Has the God deceived us?

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I do not believe that the God has deceived us. This is because he has been open with prophets of long ago on matters that people pondered about. Such as how everything we see came to be, by giving an account of the creation of it all in the book of Genesis.

I don't get this God being open with the ancient prophets thing. Do you mean that God allowed them to say or write whatever they want? So they wrote the bible and other religious scriptures as per their knowledge, probably containing wrong information, and ultimately led today's people towards a false belief?

If that is true, then once again its God who has deceived people. If He could do anything, why he did not avoid those prophets from giving false information to their followers? What was God's intention behind that?

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I don't think this is true. I think that God caused the Big Bang and the events that followed were a part of His plan. You can make jeans look faded and old yes, but you cannot make rocks look old when really it is young. Just because you make something look old it doesn't mean it is old, you can usually tell by the wear in something what its age is. Fossils have been studied and the stone and literally be dated back millions of years, it's not just a guess, it's down to the composition. The universe is 14 billion years old and the earth 4.5 billion years old. Material found on Earth and in space proves that, for example, volcanic material. I don't think that God has deceived us, I don't think He has any reason to.

If the God was powerful enough to create the whole universe, how can He be not capable of making a rock look old, or fool the scientists by making the fossils age thousands of years? For the author's arguments and speculations to be true, either of these things should have happened; either God should have deceived us or the science has got all wrong. But if everything is God's doing, it brings us back to the conclusion that the God has deceived us. But why?

There isn't any reason for him to deceive us. If there's any deceit, then it's from man. To me, I think after creation, every other things were meant to take a path in accordance with the laws of nature. The big bang? The law of nature. The rock aging? Law of nature.

Well, let's say God began everything and then let it the rest to happen according to the law of nature. But then what was left fot the nature to do? God has done all the business by the end of sixth day (if we agree with this author, then it is merely 6000 years).

If God set the big bang to happen and let the rest to happen spontaneously, then what is the credibility for the story of creation that we see in the bible? The more we think and discuss about this, more questions occur, but not answers

[Sushan Ekanayake]

Firstly I don’t think that God somehow deceived anyone secondly why would God make the earth then make it look older than it is? If you think he did it for no reason then he could have created us too for no reason. So yes the earth is as old as science says it is. Let us try to remember that this book isn’t the absolute truth as the absolute truth is unknown, this book is just yet another speculation of what the absolute truth is meaning that the author could be right or wrong.

I agree. This is only a speculation and the author can be either correct or wrong. But what we have to keep in mind is that he has not merely speculated things, he has backed his logic with scholarly articles.

On the other hand, 'no one knows the absolute truth' is a pretty commonly abused statement when it comes to this sort of religious or spiritual questions, since no one can accept them or reject them. So, with all due respect, the creation could have been an outright lie from the very beginning. Maybe it is not God who deceived us, but the ancient story tellers who made up the story

Maybe the stories are not made up, maybe they were misinterpreted at some point. Also, knowing that there have been a lot of translations from the initial documentation of biblical events, one could say that some information may have been lost along the way. Like she said, 'no one knows the absolute truth'.

Yes, no one knows the absolute truth, and there is no way in proving it either. So why this author has raised this point and tried to show a similarity between science and religion? It is he who states with evidence from scriptures that the God has done the work in 6000 years and made it to be seen as billions of years old.

So, is this author telling us a big lie? Or is he disrespecting the God by implying that God deceived humans?

[Sushan Ekanayake]

That's a difficult question to answer. I believe the world has existed for a while. Unfortunately, I would disagree with the author simply because it is all speculation that to God, a day is thousands of years. I side with science for now but I acknowledge his research and sharing his opinions.

Yes, definitely we have to give some credit to the author for his extensive research regarding the subject and developing a compelling theory. But as most of the people believe, I too believe what science has said so far is true. Earth is few billions of years old, and even life on earth is few billions of years old. Maybe this author has misinterpreted some scriptures and come to the conclusion of this 6000 year concept. But apparently it has no value when we look at what we have gained through science

[Heidadela]

I agree that the world is not billions of years as scientists claim. Everything in the Holy Bible works within a time frame and if you are a keen, analytical reader, you will realise that the Earth is 6000+ years but not more than 7000. The Bing Bang is just a scientific theory because everything in science must have a basis, even if that base is imaginary, as long as you can present some facts, then the theory becomes practical.

[cd20]

For the notice, I do not believe in god as well as the creation. I believe that it has happened in the way how science explains.

