Yahweh's plans, as described in the Bible, are idiotic, especially if he possesses the character quality of omniscience.
Consider the following based on the assumption that the Biblical narrative is true.
Consider the following based on the assumption that the Biblical narrative is true.
The apparent ultimate goal for Yahweh's plan is to have a select group of devoted people who will worship him for eternity. Ignoring the question of why any being would need to have people worshiping him for any amount of time, let alone eternity, if he already knows which people will be found in that select group, why not just create the heaven and only those people and be done with it? How much pain and suffering and tragedy have people suffered on the Earth as a stepping stone toward that path?
Now scan back to the beginning process. Yahweh created everything and said it was good in full knowledge that he was going to destroy it all and start over with Noah and his family. Why didn't he start with Noah and his family in stead of Adam and Eve? Setting aside the silliness of the biological issues with repopulating the earth with a single pair of animals (or human population with children from one family with a children of three brothers) or the existence of a man who was many hundreds of years old, and the logistical issues related to getting the animals to the ark from all around the planet, keeping them alive and from eating each other on the ark, the impossible amounts of water that would be needed to flood the whole earth, etc, if Yahweh knew he would be starting over with Noah and his family and reset the whole creation, what was the point of everything that came before it? This is clearly either incompetence or a lust for destruction and suffering.
Some Christians will say they don't believe that the flood in Genesis was a global flood, or they believe it is a metaphor, but the broader plan of redemption through the cross is a great plan. Well, what about the core of Christianity, salvation through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus? Let's consider that.
The plan is senseless because if Yahweh doesn't want to burn people in hell and he's omnipotent, then it shouldn't be a problem; just don't do it. I have addressed some of the common explanations; hell is necessary because Yahweh is holy, hell was created for the devil and his angels, hell is a choice. If you are interested in reading those justifications and my responses, follow those links to the previous articles. To reiterate the responses to each of those rationalizations for hell would make this post extremely long. The bottom line is, either Yahweh wants to burn people in hell, or something is compelling him to do it and he isn't powerful enough to figure out a way to fix the problem. According to the Bible, the majority of people will end up being burned in hell (wide are the gates to destruction, narrow is the path to salvation...). I will say more about this later.
The plan is unjust. First, blood sacrifice is an absurd and antiquated concept. 'The gods are angry. We must appease them by killing something.' This is an idea that is firmly rooted in superstition and blood magic. People who didn't understand the way nature works would see storms, floods, earthquakes, famine, etc. People would die and then the tribulations would subside. Their takeaway was that the gods were angry and needed some death to be satisfied. Blood sacrifice has nothing to do with setting things right. It has to do with a concept of a god that is blood thirsty and that the gods will harm innocent people unless their blood lust is appeased. It's a system of fear and ignorance, not justice.
Second, rather than torturing people because they have offended you, just forgive them. If people offend me, I simply ask them for a sincere apology. If they can do that, I'm more likely than not to accept their apology and move on. If Yahweh is not capable of doing that without requiring the murder or martyrdom of some innocent person or torturing me for eternity, then he is less powerful than me, because I can forgive, and he is not just.
Thirdly, eternal punishment for a finite lifetime is not just punishment, no matter how horrendous or egregious a person's crimes might have been. Consider the worst humans you can think of. People who lived hate-filled lives, who took great pleasure in harming others and causing them pain and suffering. Maybe people who were greedy to the point of stealing the livelihood of desperate people who had nothing, even though the greedy person had power and wealth well beyond the needs of their families. Rapists who enslaved and raped children for decades, or who tortured and murdered their victims. Genocidal leaders who endeavored to wipe out every man, woman, and child of a certain ethnic group. Regardless of what horrors any wicked person might do in the span of a lifetime, all they pain and suffering they caused was only for the span of one human life. Even if they were subjected to the tortures of hell for the equivalent of the lifetimes of each one of their victims, eternal torture far exceeds the bounds of their crimes.
Finally, any of those same people can escape any and all punishment simply by believing the right things. The real difference between the people who are tortured for all of eternity and the people who will be in heavenly bliss for eternity according to orthodox Christian theology is that the people in heaven believed the right things and the people in hell didn't believe it. In truth, the good or bad the people might have done when they died has nothing to do with their eternal destination in Christianity. The vast majority of people in hell will have lived ordinary lives believing whatever religion their parents and culture inculcated them with and simply trying to get by. Most will have done some bad things and some good things. Many will likely have worked hard to live good lives. Some people who lived horrible lives, but who had a deathbed conversion will escape any culpability if Christianity is true. This is not moral. This is not justice.
