grateful, these were not word games when the venerated Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Sina; (yes, I had to Google the full name because I only know him as Avicenna) considered such open questions a millenia ago and they were already ancient philosophical issues then.

That they are still open questions is compelling support for "sceptics" I find.

But it can be interesting to start with a simple question such as, "Is everything subject to the will of god?" and see where it leads.

In my case, atheism.

Dear Grateful,

Indeed, thinking of God as an object is bound to land us into all sorts of paradoxes.

But this should not discourage you. It doesn't mean that you should stop doing so!

Attributing some ideal objective qualities to God (omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent, etc.), though nonsensical from a material point of view, can be (for most of us) extremely beneficial spiritually: it reinforces our devotion and helps us to focus on God rather than on the mundane - and in the last count, this is all that matters!

Should circumstances, however, require that we subject our faith to philosophical analysis, just remember that these attributes are only approximations: they point at the truth, but they are not the truth, nor were they ever meant to be. No mind can grasp God, no words can tell.

It's like when someone asks you: "what is infinity?", so you wave your arms and tell them: "you go and you go and you go and you go and you continue to go". You have not in fact described infinity at all, but there's perhaps a chance that your listener will somehow get the flavour.

The precept is that God is Good. is wrong. God is Bad, just as bad a Satan. Look at all the Wars fought over Religion, would a good God allow that. Look at the Medical problems, Children born all twisted up, dying in pain of many & varied diseases. Drugs & Alcohol that kill & maim people every day. A good God who is supposed to love Humans just wouldn't let that happen.

Don't argue "Free Will." God is supposed to control everything that we do & happens to us. So God is purposely doing this to Humans for his (it's) own amusement. Not nice.

Dear Jay,

Imagine you go to the cinema and there are 3 movies available:

1. "Bunny the rabbit built a home, he lives comfortably in his home with Mrs. Bunny, their boy Henry and their girl Mary. In the evening, Mrs. Bunny prepared supper, they all sit to the large wooden table and have a nice carrot pie, drink carrot juice and finally have a beautiful carrot pudding. The children are polite and very nicely behaved. After the meal they say "Thank you Papa, thank you Mama", they change to their soft and clean pyjamas and enter their beds. Their parents tuck them nicely under the blankets and they fall asleep into sweet dreams."

2. "Zappy our hero is flying near the speed of light, it's a race when he must overtake the alien spaceship which is on its way to destroy Earth, but in order to obtain the weapons he needs to destroy the aliens he must first save the earth from a devastating strand of ebola in a test-tube which the Mafia planted 10Km deep under the sea and would be automatically opened unless all the world's remaining maidens under 24 become their sex-slaves. The clock is ticking..."

3. "Gooper tries to turn on his side and vomit, but he's too slow and much of it soaks his shirt. A lizard passes by, so he bites off his leg and tries to chew it with his rotten teeth. The woman on the bed from which he fell asks "what about sex?", so he slowly tries to open his rusty zip but then gives up and moans "what the heck, grog is better". "What about your grandfather then?", she asks (Grandfather is slumped on the desk). "Well, don't ask me to bury him, I rather keep the smell than go out working".

Which movie will you choose? It's all up to you.

(continued...)

(...continued)

The movies characterise the three Gunas (modes) that run the world, respectively Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Everything that happens is a combination of the three in one proportion or another (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%E1%B9%87a).

In this analogy, God is the white cloth upon which the movies are screened. In truth, regardless which movie is being screened, all that is really there is this white cloth. God is always there, the only true reality, He moves nothing and nothing moves Him. You always have the option to turn off the projector.

AJ, why can we not simply say God cannot create a rock that he cannot lift BECAUSE HE IS OMNIPOTENT?