Assuming you are addressing the above question to expiated and not to some other poster I am unable to see because they are on my ignore list, and assuming that I agree with everything you wrote exactly the way you expressed it, my answer would be: "I haven't a clue!" If I were living in Persia during the reign of King Cyrus, I might have asked, “Why is God completely ignoring the prayers of such a genuinely sincere believer like the prophet Daniel?” But, it is only because of God’s revealed Word that I am aware the God didn’t ignore Daniel’s prayers. As Richard Roberts wrote in his book, The Good News Is the Bad News Is Wrong! …There's an invisible world between us and heaven which is far more alive than we can possibly imagine. And from that realm, the fallen archangel Lucifer (the devil), who is in constant warfare against God's people, launches his fiery missiles to try to stop our miracles. If you read the rest of that story, you'll find that somewhere behind the scenes, in a domain unseen by the natural eye, a great battle was raging. Satan, the prince of the powers of the air, had dispatched one of his demonic angels to intercept the angel of God to try to keep him from reaching Daniel with the answer. In a moment's time, the forces of the devil were roaring against the forces of the living God. While the prophet continued to pray and groan and cry out to the Lord, a powerful demonic prince, the prince of Persia, engaged the heavenly angel in deadly combat. Finally, God dispatched another warrior angel from heaven to crush this terrible satanic foe, and together they sent Daniel's answer winging on its way again. The angel of God finally arrived on the scene with the answer to Daniel's prayers, but the devil had delayed that miracle for 21 days! And why did God allow Job (who lived in the land of Uz) to suffer so terribly? It is only because of Scripture that I’m aware of this stemming from a challenge put forth by Satan. Aside from what’s written in the Bible, I know virtually nothing at all about God, and even much of what I DO know I don't understand. As God states in Isaiah 55:8-9… “This plan of mine is not what you would work out, neither are my thoughts the same as yours! For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than yours, and my thoughts than yours.”
“We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.” Bishop Desmond Tutu
Note: The following is an edited re-post of my last response here to this question, edited for misspellings and readability. Please use this version for reference. It (this world) would be self induced (according to my thesis) through aberrations in normal psychology ( non normal functions of mind power). The "physical" world is more like psycho-somatic meta (mind) phenomenon that is never more hard-firm-dense than the mind itself (mind over matter). It has been described as an "illusion", "dream", or "mirage" (gospel of Thomas). The substance if a physical world is not really hard-dense except through the belief (faith) of wishing participants (wishing rather than willing). There is only one participant divided into an apparent many. The organization of physical particles (physics) is mainly through intent, after which the mechanics of faith takes over and manifests one's wishes. The seer sees what s/he wishes to see. This is not obvious hence the self deceiving nature of faith. Ok thats more of a what and how. What about why? Why is about a quest for more . MORE should be capitalized . It's not a quest of anything that actually exists. It's like a thought exercise. It's not the exploration of evil or the absence of good as if those concepts existed. Neither is the intention to have less. Less is the functional consequence of exploring (through abnormal aberrations and functions of mind power) what might be more than everything. This exploration is conceptual (and can never be more than conceptual) because it goes off into the unknown beyond the pale of the possible. Using building terms, it would be like blueprints that never actually got built (never became a reality). Archetypes. Theory. Concepts. Symbols. This is as far as "this world" (the manifest world of man) goes. It never becomes a "reality" as though it would last forever. It is made in an abnormal domain I call "imagination". Man is manifest as an "image " out of the foundry of this imaginative zone (think Twilight Zone). An image is an APPEARANCE (like a mirage). Man's world is everything a powerful imagination could imagine...but which could never be true. The reason it's not true is because it is not even possible. To understand this ask yourself if its possible to be dead and alive at the same time? Is it possible to be awake and asleep at the same time? To know and not know at the same time. Pregnant and not pregnant? Left and right? Hot and cold? Tall and small? In and out? High and low? Male and female? Black and white? Republican and Democrat? Finally , could you make good and evil (what is not good) coexist together in union? If you can somehow make these exclusive incompatibilities co-exist (in your experience) then you would have MORE than what is even possible. Not even Christ could make these impossibilities possible, and yet, a portion of the mind of Christ is abrogated for an attempt to prove it can be done (made true). What is mutually exclusive is impossible to combine, yet the mind tries. It could only make them coexist by FORCE of FAITH. Indeed, faith is synonymous with force, as deception (in this case self deception) is the most fundamental phenomenon of