Finally, Yahweh's plan for salvation is ineffective by multiple measures. If the goal is "that none should perish" (2 Peter 3:9) but the result will be that few will pass through the narrow gate of salvation (Matt 7:13-14), then Yahweh's plan misses the goal by a long shot. Most people will not gain salvation through the plan outlined in the Bible.
The means by which Yahweh has communicated his plan and provided his redemption is terrible. It's no wonder that few people will find it. It was written in an ancient language that few people speak. The message and details are so confusing and messy that people have fought wars and killed over disagreements about the meaning. There are thousands of different interpretations and understandings that have come about through the Bible. Sincere Christians can't even agree on the canon of books that should be included, let alone how to interpret and understand the books that are admitted. Throughout most of human history, only a very small segment of the population was literate, even in their own language, let alone an ancient language. The vast vast majority of humans who ever lived had no access to a copy of the texts, even when they had the good fortune to have an education. Writing, especially before the advent of the printing press by which many quality copies could be made en mass, was a precarious and error prone method of communication. Why wouldn't Yahweh just communicate with every person directly in a way that was clear and consistent? Why would he allow so much confusion about what the right religion and right interpretations of his message? If I were concerned about a danger that threatened my children, I would communicate with them in the most direct way I could so there would be no miscommunication and no risk of them not getting the message. That doesn't seem to be a priority for Yahweh.
The last point is that the purpose of punishment ought to be to improve the behavior, or better yet, the character of the individual. Hell, being eternal, does not invite any opportunity for the person being tortured to improve. In the Christian tradition in which I was raised, we also held an interpretation of the Book of Revelation where, after the second coming of Jesus, there would be a period of tribulation on Earth for 7 years, then a blood bath of a battle at the end, when Yahweh/Jesus would defeat the anti-Christ and begin a 1000 year reign here on the planet. Here's the kicker. At the end of this "millennial reign" of Christ on Earth, the Christians in my family's tradition believed that Lucifer would be released again and take some portion of the remaining believers to hell with him. Rather than an additional opportunity for more people to be saved from eternal torture, Yahweh's plan will result in one more group of people being condemned and tortured for eternity. For the people who were good enough to make it to eternity with Yahweh, rather than some people in hell being improved, some people in heaven will have gotten worse and forfeit their place. Maybe Yahweh should go back and rethink some things...
If Yahweh knows everything, he would have known that his creation would flop and he would have to hit the reset button. He would know his plan for salvation wasn't going to save most people and that even of those who made it to the millennium, he is going to lose more. The whole process is sloppy, messy, filled with pain and suffering, and redos. If his goal is that no one should perish and the end product is most people will perish, then his plan is grossly ineffective. I have another explanation. Yahweh isn't real and the Bible was written by silly people who didn't have a good grasp on what was happening around them. That seems like a much more reasonable conclusion that believing that these are the best plans laid by an omniscient being.
Cheers,
Gavagai
Some Christians will say they don't believe that the flood in Genesis was a global flood, or they believe it is a metaphor, but the broader plan of redemption through the cross is a great plan. Well, what about the core of Christianity, salvation through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus? Let's consider that.
The plan is senseless because if Yahweh doesn't want to burn people in hell and he's omnipotent, then it shouldn't be a problem; just don't do it. I have addressed some of the common explanations; hell is necessary because Yahweh is holy, hell was created for the devil and his angels, hell is a choice. If you are interested in reading those justifications and my responses, follow those links to the previous articles. To reiterate the responses to each of those rationalizations for hell would make this post extremely long. The bottom line is, either Yahweh wants to burn people in hell, or something is compelling him to do it and he isn't powerful enough to figure out a way to fix the problem. According to the Bible, the majority of people will end up being burned in hell (wide are the gates to destruction, narrow is the path to salvation...). I will say more about this later.
The plan is unjust. First, blood sacrifice is an absurd and antiquated concept. 'The gods are angry. We must appease them by killing something.' This is an idea that is firmly rooted in superstition and blood magic. People who didn't understand the way nature works would see storms, floods, earthquakes, famine, etc. People would die and then the tribulations would subside. Their takeaway was that the gods were angry and needed some death to be satisfied. Blood sacrifice has nothing to do with setting things right. It has to do with a concept of a god that is blood thirsty and that the gods will harm innocent people unless their blood lust is appeased. It's a system of fear and ignorance, not justice.