I understand that this author has no authority regarding religious matters. Yet, apparently he believes in God, and that is why he has tried to prove the creation via an assumption. And that led to this question, whether God has deceived us or not. So, as I can understand, both of these cannot agree. Either God never created the universe, or He has deceived us

Obviously, we will have to agree to disagree. I believe that God created the universe and that He has not deceived us. Wouldn't you have to believe in a God to believe that He has deceived you? if you go with the big bang theory, you have to realize the odds are incredibly slim that it happened that way.

I agree. Even all the scientists do not agree to the big bang theory. But I haven't heard of any scientist who either tried to prove or openly stated that there is evidence to say that God created the universe.

Actually for me to say that God has deceived us or not, there was no need to believe in God the first place. The author has suggested it and in turn, I forwarded the question to the ones who believe in God to see what they think about this concept. As far as I see, this author believes in God, and it is his writing that implies such a deceiving

And when you say God created the universe, there are many religions that believe that concept but in various ways. So what can we choose to trust? Can they all be true? Or can they all be false?

There is a scientist named Stephen Meyer and he has a video on YouTube called "God and the origin of the Universe," if you would like to check it out.
I see your point about the question, I guess you don't have to believe in God to ask a question the author himself asked.
I agree, there are many religions, but there is only ONE true God, and not all religions believe in Him. Not all religions can be true, and obviously, they are not false, but some are. I choose to believe in God, Jesus, Heaven/Hell, and the Holy Bible. Others believe in Buddha, or Mohammad, or whatever. I can't tell you what to trust, and you don't want me to, but there is a lot of research to support Christianity, and that is what I choose to believe. Each person is entitled to do their own research and come to their own conclusions. That might sound like a cop-out, but I am aware of the platform we are on, and I am not trying to convert anyone.

[Maddie Atkinson]

I agree that the world is not billions of years as scientists claim. Everything in the Holy Bible works within a time frame and if you are a keen, analytical reader, you will realise that the Earth is 6000+ years but not more than 7000. The Bing Bang is just a scientific theory because everything in science must have a basis, even if that base is imaginary, as long as you can present some facts, then the theory becomes practical.

There is historical evidence that there have been humans (homo sapiens at least) for more than 7000 years. For example, Stonehenge was built about 5000 years ago, but there is evidence of settlement and human activity, such as ritual practise, from over 10,000 years ago! There is also a lot of evidence for the Big Bang. We also have to remember that the Big Bang is not just the creation of Earth, but of the Universe, which is over 13 billion years ago, the Earth a mere 4.5 billion!

[Maddie Atkinson]

Obviously, we will have to agree to disagree. I believe that God created the universe and that He has not deceived us. Wouldn't you have to believe in a God to believe that He has deceived you? if you go with the big bang theory, you have to realize the odds are incredibly slim that it happened that way.

I agree. Even all the scientists do not agree to the big bang theory. But I haven't heard of any scientist who either tried to prove or openly stated that there is evidence to say that God created the universe.

Actually for me to say that God has deceived us or not, there was no need to believe in God the first place. The author has suggested it and in turn, I forwarded the question to the ones who believe in God to see what they think about this concept. As far as I see, this author believes in God, and it is his writing that implies such a deceiving

And when you say God created the universe, there are many religions that believe that concept but in various ways. So what can we choose to trust? Can they all be true? Or can they all be false?

There is a scientist named Stephen Meyer and he has a video on YouTube called "God and the origin of the Universe," if you would like to check it out.
I see your point about the question, I guess you don't have to believe in God to ask a question the author himself asked.
I agree, there are many religions, but there is only ONE true God, and not all religions believe in Him. Not all religions can be true, and obviously, they are not false, but some are. I choose to believe in God, Jesus, Heaven/Hell, and the Holy Bible. Others believe in Buddha, or Mohammad, or whatever. I can't tell you what to trust, and you don't want me to, but there is a lot of research to support Christianity, and that is what I choose to believe. Each person is entitled to do their own research and come to their own conclusions. That might sound like a cop-out, but I am aware of the platform we are on, and I am not trying to convert anyone.

(Playing devils advocate here) What do you think of Judaism? Because they believe in the same God as Christians, but they do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah that the Old Testament predicts, they are still waiting for theirs. Christianity is technically a schism from Judaism, with modern Judaism being at least 500 years older than Christianity and having its roots 1300 years before that! Islam is also an Abrahamic religion, their God just has a different name. Jesus is very important in the eyes of Muslims and Jews, but rather as a prophet instead of the son of God. So in terms of Abrahamic religions, surely the one true God is the same, just is slightly different contexts? Obviously religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism are not Abrahamic, but we have to remember that while it originated in the middle East/the eastern Roman Empire, Christianity is very much a western phenomenon, not every area of the world believes in it, and not every area of the world would have even heard about Judaism, let alone Christianity back when Jesus was alive, so who are we to tell them there is only one true God, if that god didn't exist to them in the first place? - again, playing devil's advocate, your point is very valid as are your beliefs!

