Bible believers are usually very fond of making claims about
"God".
Christians will always chirp about how God made man perfect and
that man "sinned" and became imperfect.
This issue falls into the category of misleading and false
advertising done by Christians and it's one of the worst examples
of how they will define words in whatever way suits their needs.
This commonly used ploy of claiming that the Bible God is perfect
but that man sinned and became imperfect is used to relieve God
of the responsibility for creating something that performed an
imperfect act.
Christians are simply making a claim that sounds good on paper or
in a sermon but really has no meaning when examined beneath the
surface.
Claiming that a particular God is perfect has important
ramifications. Let's examine how this claim holds up under some
basic scrutiny and examination.
First, let's look at what the word "perfect" means.
The word PERFECT in it's formal, literal, and strict sense
means to be without flaw.
The FORMAL meaning of perfect is:
1. without faults: without errors, flaws, or faults
Perfect in an INFORMAL sense means:
2. complete and whole: complete and lacking nothing essential
When Christians use the word "perfect" to describe
God's works, they really mean that God created man with INFORMAL
perfection. This becomes obvious once you start asking questions
and hold the Christian claim up to the light and examine it.
INFORMAL perfection is complete but also temporary. It has no
staying power, and it has flaws which appear with time.
If "sin" is wrong, incorrect, or an imperfect act, then
God did not create man perfect in a literal and formal sense.
As soon as a perfect being "sins" or does anything
which is "wrong", it proves that the being wasn't
created perfect in the first place.
INFORMAL perfection is the product of a God that is not all
powerful or not truly perfect in his actions.
Either God deliberately created man knowing that he was creating
something which had a flaw or there is no such thing as
"sin".
A truly perfect being, perfect in the FORMAL use of the word,
cannot at any time create something which is flawed, cannot
perform an imperfect act, and cannot make an imperfect choice.
There is no way around this logic except to use the word perfect
in an INFORMAL sense and really mean that God created man
initially sinless but with imperfections.
The problem is that Christians attempt to pass off the word
perfect in the FORMAL sense because they have to portray their
God as ultimate source of FORMAL perfection.
The Bible portrays God as perfect.
Deut 32:4
He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
If this verse is to have any real meaning at all, then God's
works must be perfect in a FORMAL sense. Anything less than a
formal meaning is not perfection in a Godly sense. So God's works
have no flaws if God is all-powerful and the very essence of
perfection.
Yet, God's works are flawed because they make imperfect choices.
Christians want people to think that the Bible God is perfect and
that he can do nothing which is imperfect and so they will make
claims that can't stand up to scrutiny and then attempt to dilute
the meaning of the words used to prove the claim.
This tactic is akin to saying that an all black horse is all
black only some of the time.
The last thing Christians want is to have their God creating
anything that is less than perfect.
How do Christians get around this glaring dilemma of a perfect
god that creates imperfect beings? They simply declare that God
created man perfect but that man caused his own imperfection. God
was simply a bystander to the imperfection.
However, Christians are left with the problem that their God
created something which was FORMALLY imperfect and flawed. Of
course they will simply switch the meaning of perfect to an
INFORMAL sense to escape the dilemma.
Another example of Godly imperfection can easily be demonstrated:
The Bible God(whose works are perfect according to Deut 32:4),
repented from making his creation.
Gen 6:6-7
And the LORD repented that He had made man on the earth, and it
grieved Him in His heart.
And the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created
from the face of the earth, both man and beast,
and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air, for I repent
that I have made them."
Since God was sorry and regretted that he made man, it's only
logical to say that God made an imperfect decision when he
created man in the first place.
Now we have two imperfections originating from a perfect deity:
1) God performed an imperfect act when he created the world
and man.
2) Man, a work of God, performed an imperfect act when he
"sinned".
If what God made was truly perfect, perfect in a Godly sense,
perfect in a formal sense, there would be no need to regret or
repent from that creation.
The bottom line is that Christians will make claims which attempt
to portray their God as the ultimate in perfection yet they will
quickly adopt INFORMAL uses of the word perfect in order to mask
the less than perfect actions of their God.
The final ploy Christians will use to escape all the problems
which their chronic disfunctional logic produces is the claim
that God gave man "free" will which allows man to make
imperfect decisions despite his God given "perfection".
Once again, this ploy falls apart when examined objectively. No
matter how much "free" will a perfect being has, if it
ever makes an imperfect choice or sins, then it wasn't made
perfect in the first place.
Formal perfection excludes the possibility of ever sinning. The
"free" will being can only make decisions which are
perfect in all senses. Either there is no such thing as sin or
God didn't make man perfect.
That would lead to the conclusion that God deliberately created
man imperfect so that he could have "free" will.
To summarize:
Christians can't have it both ways. Either all of the Bible
God's works are not truly perfect as the Bible says, or man never
"sinned" in the first place. Either explanation
Christians choose paints them into a theological corner that
results in a doctrinal contradiction of massive proportions.
[Footnote on "free" will:
The "free" will claim is one of the most dishonest put
forth by Christians to excuse God from making an imperfect
creation.
When Christians attempt to use the "free" will ploy,
they again butcher the dictionary and ignore what words mean.
The word "free" means without charge.
There is no such thing as "free" will or
"free" choice if an incorrect choice is punished.
Christianity plants it's foundations squarely on an ultimatum. An
incorrect "free" choice lands you in hell as
retribution for your failure to make the correct choice or reach
a correct conclusion that a character named Jesus is your savior.
There is nothing "free" about it in any sense. It's the
type of ultimatum the Mafia gives to shopkeepers when they give
them the "free" will to either pay protection money to
the Mafia or face the results of their "free" choice
not to pay up.
The "free" will claim as advertised by Christians is
bogus and a sham.
Christians would do well to read what their Bible says before
making such dishonest claims about the Bible God giving man
"free" will. The New Testament shoots the
"free" will claim to pieces:
Eph 1:4-5,11
For he(God) chose us(believers) in him before the creation of the
world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he(God)
PREDESTINED us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in
accordance with his pleasure and will--
In him we(believers) were also chosen, having been PREDESTINED
according to the plan of him(God) who works out everything in
conformity with the purpose of his will,
Note from the following verses that:
God PREDESTINES at least some people to their fate.
Predestine means to determine in advance. There is no
"free" will when your fate is determined in advance by
God before you were even born.
Everything is worked out according to HIS(God's) pleasure and
conforms to HIS(God's) purpose and will.
The Bible God is the one with "free" will, not the
creation. As the verses so clearly state, HIS plan, HIS pleasure,
HIS purpose, HIS will.
The next time you hear a Christian attempt to make claims about
the Bible God, always keep a dictionary and Bible handy to remind
yourself how shallow and deceptive their advertising really is.]
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