I was thinking about the idea of god and how he's to be all-good, all-powerful, all-knowing etc. etc. He/she is explained as being everything, except of course evil since that's a direct contradiction, instead the devil is used to explain the concept of evil.

So why was the universe created? The only thing that I could think of is that an infinitively good being may want to experience something he's not, the one thing he isn't which is evil or sin. If he cannot sin, then our purpose is to sin for him and live the imperfect, pain stricken suffering we call life.



This thread is assuming god is real... whether or not you believe it. I personally don't believe in god but it doesn't make it any less interesting to think about.

Another way to look at it is to see God as a metaphoric representation of good. We can then assume evil as the absence of god (or good). If there was only god (good) we would exist only with god which can be described as Eden, Utopia or Heaven. If there was no god and therefore only evil (the absence of god) we would be living in hell. The balance between Good and evil (God and the absence of) gives rise to the reality we live in where sin and morality keep it in balance.

If we have been created by God, then our lives are pointless and all we do is for naught - because ultimately, it's all up to God and we have no power over him.

My guess is that historically, the notion of a good God developed after the notion of a creator God, on order to dampen the pernicious consequences of the notion of a creator God. But this then introduces the problem of why would God create beings that can suffer, if he is a good God ...

If there was only god (good) we would exist only with god which can be described as Eden, Utopia or Heaven. If there was no god and therefore only evil (the absence of god) we would be living in hell.Why is god only good? Why is the absence of god therefore the presence of (only) bad or evil?
The balance between Good and evil (God and the absence of) gives rise to the reality we live in where sin and morality keep it in balance.
That's a better kind of argument (that it's a balance, or a choice we have). But why can't God be both good and evil? Does it matter if there's a God (only good, or good/bad), or is it more important to us that good and evil exist regardless?