>I believe in God. I just don't believe that the Bible is
>infallible truth. It can't be taken literally - there's too
>many contradictions and things that just don't make sense.
>But let's not go down that road, because we'll end up
>agreeing to disagree.

this is a road we need to go down first because if you say you believe in God then you believe in His word. If you have read the Bible then you know this is the only way you are going to learn about Him. I'm willing to go thru what you call contradiction and the things that dont make sense. There is nothing contradicting about the book, it's like you said, " things dont make sense". They will once you get an understanding.


>This is the one that interests me the most, because I wonder
>if people ever stop to consider that maybe God is
>malevolent.
>I mean, He puts us through all the awful shit in the world:
>pain, sorrow, loss, poverty, oppression, rape, murder,
>racism, hatred, etc. If he's omnipotent, He could easily
>prevent it. But He created evil and allows it to continue to
>exist - why?

"He" dont put us thru anything, we put ourselves in these situations. God's way of life dont create these kinds of people. Yes he could easly destroy the world but God is merciful, each day we are given a chance to come on His side instead of him destroying us, be thankful for this. But this is a common response, non believers cant grasp why God allows evil to exist you must read it for yourself. That's really the only way you will get it!


>I would never let someone I love go through that stuff if it
>was in my power to prevent it. So, how do we know he is
>inherently "good" and really loves us? How do we know that
>this life is not just one big game/experiment for God's
>amusement?
>
>Of course, one could also take the stance that God is
>neither good nor evil, neither beneficent nor malevolent,
>because He is above and beyond such concepts. That
>discussion doesn't really go anywhere though.


Quick question for you: If someone you "loved" ( in a true sense) repeatedly disobeyed you, what would you do?