Why God Wants Praise [W:65]

[LowDown]

An atheist rant from a few months back was to the effect that "God is supposedly this egomaniacal being who constantly demands worship and praise."

Recently I was presented with a cogent answer to this charge:

God does not need our praise, He does not need to be glorified. He is complete and sufficient unto Himself. The thing is that we need to praise and glorify God for our own benefit and the benefit of others around us.

Why? Because we need to know and others need to know that God is God, and we are not; God is the means to salvation and everlasting life; God has the power to provide this for us; we must by our own free will, because we are creatures of free will, accept this great gift and the authority of He who gives it.

Merely to acknowledge and repeat these facts is to praise and glorify God in the highest possible terms.

 

[D_NATURED]

Well, god is NOT god if one guy's version of god is Zeus and another's is Mithra or if one guy believes in multiple gods and another thinks that god is just an idea. There is a monotheistic, Abrahamic arrogance in this post that I doubt you'd understand.

Praise your particular version of god if you want to but don't act like there's any objective benefit in this existence or that it guarantees anything like an afterlife. This is the sort of conversation that is mostly an autoerotic exercise among those who think that that makes them more spiritual. I hope it feels good because it looks pretty ridiculous and selfish.

 

[blarg]

An atheist rant from a few months back was to the effect that "God is supposedly this egomaniacal being who constantly demands worship and praise."

Recently I was presented with a cogent answer to this charge:

God does not need our praise, He does not need to be glorified. He is complete and sufficient unto Himself. The thing is that we need to praise and glorify God for our own benefit and the benefit of others around us.

Why? Because we need to know and others need to know that God is God, and we are not; God is the means to salvation and everlasting life; God has the power to provide this for us; we must by our own free will, because we are creatures of free will, accept this great gift and the authority of He who gives it.

Merely to acknowledge and repeat these facts is to praise and glorify God in the highest possible terms.

o um yes a god would be god but why do you need to bother wiht this to not die or be hurt?

and how cna some one know what you say is true jsut becase you say good things about the god you believe in?

 

[ludin]

An atheist rant from a few months back was to the effect that "God is supposedly this egomaniacal being who constantly demands worship and praise."

Recently I was presented with a cogent answer to this charge:

God does not need our praise, He does not need to be glorified. He is complete and sufficient unto Himself. The thing is that we need to praise and glorify God for our own benefit and the benefit of others around us.

Why? Because we need to know and others need to know that God is God, and we are not; God is the means to salvation and everlasting life; God has the power to provide this for us; we must by our own free will, because we are creatures of free will, accept this great gift and the authority of He who gives it.

Merely to acknowledge and repeat these facts is to praise and glorify God in the highest possible terms.

Praise and worship are an outward expression of an inward impression.
It is the joy of what God did for us that he didn't have to do.

 

[American]

o um yes a god would be god but why do you need to bother wiht this to not die or be hurt?

and how cna some one know what you say is true jsut becase you say good things about the god you believe in?

Do you bother to proofread your stuff before hitting "Send"?

 

[blarg]

Do you bother to proofread your stuff before hitting "Send"?

sure do need ot make sure thr somtng for you to bitch about :mrgreen:

 

[blarg]

Praise and worship are an outward expression of an inward impression.
It is the joy of what God did for us that he didn't have to do.

that can worck so long as god is not all knowing or every when at once

 

[ludin]

that can worck so long as god is not all knowing or every when at once

that has no bearing on anything.
as the psalmist said.

make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

 

[nota bene]

Praise and worship are an outward expression of an inward impression.
It is the joy of what God did for us that he didn't have to do.

As LowDown said, "we need to know ...that God is God, and we are not."

 

[Tanngrisnir]

An atheist rant from a few months back was to the effect that "God is supposedly this egomaniacal being who constantly demands worship and praise."

Recently I was presented with a cogent answer to this charge:

God does not need our praise, He does not need to be glorified. He is complete and sufficient unto Himself. The thing is that we need to praise and glorify God for our own benefit and the benefit of others around us.

Why? Because we need to know and others need to know that God is God, and we are not; God is the means to salvation and everlasting life; God has the power to provide this for us; we must by our own free will, because we are creatures of free will, accept this great gift and the authority of He who gives it.

Merely to acknowledge and repeat these facts is to praise and glorify God in the highest possible terms.

That's not a cogent answer, as much as you seem to need to think that it is.

No praise is necessary, whatsoever, to acknowledge or understand that a god is god and that humans are not.

Full stop.

 

[blarg]

that has no bearing on anything.
as the psalmist said.

make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

um it may have some bearing if you always knew everything you were going to do you always had to do it

if you exist as one mind perceiving all of time and all your actions eternally you are always doing everything you have done there's no choice in that and god would have to do whatever it did becase it always has been and always will be doing so

 

[ludin]

As LowDown said, "we need to know ...that God is God, and we are not."

Yep unlike some people that think they are god.
it really is interesting that some people think they are the end
all be all of everything.

that they just happen to be here by random chance.

 

[blarg]

Yep unlike some people that think they are god.
it really is interesting that some people think they are the end
all be all of everything.

that they just happen to be here by random chance.

um is that the same thing? that seems like opasit things

 

[blarg]

Yep unlike some people that think they are god.
it really is interesting that some people think they are the end
all be all of everything.

that they just happen to be here by random chance.

or if you go in for the many worlds theory then everything that can exist has to so no chance just worlds without end maybe with a lot of copys to

but god or no god in the end your always left wit a kind of an unsatisfying becase thats how it is

now if you have gods that actuly has truly free will your also back to chance since ther not under any pressure to do things a certain way you could have a god that wanted any possible creation

 

[blarg]

An atheist rant from a few months back was to the effect that "God is supposedly this egomaniacal being who constantly demands worship and praise."