force. All additional scenarios of force derive from a basic self deception about what is possible in order to gain MORE. Man's world is the manifestation of an attempt to combine mutually exclusive qualities in order to achieve more. It is the reason one should "be careful what you wish for", as it is that manifestation of wishful thinking. It is "real" only to participants, embedded as actors. Again, there is only one participant. Mankind is still motivated by the same motives of the one participant. It is beyond man's purview to say/explain how or why he was "made". But I'm trying. I would not say it's an intent or attempt to subject oneself (deceive oneself) to a known falsity. I would say it's curiosity about what might be, only to find out later that it is actually a total self-deception that is potentially very damaging if any of the falsehoods were true/real. Going back to what I call the original condition there were only known knowns, hence knowledge. The original Being (what i call "Christ") is the totality of everything known. So knowledge is always of the Self. There was (and still is) no such thing as faith, which is a theoretical opposite that cannot coexist with what is known (knowledge). Since knowledge is always of the Self, faith is always of another kind of "self". Faith is about changing the Self into something else, something fake, something it is not. What knows believes nothing, while what believes knows nothing. In a land of knowledge faith is anathema, while in a land of faith knowledge is anathema. Not surprisingly, in a narrative that glorifies the impossible union of mutually exclusive opposites (famous Jewish literature) so also is knowledge made into some kind of anathema worthy of punishment. In that strange fantasy land, it is wrong for man to have the same knowledge as his maker. Going back once again to the original condition, the original state of Being includes everything that is possible (all things so-to-speak). Since the Self is everything, only the Self is possible. Beyond the possible is the "unknown", another "self" that might have "more". It is not as though a realm of the unknown exists (there is not other Self). It doesn't exist except through tricks one might play upon ones own mind (hence self deception). Thus, neither is it "evil" as we have come to experience it, since what does not exist cannot be anything. The intention to explore the unknown is not knowingly self-destructive. It is, after all, the unknown! Thus the exploration of the unknown (through self deceptive force of faith ) cannot be described as pre-meditated. Maybe it could be described as curiosity, only to find out just how destructive it is to the Self. Theoretically if you start with everything and add more, you still have everything, except you now have more than what you thought you had in the beginning. In theory if it was ok to have everything before it's still ok to have everything (only more). But to get more you will have to start playing tricks on your mind as it is impossible to have more (or be more....more about that later) than everything! The primary trick one must play is what I call IGNORANCE. Ignorance derives from a mind that knows everything already (doesn't need to, nor can it know more) but must ignore that fact in order to gain more "knowledge" so-called. One achieves this ignorance by being vigilant against actual knowledge so that faith can just make shit up as it goes. This is the basis of "enmity" between "the flesh" (the ignorant) versus the "spirit " (that which knows). Anyway, faith does not explore anything that actually exists. It makes shit up as it goes, manifests its shit, then forgets how it made the shit up. Man then comes along and explores faith's manifestation and, accumulating more and more observations man acquires "knowledge" so-called. This is the pathetic way man is able to gain MORE knowledge than even Christ! But in gaining this so-called knowledge, man loses the soul (original condition) of the one participant. As faith-based shit is exchanged for true knowledge, man's "soul" is "lost" in ever more darker and darker confusion about the Self. So the impetus is MORE. This is still what motivates the extensions (mankind) of the one original participant, which I've called "the prodigal son", but what ignorant minds might call "God". I avoid the term "devil" but that is also a term used for the "god of this world". For example, when sailors leave shore to go into the unknown to look for MORE unknown spices, these sailors manifest the very same kinds of motive that motivate what I call the prodigal son. The sailors don't intend for themselves the pains of peril along the way. Peril (evil) is simply a functional consequence of their wishful thinking to add more to their wealth...a consequence of some kind of ignorance that breeds greed (a gratuitous wish for more). The further they go, the more likely they will be "lost" (confused about where they came from). The further they go the more lucky they will be to return "home" without permanent damage. Such is the quest of mankind, which is extremely far out from Reality. This is potentially damaging to the Self and does represent the destruction of the Self if it could be "true". Going back once more to the original condition, the original Being (I call "Christ") both knows everything (believes nothing) and IS everything. So it knows it's Self. "Know thyself" is a wise philosophical appeal to cease and desist vigilant ignorance (work) of one's original condition, in order to rest in peace.