Second, rather than torturing people because they have offended you, just forgive them. If people offend me, I simply ask them for a sincere apology. If they can do that, I'm more likely than not to accept their apology and move on. If Yahweh is not capable of doing that without requiring the murder or martyrdom of some innocent person or torturing me for eternity, then he is less powerful than me, because I can forgive, and he is not just.
Thirdly, eternal punishment for a finite lifetime is not just punishment, no matter how horrendous or egregious a person's crimes might have been. Consider the worst humans you can think of. People who lived hate-filled lives, who took great pleasure in harming others and causing them pain and suffering. Maybe people who were greedy to the point of stealing the livelihood of desperate people who had nothing, even though the greedy person had power and wealth well beyond the needs of their families. Rapists who enslaved and raped children for decades, or who tortured and murdered their victims. Genocidal leaders who endeavored to wipe out every man, woman, and child of a certain ethnic group. Regardless of what horrors any wicked person might do in the span of a lifetime, all they pain and suffering they caused was only for the span of one human life. Even if they were subjected to the tortures of hell for the equivalent of the lifetimes of each one of their victims, eternal torture far exceeds the bounds of their crimes.
Finally, any of those same people can escape any and all punishment simply by believing the right things. The real difference between the people who are tortured for all of eternity and the people who will be in heavenly bliss for eternity according to orthodox Christian theology is that the people in heaven believed the right things and the people in hell didn't believe it. In truth, the good or bad the people might have done when they died has nothing to do with their eternal destination in Christianity. The vast majority of people in hell will have lived ordinary lives believing whatever religion their parents and culture inculcated them with and simply trying to get by. Most will have done some bad things and some good things. Many will likely have worked hard to live good lives. Some people who lived horrible lives, but who had a deathbed conversion will escape any culpability if Christianity is true. This is not moral. This is not justice.
Finally, Yahweh's plan for salvation is ineffective by multiple measures. If the goal is "that none should perish" (2 Peter 3:9) but the result will be that few will pass through the narrow gate of salvation (Matt 7:13-14), then Yahweh's plan misses the goal by a long shot. Most people will not gain salvation through the plan outlined in the Bible.
The means by which Yahweh has communicated his plan and provided his redemption is terrible. It's no wonder that few people will find it. It was written in an ancient language that few people speak. The message and details are so confusing and messy that people have fought wars and killed over disagreements about the meaning. There are thousands of different interpretations and understandings that have come about through the Bible. Sincere Christians can't even agree on the canon of books that should be included, let alone how to interpret and understand the books that are admitted. Throughout most of human history, only a very small segment of the population was literate, even in their own language, let alone an ancient language. The vast vast majority of humans who ever lived had no access to a copy of the texts, even when they had the good fortune to have an education. Writing, especially before the advent of the printing press by which many quality copies could be made en mass, was a precarious and error prone method of communication. Why wouldn't Yahweh just communicate with every person directly in a way that was clear and consistent? Why would he allow so much confusion about what the right religion and right interpretations of his message? If I were concerned about a danger that threatened my children, I would communicate with them in the most direct way I could so there would be no miscommunication and no risk of them not getting the message. That doesn't seem to be a priority for Yahweh.
The last point is that the purpose of punishment ought to be to improve the behavior, or better yet, the character of the individual. Hell, being eternal, does not invite any opportunity for the person being tortured to improve. In the Christian tradition in which I was raised, we also held an interpretation of the Book of Revelation where, after the second coming of Jesus, there would be a period of tribulation on Earth for 7 years, then a blood bath of a battle at the end, when Yahweh/Jesus would defeat the anti-Christ and begin a 1000 year reign here on the planet. Here's the kicker. At the end of this "millennial reign" of Christ on Earth, the Christians in my family's tradition believed that Lucifer would be released again and take some portion of the remaining believers to hell with him. Rather than an additional opportunity for more people to be saved from eternal torture, Yahweh's plan will result in one more group of people being condemned and tortured for eternity. For the people who were good enough to make it to eternity with Yahweh, rather than some people in hell being improved, some people in heaven will have gotten worse and forfeit their place. Maybe Yahweh should go back and rethink some things...
If Yahweh knows everything, he would have known that his creation would flop and he would have to hit the reset button. He would know his plan for salvation wasn't going to save most people and that even of those who made it to the millennium, he is going to lose more. The whole process is sloppy, messy, filled with pain and suffering, and redos. If his goal is that no one should perish and the end product is most people will perish, then his plan is grossly ineffective. I have another explanation. Yahweh isn't real and the Bible was written by silly people who didn't have a good grasp on what was happening around them. That seems like a much more reasonable conclusion that believing that these are the best plans laid by an omniscient being.
Cheers,
Gavagai
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