God Created Man In Order To Enjoy His Presence

[zeldarocks]

Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that if Yahweh actually exists, the reason he created humans was so that we could bask in His presence. If that were to be the case, I would find it reasonable that man would experience the height of ecstacy and joy when praising God. In other words: one could say that God created us so that we could enjoy His presence.

In my days as a Christian, I came to this conclusion based on my experience of "high" or ecstacy when in "deep" praise and worship of God; I realized then that perhaps the reason we were created was to ENJOY God, not because He wanted to be worshipped.

 

What do you guys think?

[FreeThinkerNZ]

I don't think god exists.

[zeldarocks]

I don't think god exists.

Neither do I; however, I believe that my case could be used in favor of the existance of God, refuting the argument that He is petty and jealous.

[mwc]

     The bible says our purpose was to be gardeners for a garden that no longer exists.  We really have no purpose any longer.

 

          mwc

[DoubtingNate]

This is the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, which every Presbyterian child is taught from infancy:

 

 

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him for ever.

[a]. Ps. 86:9; Isa. 60:21; Rom. 11:36; I Cor. 6:20; 10:31; Rev. 4:11 . Ps. 16:5-11; 144:15; Isa. 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil. 4:4; Rev. 21:3-4

[mwc]

     I'm sticking with Genesis 2:

 

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.

 

     He doesn't seem concerned with glorification or being enjoyed.  He wants his hedges trimmed and garden plowed (but was angry when Adam pulled that with Eve).

 

     mwc

[TheRedneckProfessor]

I don't think we were created.  We are the product of millions of years of evolutionary progress. 

 

The reason god exists is because our minds would break if we could not willfully suspend disbelief.  We are the only known species to possess self awareness.  We are also aware of our own mortality.  Were we to have to face the idea of our own personal annihilation on a constant basis, we would be unable to cope with the stress and fear of it, let alone be productive members of society. 

 

To overcome this obstacle in the evolution of the human brain, the ability to form cognitive dissonance arose, allowing humans to be vaguely aware of the possibility of death, but treat it like it meant nothing.  Those better adapted at suspending disbelief in this manner lived long enough to pass their genes down to subsequent generations, enhancing the ability to form cognitive dissonance. 

 

Meanwhile, those who were alive still had to face the terrors, perils, and inexplicable facets of life on a hostile planet.  Lightening in the sky, drought, pestilence: none of these had any explanation; neither did death.  Humans created gods in their own image in an effort to explain the things they didn't understand and as a means of comforting themselves in an evironment of randomness and chaos. 

 

In a way, I suppose this could mean that god exists in order for people to enjoy his presence, given that god only exists in the minds of those who believe in it.  But god doesn't exist as anything other than an idea.

[seeker001]

     I'm sticking with Genesis 2:

 

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.

 

     He doesn't seem concerned with glorification or being enjoyed.  He wants his hedges trimmed and garden plowed (but was angry when Adam pulled that with Eve).

 

     mwc

What would it say about a computer programmer who creates an AI for the purpose of worshiping him/her? Would it really be genuine or is it going through the motions you commanded of it? If the AI goes against the programmer (has a glitch), it is the fault of the AI alone, because the programmer is perfect.

 

@Professor, your words remind of this quote:

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of the infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.” 

― H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories

[bornagainathiest]

Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that if Yahweh actually exists, the reason he created humans was so that we could bask in His presence. If that were to be the case, I would find it reasonable that man would experience the height of ecstacy and joy when praising God. In other words: one could say that God created us so that we could enjoy His presence.

 

In my days as a Christian, I came to this conclusion based on my experience of "high" or ecstacy when in "deep" praise and worship of God; I realized then that perhaps the reason we were created was to ENJOY God, not because He wanted to be worshipped.

 

What do you guys think?

 

If God wanted us to bask in His presence... then that's a WANT, isn't it?

 

But God is complete in of Himself and has no WANTS.

 

See the problem, Z?

[mwc]

So we've been free all this time and didn't know it... ("We" being the human race in general.)

Best thing that happened to us was A&E getting kicked out of Eden.

 

     We could try gardening for ourselves but he thought of that and purposely cursed the ground when we got fired (but blamed Adam).  He then took it to a whole other level with the flood.  That couldn't have been good for the soil.  But after that a few of his followers apparently decided he told them that we could then have the privilege of thinking he was great for all time.  What a deal.

 

          mwc

[Vigile]

 

So we've been free all this time and didn't know it... ("We" being the human race in general.)