Leading up to my current world-view i did read some books that perhaps helped. For a while, my main interest was in the power of the mind, whatever that might be. There are books that present strong suggestion for one universal mind presiding over all the matter we call our "world". My interest was because someone close to me was losing her mind and i was interested in finding solutions. In her case, the things she believed were very destructive. I was wondering if it was possible to change what we believed so that it is more constructive. But i was also interested in making money and was looking at marketing methods. In the study of marketing i was recommended two books to read: "Think And Grow Rich" and "Psycho-Cybernetics". These get more into the weeds as to how faith works in man's experience to manifest wished-for results. After that there were books like "Money Is My Friend" and others having to do with the "laws" of "attraction" and "manifestation". These get into the weeds, but don't really explain the big picture. Even so, they may be helpful in getting some anecdotal evidence of what i might call low magic. These are attempts to manipulate the status quo and make changes in one's experience of a world that was originally built on similar principles, on what i call high magic. As i've said, man is still motivated in the same ways as was/is the "prodigal son", the maker of man's world (the status quo). These books might help understand the power and fluidity of the mind. This is important if one wishes to overcome the problems in the mind. These books do not discuss the problems we find in manifesting our wishes, or why manifestation is so problematic, or at least so often sabotaged by the very same mind we are trying to train/use for our manifestations. My world-view helps explain why self-sabotage remains our biggest problem...why faith is inherently problematic.
Stu wrote, "We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners." You wrote something true to God's word, for a change, even though you did it with a negative connotation. My understanding of your reasoning is that you judge God to be wrong to forgive very wicked people simply because they "accepted Christ." This does make sense from a superficial standpoint....which is why it's dangerous to trust our own intuition...our ways are not God's ways. That doesn't mean we blindly trust or throw out reason, it means we need to be careful that our own intellect doesn't blind us to God's revealed truth. However, it neglects the very foundational truth that such forgiveness is based upon. God paid the highest price possible, even the sacrifice of Himself, in the person of God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he suffered so much in our place. The Innocent punished for the guilty. Every murder, rape, and most hideous sins God is able to forgive because of what Jesus suffered. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6 Good overcame evil at the cross, because of love. "He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness]. 2 Corinthians 5:21 Amplified version of the Bible To those who repent and receive God's offer of reconciliation through Christ, we are granted to be seen as covered in Christ's righteousness. To those who do not receive Christ: "whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." John 3:18 "....the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars-they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfer. This is the second death. Revelation 21:8 NIV God does not desire that anyone "perish" in the second death. See 2 Peter 3:9 God suffered greatly to be able to receive us to Himself. Yet, He does give the choice to us to reject Him. One of the saddest verses in the Bible, in my opinion, is this one: "He came to his own creation, yet his own people did not receive him." John 1:11 ISV All eternity hangs on your answer to this one question. Will you receive the Lord Jesus Christ? "However, to all who received him, those believing in his name, he gave authority to become God's children." John 1:12 ISV
What things are you considering to be false? (BTW, a good resource you may like is https://www.gotquestions.org/ )
Some philosophies describe the world as maya meaning illusion . I think the idea is to transcend this world through work , as in mind work like meditating and purification of mind etc Then a hidden world begins to reveal itself .
If that is your understanding then I must disabuse you of it. I don't presuppose God is capable of anything, including forgiving for whatever reason even the one as bizarre as you suggest. God is in fact and in all terms imaginary. Always was, still is and actually has to be. Just like with any imaginary friend, they literally wouldn't be what they are, if they weren't imaginary. But in any case, if this totally human imagined concept was truly a benevolent God as it is claimed to be, then it should really have no need to forgive anything but itself for the things it is said to have done. Dude, you're trying to rationalize an imaginary concept which is supposed to create everyone with sin, whether they like it or not, contradictorily removing free will which it was supposed to have created, so that it can then kill itself as a sacrifice to itself, to forgive or "save" everyone from the sin it originally condemned them with in the first place. I mean... really, come on! Throwing Bible verses at me to justify that nonsense just makes the whole shebang sound even more absurd. A God that condemns for the f#k ups it clearly made itself in "revealed words" makes itself worthy of censure. Why folks are so prepared to fall for such religious nonsense whether in story form or not is what's so fascinating, but then that's probably because so many people are scared and/or suffer from FOMO , even when it is to do with imaginary things.
if the world is an illusion, then any transcendence or meditation or purification of mind or any "hidden world" along with everything you think, must also be an illusion. Illusions within an illusion is just more illusion. Some philosophies just don't think things through.
Very enlightening topic. I do believe in god and firmly believe we are destined to a better place and reunite with loved ones.