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I agree that the world is not billions of years as scientists claim. Everything in the Holy Bible works within a time frame and if you are a keen, analytical reader, you will realise that the Earth is 6000+ years but not more than 7000. The Bing Bang is just a scientific theory because everything in science must have a basis, even if that base is imaginary, as long as you can present some facts, then the theory becomes practical.

Well, maybe science is having concepts regarding the beginning of universe and for that, they are giving evidence to support their theory. Maybe one day it will be proven as totally wrong.

Yet, when there are abundant archeological evidence to say that the world is billions of years of age, depending on a book which is written by men (true that they claim they are inspired by God, but who knows), it is far more unacceptable to say that world is only 6000 years old. There are evidence for civilizations which were there even before. If all those evidence is false, then as this author suggests, God should have actually deceived humans.

[Nicholus Schroeder]

I do not believe that the God has deceived us. This is because he has been open with prophets of long ago on matters that people pondered about. Such as how everything we see came to be, by giving an account of the creation of it all in the book of Genesis.

I don't get this God being open with the ancient prophets thing. Do you mean that God allowed them to say or write whatever they want? So they wrote the bible and other religious scriptures as per their knowledge, probably containing wrong information, and ultimately led today's people towards a false belief?

If that is true, then once again its God who has deceived people. If He could do anything, why he did not avoid those prophets from giving false information to their followers? What was God's intention behind that?

What I mean is God told his prophets about things that ordinary wondered about, a great example would be the vision that John the Elder received from God about the apocalypse (greek for great revelation) and the instructions from God to write all that he would see. Those scriptures became what is known as the book of revelations. God was honest about the fate of our world.

[Nicholus Schroeder]

I do not believe God deceives his people. God has provided us with life, and how we perceive it, is totally us to us. I think it would be fairer to ask if we are deceiving God.

That's a good point you've raised about whether we're the ones deceiving God. Perhaps we are, some people claim to be servants of God, yet in their hearts they're evil and hurt people.

[cd20]

I agree. Even all the scientists do not agree to the big bang theory. But I haven't heard of any scientist who either tried to prove or openly stated that there is evidence to say that God created the universe.

Actually for me to say that God has deceived us or not, there was no need to believe in God the first place. The author has suggested it and in turn, I forwarded the question to the ones who believe in God to see what they think about this concept. As far as I see, this author believes in God, and it is his writing that implies such a deceiving

And when you say God created the universe, there are many religions that believe that concept but in various ways. So what can we choose to trust? Can they all be true? Or can they all be false?

There is a scientist named Stephen Meyer and he has a video on YouTube called "God and the origin of the Universe," if you would like to check it out.
I see your point about the question, I guess you don't have to believe in God to ask a question the author himself asked.
I agree, there are many religions, but there is only ONE true God, and not all religions believe in Him. Not all religions can be true, and obviously, they are not false, but some are. I choose to believe in God, Jesus, Heaven/Hell, and the Holy Bible. Others believe in Buddha, or Mohammad, or whatever. I can't tell you what to trust, and you don't want me to, but there is a lot of research to support Christianity, and that is what I choose to believe. Each person is entitled to do their own research and come to their own conclusions. That might sound like a cop-out, but I am aware of the platform we are on, and I am not trying to convert anyone.

(Playing devils advocate here) What do you think of Judaism? Because they believe in the same God as Christians, but they do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah that the Old Testament predicts, they are still waiting for theirs. Christianity is technically a schism from Judaism, with modern Judaism being at least 500 years older than Christianity and having its roots 1300 years before that! Islam is also an Abrahamic religion, their God just has a different name. Jesus is very important in the eyes of Muslims and Jews, but rather as a prophet instead of the son of God. So in terms of Abrahamic religions, surely the one true God is the same, just is slightly different contexts? Obviously religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism are not Abrahamic, but we have to remember that while it originated in the middle East/the eastern Roman Empire, Christianity is very much a western phenomenon, not every area of the world believes in it, and not every area of the world would have even heard about Judaism, let alone Christianity back when Jesus was alive, so who are we to tell them there is only one true God, if that god didn't exist to them in the first place? - again, playing devil's advocate, your point is very valid as are your beliefs!