Best thing that happened to us was A&E getting kicked out of Eden.

 

     We could try gardening for ourselves but he thought of that and purposely cursed the ground when we got fired (but blamed Adam).  He then took it to a whole other level with the flood.  That couldn't have been good for the soil.  But after that a few of his followers apparently decided he told them that we could then have the privilege of thinking he was great for all time.  What a deal.

 

          mwc

 

 

Fortunately, Monsanto has since developed an anti-curse fertilizer.  It's really just bullshit, but they put a patent on it so you can't legally call it that. 

[mymistake]

Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that if Yahweh actually exists, the reason he created humans was so that we could bask in His presence. If that were to be the case, I would find it reasonable that man would experience the height of ecstacy and joy when praising God. In other words: one could say that God created us so that we could enjoy His presence.

 

In my days as a Christian, I came to this conclusion based on my experience of "high" or ecstacy when in "deep" praise and worship of God; I realized then that perhaps the reason we were created was to ENJOY God, not because He wanted to be worshipped.

 

What do you guys think?

 

 

The whole thing is silly.

 

 

God the Father, God the Son and God the Undefined Spirit are sitting around nothing.  And they are having such a good time that they do nothing for all eternity.  Nothing is ever needed.  So for an infinite number of years they do not create anything at all.

 

Then suddenly one day they decide to create our universe.  Nothing changed.  They were just as happy as during the eternity when they waited and did nothing.  They just woke up one day and decided to create a universe.  Maybe they did it so that in on tiny speck of that universe 14.2 billion years after it was created there would be a small world orbiting a small star where creatures would evolve that would enjoy God.

 

And now God the Father, God the Son and God the Undefined Spirit are going to do nothing for another infinite number of years.

 

Oh and these Jokers made pork delicious, made some people gay, put foreskins on the end of penises and made fig trees not bear fruit most of the time even though they hate all of those things.  No reason.  They just hate them all.  And they created cancer, poison spiders, poison snakes, poison oak, poison ivy, tape worms, heart disease, dementia, death, suffering, starvation, and tooth aches.  No reason.  They just did it.

 

 

 

 

A simpler explanation is that there is no god but a worship service is designed to put religious people into a trance-like state.

[Bayard]

Do you want to know the REAL reason we are alive?

 

 

So that we can be the eyes, and ears, and conscience of the Creator of the Universe.

 

Kurt Vonnegut aside, your hypothesis is flawed because it neglects the reality of pain and suffering. If we were created by God, we were created to suffer and die, not to "enjoy His presence." Even better, if you were created with bad brain chemicals that make you do bad things (back to Vonnegut) you were created to suffer and die and then continue suffering for all eternity, according to orthodox Christian theology. How does that sound to you?

[sdelsolray]

Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that if Yahweh actually exists, the reason he created humans was so that we could bask in His presence. If that were to be the case, I would find it reasonable that man would experience the height of ecstacy and joy when praising God. In other words: one could say that God created us so that we could enjoy His presence.

 

In my days as a Christian, I came to this conclusion based on my experience of "high" or ecstacy when in "deep" praise and worship of God; I realized then that perhaps the reason we were created was to ENJOY God, not because He wanted to be worshipped.

 

What do you guys think?

Besides the requested assumption "if Yahweh actually exists", it also appears you have several other unspoken or implied assumptions concerning the nature of this assumed entity.  That's fine, but when dealing with assumptions for the purpose of discourse, it is just as easy to exclude one of more of those implied assumptions.  For example, I could assume this Yahweh entity couldn't care less about being worshipped, loved or acknowledged.

[gall]

Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that if Yahweh actually exists, the reason he created humans was so that we could bask in His presence. If that were to be the case, I would find it reasonable that man would experience the height of ecstacy and joy when praising God. In other words: one could say that God created us so that we could enjoy His presence.

 

In my days as a Christian, I came to this conclusion based on my experience of "high" or ecstacy when in "deep" praise and worship of God; I realized then that perhaps the reason we were created was to ENJOY God, not because He wanted to be worshipped.

 

What do you guys think?

 

not releveant at all seeing as how it is all fake. I think people spend a lot of time musing over fantasy rather than proving what they claim. I could care less what god was or is or blah blah blah (sorry to be rude but it gets old) he is not up there out there in there.

 

If a being did exist outside of time and space why the shit would he care what we did when the entire universe is his playground. I for one would be doing something more interesting than watching us fight and fuck. He would smoosh us like ants if he was really up there.