If God lost His power(s), would you still let him in?

[Pascal's Wager]

In the interest of stirring up discussion here at the board, I have a hypothetical question for everyone:

If God lost all His 'God' powers forever (i.e. He lost them in a card game, had them taken away by court order, Angels staged a successful coup...whatever) and He showed up at your front door, would you let Him live with you? Would you lend him $5 the next morning so He'd have enough for bus fare to go downtown and look for work?

I have a lot of thoughts on this, myself, but I want to hear what everyone else thinks, first.

Remember: at this point, God no longer has any power of any kind anymore, never will again and you are 100% certain that it is God and this is not a test.

~Pascal

(Edit: "Handy" made some good observations below that I incorporated into the question. Thanks Handy! )

 

[John]

Sure, even though he would be powerless he still gave me life and died for my sins and that is more then enough.

 

[handy]

Nope. 'Cause my God would never "lose" His powers. So if someone showed up at my door claiming to be God and claiming that he lost his God powers, why I'd know right away that that someone was a low-down, lying, scalywagging, scoundrel, not to be trusted at all around small children and critters and I've plenty of both running around here!



(But, if it was just God giving me a test, to show how much I love Him, I'd invite Him in, and instead of the take and bake pizza that I've planned for supper, I'd pull out the veggies and shrimp and make up something really nice for dinner!)

 

[Pascal's Wager]

Nope. 'Cause my God would never "lose" His powers. So if someone showed up at my door claiming to be God and claiming that he lost his God powers, why I'd know right away that that someone was a low-down, lying, scalywagging, scoundrel, not to be trusted at all around small children and critters and I've plenty of both running around here!



(But, if it was just God giving me a test, to show how much I love Him, I'd invite Him in, and instead of the take and bake pizza that I've planned for supper, I'd pull out the veggies and shrimp and make up something really nice for dinner!)

Well, Handy: the assumption is that you are 100% certain that it is God (it is a hypothetical question, after all) and He wasn't testing you.

Would you then?

What if He said He had no place else to stay for the rest of His life. Would you let Him move in forever?

 

[Lewis]

He wouldn't have to ask me twice.

 

[Pascal's Wager]

He wouldn't have to ask me twice.

Would you spot Him some money for bus fare? :eyebrow

 

[Lewis]

[quote="Lewis W":1v63941i]He wouldn't have to ask me twice.

Would you spot Him some money for bus fare? :eyebrow[/quote:1v63941i]
absolutely, quick fast and in a hurry.

 

[Pascal's Wager]

absolutely, quick fast and in a hurry.

Even though at this point He doesn't have any more power(s)?

You would still feel this way, even though He could neither answer prayer nor determine your eternal destiny...?

Why?

Why do you respond this way?

*Pascal drags a soap box over for Lewis to stand on*

Please elucidate.

 

[Lewis]

Because He was always there for me, and God is love, and I am going to love Him back, and He always taught me to love those who were down and out. So now God is down and out, and I am going to be there for Him, and serve Him and still put Him first.

 

[Paidion]

If God lost all of his powers, he would not be God.

If a square lost its corners and became round, would it still be a "square"?

If a genius lost his mind, would he still be a genius?

 

[Lewis]

I looked at your question like this, could I still love Him if He did, and the answer was simply yes. I thought you were asking to see how deep our devotion was, and not as a trick question. Your question made me think, and my answer was yes.

 

[Pascal's Wager]

I looked at your question like this, could I still love Him if He did, and the answer was simply yes. I thought you were asking to see how deep our devotion was, and not as a trick question. Your question made me think, and my answer was yes.

The question is actually posed to get people (and myself!) to think of WHY it is I/we/you love the Lord.

I have a lot to say about this, but I want more people to vote and post a response before I do. I don't want to color the results.

~Pascal

 

[sheshisown]

I agree with Paidon~

What you suppose is absolutely illogical and impossible, even in our finite imaginations God is God ~ Holy, Good, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Immutable, and Sovereign... As a matter of fact we do not know how many attributes that God has. The only ones that we know about are those that are revealed to us in Scripture. There may be many more. We simply do not know. God has not revealed to humanity everything about Himself. Therefore we cannot fully describe God even if we knew all of His attributes. Our understanding of His character is limited because of our finite nature.

If we use the minds He gave us to imagine Him to be something not only that He is not~ but cannot become ~ What are we doing with the intellects He gave us?