Haha, Maddie, I know you like to play devil's advocate and that is okay. It keeps the conversation lively and makes me think (although my brain hurts today!). I do not know a ton about Judaism, but yes, they believe in one God and they follow the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible, the Law books), but they also have ancient writings that are only for them.
As far as Christianity, the term, it started out as a racial slur...I actually wrote a blog post about it a while back in December, but the word "Christian" is only used three times in the Bible.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I do not believe that the God has deceived us. This is because he has been open with prophets of long ago on matters that people pondered about. Such as how everything we see came to be, by giving an account of the creation of it all in the book of Genesis.

I don't get this God being open with the ancient prophets thing. Do you mean that God allowed them to say or write whatever they want? So they wrote the bible and other religious scriptures as per their knowledge, probably containing wrong information, and ultimately led today's people towards a false belief?

If that is true, then once again its God who has deceived people. If He could do anything, why he did not avoid those prophets from giving false information to their followers? What was God's intention behind that?

What I mean is God told his prophets about things that ordinary wondered about, a great example would be the vision that John the Elder received from God about the apocalypse (greek for great revelation) and the instructions from God to write all that he would see. Those scriptures became what is known as the book of revelations. God was honest about the fate of our world.

Well, I cannot argue upon someone wrote thousands of years ago claiming that God told him that and this, and God told to write too. What I see is anyone can do such a thing and nobody can neither accept nor deny such a claim.

Let's say God was honest with the prophets. But seemingly He has not been totally honest or has choosen what to be told and what not to. Seemingly that is the reason for various ambiguities and incongruences that we see in scriptures

[Guda Lydia]

I honestly do not believe this to be true. Granted, the question of the timeline of the universe is a difficult one, it is also subject to individual understanding and perception. To me, I do not believe it is that complicated God deceiving us. I believe that the school of thought is based on the author's understanding of all the knowledge he has acquired. I also believe not everything will be figured out, some will forever remain a mystery.

[Maddie Atkinson]

There is a scientist named Stephen Meyer and he has a video on YouTube called "God and the origin of the Universe," if you would like to check it out.
I see your point about the question, I guess you don't have to believe in God to ask a question the author himself asked.
I agree, there are many religions, but there is only ONE true God, and not all religions believe in Him. Not all religions can be true, and obviously, they are not false, but some are. I choose to believe in God, Jesus, Heaven/Hell, and the Holy Bible. Others believe in Buddha, or Mohammad, or whatever. I can't tell you what to trust, and you don't want me to, but there is a lot of research to support Christianity, and that is what I choose to believe. Each person is entitled to do their own research and come to their own conclusions. That might sound like a cop-out, but I am aware of the platform we are on, and I am not trying to convert anyone.

(Playing devils advocate here) What do you think of Judaism? Because they believe in the same God as Christians, but they do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah that the Old Testament predicts, they are still waiting for theirs. Christianity is technically a schism from Judaism, with modern Judaism being at least 500 years older than Christianity and having its roots 1300 years before that! Islam is also an Abrahamic religion, their God just has a different name. Jesus is very important in the eyes of Muslims and Jews, but rather as a prophet instead of the son of God. So in terms of Abrahamic religions, surely the one true God is the same, just is slightly different contexts? Obviously religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism are not Abrahamic, but we have to remember that while it originated in the middle East/the eastern Roman Empire, Christianity is very much a western phenomenon, not every area of the world believes in it, and not every area of the world would have even heard about Judaism, let alone Christianity back when Jesus was alive, so who are we to tell them there is only one true God, if that god didn't exist to them in the first place? - again, playing devil's advocate, your point is very valid as are your beliefs!

Haha, Maddie, I know you like to play devil's advocate and that is okay. It keeps the conversation lively and makes me think (although my brain hurts today!). I do not know a ton about Judaism, but yes, they believe in one God and they follow the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible, the Law books), but they also have ancient writings that are only for them.
As far as Christianity, the term, it started out as a racial slur...I actually wrote a blog post about it a while back in December, but the word "Christian" is only used three times in the Bible.

Oh wow I didn't know that, that's really interesting! Was it a racial slur or more of an insult? Because back then racism wasn't really a big thing. There was discrimination sadly, yes, but not so much racism!
I am sorry your brain is hurting today, I shall try to not make you think to much
So all Abrahamic religions tend to follow the same God, they just have different names and contexts for Him! So in essence, to those religions there is one true God and He is the same for all!