Athetotheist wrote: ↑Sun Dec 10, 2023 2:37 pm Yet you presumably have no problem with the idea of that same deity brutally drowning every innocent child on earth in a global flood.
Is God a deity that is just looking for any opportunity to smite people?
Is God a capricious God? Does God act unpredictably and without any reason for the things that he does?
If God’s actions are just random, then I’d agree it’s not really a God worthy of our devotion. It’d be like being under a dictator who acts on a whim with no rational justification for his negative actions.
In terms of God acting negatively towards people, there is only one reason God would do that – to discipline evil actions and to promote moral good. This is even the same as our government. We would only be fined or go to jail if we did something wrong. It is because of sin that God would judge people.
Were the people who lived before the flood innocent? No. Sin had permeated everyone.
[Gen 6:5 KJV] 5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually.The only one that God considered righteous was Noah.
[Gen 6:8 KJV] 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.He told Noah the entire world would be judged.
[Gen 6:13 KJV] 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.It was around 120 years between this judgment and when the flood came.
[Gen 6:3 KJV] 3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.These 120 years are a countdown to the Flood. In other words, mankind’s violence had reached its peak and God declared that 120 years was the “drop dead” date for mankind who is a mortal being.
https://answersingenesis.org/bible-time … d-the-ark/
During those 120 years, Noah had preached about the upcoming judgment.
[2Pe 2:5 KJV] 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth [person], a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;Not sure how much he used words to preach, but for sure people saw the giant boat he was building in his backyard. Word definitely would have spread about Noah building a massive boat the length of a large schooner to escape the judgment of the flood. However, nobody outside his family believed in his message. But if any would, the ark could’ve accommodated more people.
What about the children that were innocent? It was a 120 year span until the flood came, so the people who heard the warning could’ve decided not to have any children. And if they had children, the parents could’ve given their children to Noah and let them live. And if they didn’t give them to Noah, couldn’t God have supernaturally saved all the innocent children? Doubtful since Noah and his family had to spend a long time building the ark to save themselves. So, if righteous Noah was not saved supernaturally, why would anybody else be saved supernaturally?
So the accusation that God brutally downing every innocent child on earth is a false picture of the flood account. Rather, God had warned the people they would be judged because of their evil hearts. They had 120 years to repent and to accept salvation through the ark. But none except Noah’s family heeded the warning.
https://debatingchristianity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1137877#p1137877