There is also the matter of the limitation of human language in speaking about God. God is eternal, infinite, and invisible. We are unable to perceive Him with our senses. Humans have no firsthand knowledge of beings that have these qualities. Yet human language can only relate what we perceive with our senses. Therefore when we speak about Him and imagine something that refutes the character He has revealed to us are we doing right?

Finally~ we all understand God as the single most worthy Being existing, for He sent his Son to the cross to save us from death, and hell, and in return for the brutal death He paid to free us~ will we play verbal games with His image?

OKAY I am off my soap-box . bonnie

 

[Pascal's Wager]

I agree with Paidon~

OKAY I am off my soap-box . bonnie

While the question is hypothetical, Sheshisown, I'll digress a moment and consider what you are saying: "That this isn't possible and shouldn't be discussed".

Tell me: do you believe that God created all the angels as perfect beings?

If that is so, then how is it that they rebelled...and a third of them had to be thrown out of Heaven, together with that treacherous being called "Satan"? Do you cede the point that, even in perfection among perfect beings, evil things can (and DO, according to the Bible) happen?

Or are you of the contention that God didn't create all of His angels as perfect? That He purposely created them imperfect, knowing they'd rebel with Satan?

Your options are running out. :gah

Again: the point of the poll is not to call into question God's majesty, but to illuminate our individual feelings toward God, Himself.

The Lord knows His own and He knows me. I would never slight Him in any way.... ing

 

[sheshisown]

Sorry Pascal's Wager ~

The sovereignity of God is in question from my point of view, so I will leave it at that. Obviously, we disagree. I can see no value in Christainity in your hypothetical querie here, only the possibility of damaging God's name. THAT is what my uproar was all about. . .

bonnie

 

[handy]

So your question is really why do we love God? Do we love Him because of what He can or will do to us if we don't love Him? Do we love Him because of what He has done for us? Or do we love Him simply because of who He is?

My answer is, I love Him for what He has done for me. I wish I could say that I loved Him simply because of who He is, but that would be untrue, and I think that if I were to love Him only because of who He is, I would be the first sinful human to do so.

Basically, Who God is generally is terrifying for humans. If God had done nothing for me, if He had not died for my sins and purchased my forgiveness and I had to stand before Him unholy and unclean, I don't think I could survive the experience. I'm not saying that God would kill me, just that I would be too overwhelmed to survive.

However, He did die for me, He does forgive me and He has cleansed me. So, I love Him. Without fear, without shame and without doubt, I love Him.

This is the only way I can really answer your question P'sW, because to contemplate a God without power, even for the sake of discussion, would be to contemplate something that is not God. It's like saying, would you like to get a tan with a sun that gives no light, or quench your thirst with dry water.

 

[Pascal's Wager]

So your question is really why do we love God? Do we love Him because of what He can or will do to us if we don't love Him? Do we love Him because of what He has done for us? Or do we love Him simply because of who He is?

Marvelous, Handy: you got to the crux of the issue in a single bound!

Congrats.

Yes: I want to draw out the reasons for why it is people love God. I also appreciate the candid answer.

Anyone else?

I'm finding this intriguing. :infinity

 

[Paidion]

Tell me: do you believe that God created all the angels as perfect beings?

If that is so, then how is it that they rebelled...and a third of them had to be thrown out of Heaven, together with that treacherous being called "Satan"? Do you cede the point that, even in perfection among perfect beings, evil things can (and DO, according to the Bible) happen?

It depends upon what you mean by "perfect". He certainly created them sinless, as He did Adam and Eve. But He gave them free wills, so that they could rebel if they wanted to do so. Are you using "perfect" to mean "sinless"? If that's what you mean, then, yes, He created them as perfect beings.

Perhaps you are using "perfect" to mean "complete". Adam and Eve had a lot of growing to do. They were not complete. That may be the case with angels, too. The angles who did not rebel, might have grown to the extent that is it impossible, or at least, highly unlikely, that any of them will ever rebel against God. So no, He didn't create them perfect in the sense of being complete.

If by "perfect", you mean that they had the highest attributes of character as God has, perfectly powerful, perfectly knowledgeable, perfectly loving, etc., then absolutely NO. If they had been perfect in those senses they would be equal to God.

 

[Paidion]

So your question is really why do we love God? Do we love Him because of what He can or will do to us if we don't love Him? Do we love Him because of what He has done for us? Or do we love Him simply because of who He is?

Marvelous, Handy: you got to the crux of the issue in a single bound!

Congrats.

If that's the crux of the issue, PW, then it wouldn't make sense to love Him if He were not all powerful. For if He were not all powerful, He would not be "who He is"!