God is perfect: he cannot change, he cannot please or hurt. How so?
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Re: God is perfect: he cannot change, he cannot please or hurt. How so?
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In my opinion, God is perfect because he is God. And there have not been a record of him committing a mistake. Everything he does is intentional and with a reason whether we like it or not. So, God is perfect because he cannot change. God's perfection should not be attached to whether he can be pleased or hurt because he has feelings too. He is emotional too. But he is stable and decisive unlike men. That does not determine his perfection. His perfection is in his infallibility.AnnieOgoo wrote: ↑08 Dec 2020, 06:42 In a bid to explain God's perfection, the author states that;
a. God cannot change
b. He cannot please or hurt.
The reason behind this later conclusion being that: "Admitting the possibility of such would be admitting to an inherent defect in God’s perfection and would completely negate the concept of perfectness. Pleasing him admits to the existence of a pleasure port that is insufficiently filled, a partial void, a defect, and certainly not perfect. Hurting him would admit to the existence of cracks in His armor where noxious agents could penetrate and cause damage eliminating His perfection."
I find the reasons behind this conclusion (that God is perfect) to be unconvincing, even faulty.
Yes, I believe God is perfect, but not because he cannot be pleased or hurt. That would make him an unfeeling God. Perhaps he is perfect because he is the highest authority and the standard for perfection, i.e God is perfect because he is God.
This whole syllogism brings to mind the question, "What is perfection?"
So I ask:
a. Is God perfect because He cannot change, or please or hurt? And;
b. What is perfection?
Perfection is simply absent of error or mistake.
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His perfectness is not a function of our human capabilities or views of him. He is the standard by which perfection can be defined.
That being said, his being perfect is not because he cannot be pleased or he cannot be hurt. To say he cannot be pleased would depict him as a stone faced unemotional God which is not so. In scriptures, he is constantly depicted with emotions of love and he is said to be jealous over his people. God also shows pleasure and displeasure over his people's actions and inactions. These do not in any way change who he is .
Summarily, I would say that God is perfect because he is God and that his perfection cannot be defined on the basis of what he does or does not do for he can do all things.
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I 100% agree with you in this. God is perfect, no doubt. But the author's argument to solidify the belief in God's perfection doesn't make much sense to me. I believe God can be pleased and can hurt, and there are many instances to this in the Bible (I'm Christian, so I'm talking from the perspective of my faith). God being pleased doesn't mean he has a pleasure deficit that needs to be filled; same goes for pain. The author addresses pleasure and pain like they are measures, when they are really more prompslts than measures. God being perfect is a nod to his standards and authority.AnnieOgoo wrote: ↑08 Dec 2020, 06:42 In a bid to explain God's perfection, the author states that;
a. God cannot change
b. He cannot please or hurt.
The reason behind this later conclusion being that: "Admitting the possibility of such would be admitting to an inherent defect in God’s perfection and would completely negate the concept of perfectness. Pleasing him admits to the existence of a pleasure port that is insufficiently filled, a partial void, a defect, and certainly not perfect. Hurting him would admit to the existence of cracks in His armor where noxious agents could penetrate and cause damage eliminating His perfection."
I find the reasons behind this conclusion (that God is perfect) to be unconvincing, even faulty.
Yes, I believe God is perfect, but not because he cannot be pleased or hurt. That would make him an unfeeling God. Perhaps he is perfect because he is the highest authority and the standard for perfection, i.e God is perfect because he is God.
This whole syllogism brings to mind the question, "What is perfection?"
So I ask:
a. Is God perfect because He cannot change, or please or hurt? And;
b. What is perfection?
One more thing: the Bible teaches that we are made in the image and likeness of God. So if we can feel pain and pleasure, where did we get it from? It has to mean that we are simply reflecting God in whose image and likeness we were made, doesn't it? Anyway, that's just my 2 cents.
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I feel like God's emotional spectrum (if there's such a thing) is very different from that of humans, and that is incomprehensible be us. And perfection is God.
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