have been fully destroyed, nor would the spirit of rebellion have been utterly eradicated. For the good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages, he must more fully develop his principles, that his charges against the divine government might be seen in their true light by all created beings, and that the justice and mercy of God and the immutability of His law might be forever placed beyond all question. Sin must run its course that its enormity may be fully abhorred; but it will be finally eradicated, along with its instigator.



...Therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, and it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes ... and never shalt thou be any more. Ezekial 28: 18-19

So another words God made sure the devil was present in the garden of eden to tempt Eve...HE NEEDED the devil to be an integral part of his plan?

 

[Flames]

Hbr 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Through Christs Death on the cross, it would appear that Christ has destroyed Satan's Authority(headship) as was prophesied in Genesis. Talking to the devil Gen.3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall crush thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel"

Out of a seed of the woman was christ born to crush Satans Authority. The devil has no authority in a christians life. Satan has no power of death for a christian. We who are in Christ seated at the right hand of God in christ. It talks about sinners here:
Math. 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

A good question is this. Who created Sin? First, the devil doesn't have power to create. If you say sin always existed, then you equate its existence to God and thus creating a Ying Yang. I would say God created this along with an entire plan for salvation and kingdom rule.

 

[Routerider]

Who created Sin? First, the devil doesn't have power to create. If you say sin always existed, then you equate its existence to God and thus creating a Ying Yang. I would say God created this along with an entire plan for salvation and kingdom rule.

So God isn't omnibenevolent?

 

[SolomonVII]

So God isn't omnibenevolent?

The God I worship is omnibenevolent, omnipotent and in every way worthy of worship. A lesser god would not be worth bothering with.

Perhaps trying to grasp the essence of God through our limited ability to reason through logic is not the best way to begin to understand God. To know God, first look to you own heart. When you find there that which makes your life worth living, I would suggest that is where you will find God as well.

 

[BlessedAreThee]

we must abide by the covenant as in De 10:16 - Show Context
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked

 

[tcampen]

The God I worship is omnibenevolent, omnipotent and in every way worthy of worship. A lesser god would not be worth bothering with.

Perhaps trying to grasp the essence of God through our limited ability to reason through logic is not the best way to begin to understand God. To know God, first look to you own heart. When you find there that which makes your life worth living, I would suggest that is where you will find God as well.

What if I did just what you propose, and found a God profoundly different than the God you worship?

 

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

So God isn't omnibenevolent?

The Bible never presents Him as being omnibenevolent.

Malachi 1:2-3 * *

1:2I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,

1:3And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

He is sovereign. And He is compassionate. But He does require that we seek Him.

 

[travesser]

What if I did just what you propose, and found a God profoundly different than the God you worship?

You will find whatever god you want to find.

 

[ZaraDurden]

The God I worship is omnibenevolent, omnipotent and in every way worthy of worship. A lesser god would not be worth bothering with.

Perhaps trying to grasp the essence of God through our limited ability to reason through logic is not the best way to begin to understand God. To know God, first look to you own heart. When you find there that which makes your life worth living, I would suggest that is where you will find God as well.

God cannot logically be omnipotent and omnibenevolent. If got is omnipotent, then he has power over everything, including evil. If he has the power to stop evil, but chooses not to, then he is not omni (or 100%) benevolent. If god allows an ounce of evil to occur, hes not all good.

And if you want to say humans, by our logic, cannot understand god, then we are exiting christianity and entering agnosticism.

 

[ZaraDurden]

You will find whatever god you want to find.

Sweet, I want a god that will finish my work for this semester. I have a 15 page research proposal, a historical book review, and 2 exams. Thanks God!!! Now I cant get back to earning my way into your Heaven-- by drinking heavily!!!

 

[Blissman]

Because He needs a scapegoat.

Why?

 

[revolutio]

Why?

People are less inclined to follow a God they know is the very source of all suffering.

 

[Blissman]

People are less inclined to follow a God they know is the very source of all suffering.

