Well loving Stem, I'll answer your question again.
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Originally Posted by
stemelbow
I think you're wrong in your attempt to mischaracterize my position as proposing a God who is nothing more than a computer programmer. The last sentence of this paragraph is merely a deflection from my point. Allow me to ask you a few questions to get to the root of it.
Can you explain how you are not trying to make God into nothing more than a programmer in these discussions?
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Did God create ex nihilo in your opinion?
Yes He did. He also created love and choice. Your series of questions does not seem to allow for that.
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Did God know, and in fact, conceive of every deed any of His yet to be created creatures would do before He created them?
Does God design that we do evil? No. God has the foreknowledge to know what we will do. But He is not the author of our sin. We are the author of our sins.
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Thus, if God knew of every evil deed any of His creatures would do before He created them, then that would require that the evil that would be practiced originated in God's own conception, right? For instance Lucifer's rebellion has direct ties to God's knowledge before Lucifer ever was. If God did not conceive of Lucifer's rebellion before creating him from nothing, then Lucifer would never have rebelled. If that is not so, then God would not have really created lucifer from nothing knowing all that he would be.
Already answered.
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If God created absolutely, that is from nothing essentially, then His creations are only a product of what He conceived of them to be. Taking your beliefs logically, God could very well have conceived of every non-existing creature, at the time before He created any, as that which would not do evil...But He did not. Thus, all evil is traced back to His own conception.
With no choice, there is no love. Only executable computer programs.
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But such is merely a matter of deflection. You see, even if as you suggest, "LDS believe that their god wanted Adam to sin", sin already was. Evil was already practiced. Thus evil itself cannot be traced back to God's conception for LDS. Logically speaking LDS are free from the conclusion that God is the source of evil, as mainstreamism, if logically considered, requires.
love,
stem
LDS may not believe their God conceived evil, but your god seems to condone it as he did in your belief about Adam.