Recently I was presented with a cogent answer to this charge:

God does not need our praise, He does not need to be glorified. He is complete and sufficient unto Himself. The thing is that we need to praise and glorify God for our own benefit and the benefit of others around us.

Why? Because we need to know and others need to know that God is God, and we are not; God is the means to salvation and everlasting life; God has the power to provide this for us; we must by our own free will, because we are creatures of free will, accept this great gift and the authority of He who gives it.

Merely to acknowledge and repeat these facts is to praise and glorify God in the highest possible terms.

so um are free will is not exactly absolute things can still happen to me thta i dont want and ther are things i want i cant make happen so i get that god can demand praise in exchange for survival and not hurting people but why is that a must?

 

[LowDown]

Well, god is NOT god if one guy's version of god is Zeus and another's is Mithra or if one guy believes in multiple gods and another thinks that god is just an idea. There is a monotheistic, Abrahamic arrogance in this post that I doubt you'd understand.

Praise your particular version of god if you want to but don't act like there's any objective benefit in this existence or that it guarantees anything like an afterlife. This is the sort of conversation that is mostly an autoerotic exercise among those who think that that makes them more spiritual. I hope it feels good because it looks pretty ridiculous and selfish.

Of course, a person who believes that there are other gods or no god isn't going to be interested in or understand a discussion of the Christian God. Except, of course, to be critical or derisive of the whole idea.

 

[LowDown]

o um yes a god would be god but why do you need to bother wiht this to not die or be hurt?

and how cna some one know what you say is true jsut becase you say good things about the god you believe in?

It's above my pay grade to grant anyone the gift of faith. Only God can do that.

 

[blarg]

It's above my pay grade to grant anyone the gift of faith. Only God can do that.

well ok but in that case you dont need to praise god becase others need to know about him

 

[LowDown]

so um are free will is not exactly absolute things can still happen to me thta i dont want and ther are things i want i cant make happen so i get that god can demand praise in exchange for survival and not hurting people but why is that a must?

No, God does not demand praise so that we won't get hurt. We should praise Him so that we and others will know to choose to accept the gift of salvation. The death of hell is something we choose for ourselves.

 

[LowDown]

well ok but in that case you dont need to praise god becase others need to know about him

We still have to accept the gift. We are creatures of free will. We can choose. Good PR helps people make the right choice.

 

[blarg]

No, God does not demand praise so that we won't get hurt. We should praise Him so that we and others will know to choose to accept the gift of salvation. The death of hell is something we choose for ourselves.

so you can ignore the god and choose to avoid hell?

 

[blarg]

We still have to accept the gift. We are creatures of free will. We can choose. Good PR helps people make the right choice.

fair enough

 

[roughdraft274]

An atheist rant from a few months back was to the effect that "God is supposedly this egomaniacal being who constantly demands worship and praise."

Recently I was presented with a cogent answer to this charge:

God does not need our praise, He does not need to be glorified. He is complete and sufficient unto Himself. The thing is that we need to praise and glorify God for our own benefit and the benefit of others around us.

Why? Because we need to know and others need to know that God is God, and we are not; God is the means to salvation and everlasting life; God has the power to provide this for us; we must by our own free will, because we are creatures of free will, accept this great gift and the authority of He who gives it.

Merely to acknowledge and repeat these facts is to praise and glorify God in the highest possible terms.

That makes no sense. This isn't an answer. It seems like just a rather poor excuse. The reason that atheists might think of the judeo-christian god as a bit of an ego maniac is because they read the bible and don't twist it.

"For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me” (Exodus 20:3-5)

I'm sorry but if you read the old testament in any kind of honest way without trying to cover up what is being said, it's very very hard to come away from it without thinking that he acts like a rather childish dictator at times. So the typical christian response HAS to turn the obvious problem with god into a problem with humans, as if that fixes the problem.

 

[roughdraft274]

We still have to accept the gift. We are creatures of free will. We can choose. Good PR helps people make the right choice.

If god wanted good PR I think it might be a good idea for him to stop it with the whole hell fire and brimstone thing.

Just be honest LD. If I were to hand a christian any number of the books from the old testament and tell them that this is a book out of the koran they would likely say/think something like "no wonder so many of them try to justify their horrific actions. This is what they believe."

 

[LowDown]

If god wanted good PR I think it might be a good idea for him to stop it with the whole hell fire and brimstone thing.

Just be honest LD. If I were to hand a christian any number of the books from the old testament and tell them that this is a book out of the koran they would likely say/think something like "no wonder so many of them try to justify their horrific actions. This is what they believe."

The whole comparative religions approach is secular and has nothing to do with Christian belief.

What's in the Old Testament is beneficial for teaching, but we are not bound by any of that as Christians*. God turned over a new leaf, so to speak, with Christ. We got a new rule book, and it is this: Love God and Love One Another.

There is some ambiguity about the fire and brimstone thing. Jesus himself referred to Hell as a place where people are consumed body and soul. In other places in the Bible it is referred to as a "second death". So it may be that there is no eternal fire. We just die and cease to exist. This is pretty close to the secular concept of death, I think. In other words, it's not eternal life vs eternal damnation, it's eternal life vs death, i.e., ceasing to exist.

---

*Of course, there are many laws in the Old Testament that we follow, but those laws are all subtended by the new law.