Why do you assume that people would think God to be the source of suffering?
If man has free will, why wouldn't because we scwwd up?

 

[SolomonVII]

What if I did just what you propose, and found a God profoundly different than the God you worship?

If you found a God profoundly different than the one I worship- ie impotent, malevolent, and prone to leaving you believe that your life is devoid of meaning, - then I would suggest that you not worship him.

 

[SolomonVII]

God cannot logically be omnipotent and omnibenevolent. If got is omnipotent, then he has power over everything, including evil. If he has the power to stop evil, but chooses not to, then he is not omni (or 100%) benevolent. If god allows an ounce of evil to occur, hes not all good.

And if you want to say humans, by our logic, cannot understand god, then we are exiting christianity and entering agnosticism.

On the contrary, limiting our reason to strict empiricism and the rules of logic is a relatively new exercise in the history of mankind. The Divine has invariably been self-evident to pre-modern humanity. Even as recently as Aquinas, proving God was more a diversionary exercise in logic for him than necessary element of his faith. he had no need to prove what he already knew to be true in his heart of hearts.
Faith in God means believing that your life has intrinsic value, that Good exists, and that your life has purpose and meaning.

Mystery has also always been an essential part of Christianity, or of Catholicism at any rate. Humility implies that our limited knowledge is not God's knowledge. It is the essence of pride that we pretend that we have the ability to judge God and find Him wanting. When evil occurs, the essential message of the New and Old Testaments is to examine our own actions, and apply the necessary corrections to ourselves, knowing in our hearts that a God exists that will save us from the error of our ways.
To pretend that we can judge God is at best an exercise in futility.

 

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

People are less inclined to follow a God they know is the very source of all suffering.

It's our sin that is the source of our suffering.

 

[ZaraDurden]

On the contrary, limiting our reason to strict empiricism and the rules of logic is a relatively new exercise in the history of mankind.

Reason is the faculty by which we acquire knowledge. How else can we gather knowledge but through our senses? Rational demonstration is the process by which we verify our knowledge claims. Just because history may have practiced other philosophies lends nothing to the validity of those philosophies.

The Divine has invariably been self-evident to pre-modern humanity.

The question I would like answered is why then and not now? Doesn't seem to fair to me when an eternity of torment may be on the line... Or a million other punishments. Or are we supposed to live a way because our ancestors did? (see my signiture)

Even as recently as Aquinas, proving God was more a diversionary exercise in logic for him than necessary element of his faith.

Good thing for Aquinas, seeing that his "proofs" don't hold up under scrutiny.

Faith in God means believing that your life has intrinsic value, that Good exists, and that your life has purpose and meaning.

Maybe it does for the christian, but I feel that my life has value, that good exists, and that my life has purpose without a belief in god.

Mystery has also always been an essential part of Christianity, or of Catholicism at any rate. Humility implies that our limited knowledge is not God's knowledge. It is the essence of pride that we pretend that we have the ability to judge God and find Him wanting. When evil occurs, the essential message of the New and Old Testaments is to examine our own actions, and apply the necessary corrections to ourselves, knowing in our hearts that a God exists that will save us from the error of our ways.
To pretend that we can judge God is at best an exercise in futility.

Dress it up any way you want, but all that this amounts to is "we cant know". Even if you say thats ok because "we shouldnt know," its still nothing more than agnosticism.

 

[Blissman]

How can we seek to find God without logic? If we did not use logic (which would exlude questioning God),
than how could we attempt to know Him? Don't we ask questions about God so that we can (attempt to) learn the answers?

 

[Netpreacher]

God has already defeated the devil. God lives outside of time and space, and in His perspective, the devil is already demolished. However, we still have to catch up to His eternal perspective, and the only way to do that is by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and faith in His physical bodily resurrection from the dead

 

[travesser]

If God is omnipotent, why can't He just smite the devil and be done with it? Why do we have a devil?

Men have just the devil they want to have. God will not take from you that which you want.