User blog comment:DYBAD/Character Sheet/@comment-25135454-20171011120908/@comment-25135454-20171024120318

After this one, I think we should make another thread again :o

The discrepancy between God's portrayal in the Old Testament to the New One is so blatant that it has been one of those "atheism-bringers" along with the likes of the Problem of Evil. I mean... Even the most atheist of all must admit that Jesus was a moral teacher like no other, preaching love, peace and freedom on a time these three weren't the law. Contrast that to the punisher God in the Old Testament and you get a pretty large room for doubt. However, one thing must always be remembered: in those times, humanity was still on it's diapers when it came to morals. The brutality of the older civilizations knew no bounds, mainly because even their gods endorsed such brutalities. Everything started to change with Greek Philosophy, then with Roman Law and then finally with Christian Faith, the final ingredient for the Western Civilization we all know and love. While we still have our problems, the freedom we have today can't be compared to the one we had before.

To tell you the truth, I also believed the same way. But then I learned that this conception that Faith and Reason are irreconcilable come from Renaissance in their effort to disprove the Church after the Middle Ages. In those times (called the Dark Ages by it's supposed hiatus in the progress of knowledge), Scholasticism was born and, basically, it's whole point is reconciling Faith and Reason. There are thousands upon thousands of books written over the problems and doubts on the Christian faith. If before the Middle Ages, people could argue that the Church's followers believed on it blindly, they couldn't argue that after that time. While this knowledge remains in the dark for most people (and for the majority of believers, mind you), the Church does have a solid base on Reason too.

The hope for an end to suffering will be part of us as long as suffering also exists. I also believe that the fact that we, inevitably, dream for a better world despite the evidence on the contrary... Is just a hint that it really might exist somewhere-somewhen.

Their souls aren't Ether-based. Their entire soul is the fragment bestowed upon them. All beings are composed of 4 parts: body, mind, spirit and soul. In my works, the concept of soul is different than the common one. The soul is just the fragment from the Endless Soul that came from the Great Guardian and it's sole function is allowing the practice of the Ethereal Arts. Thus, the First Soul can't create them because they are the only thing that is beyond the power of the Ethereal Arts. They belong to the Great Guardian and to him alone. GG also doesn't create souls because... Well, his omnipotence is the Ethereal Arts, and if creating souls are beyond the power of the Ethereal Arts, even him can't create souls through it. However, he is the only possessor of an Endless Soul, and can fragment it how much he wants into the "smaller", standard souls that grant access to a infinitesimal fraction of his powers. The best the First Soul can do is creating a race of sapient beings that possess bodies, minds and souls. And that's already a great achievement! These beings are fundamentally equal to the beings the Great Guardian himself created, but lack the souls he gave to them when the Great Travel began. The Ether-relay theory is definetely possible. One of the main testaments to one's skill on the Ethereal Arts is bestowing the power of one of your orbs to another person, and I don't even need to say that the First Soul can do it without effort. His nigh-omniscience/presence, allied with his intelligence, make it definetely possible for him to see all situations and bestow powers to his creations whenever they are needed.

I have one thing to confess: perhaps the greatest obstacle to my faith today is that the Catholic faith teaches that the final destiny for humanity is an Assimilation Plot, when we will unite with God and become new beings, forgetting the old ones. While I can see reasons for that, my memories are all too precious for me. But to be fair, I didn't got deeper on this problem. It's incredibly a problem that doesn't seem to worry people so much. I guess they don't really care what happens after they die, as long as they don't go to Hell.

And that's a big disagreement between us: I do think that humans were made for infinity.

Maybe the way I told you the story gave the impression that it all lasted for a short time, but in fact it was the opposite. The First Soul got the love for creating from the Great Guardian and when he created his own world with his own race, it was, in a sense, him leaving the Great Guardian shadow. He saw all the worlds and all the races, and wanted to create one world and one race different from them all. He made all of it because he wanted to make it. However, if the Great Guardian disapproved of it, he would be deeply conflicted and would try to argue however he could. If the Great Guardian still didn't approve, he would end up destroying everything he made. But the Great Guardian would never do that. He is infinitely powerful and, from his perspective, a boy carving a horse out of a piece of wood and the First Soul creating an entire world out of Ether are sorta-kinda equal to him and both are worthy of praise and encouragement. The world and the people of the First Soul enjoyed a long time of happiness alongside their "father", far beyond the time we humans have spent on Earth in real life. And they could continue existing like that indefinetely. The Great Guardian didn't mind it. In fact, he liked it because everything that was created by his creations enriched his own creation in the first place. But he wouldn't seed his soul into the First Soul people if he didn't ask out of respect. The whole thing was "a lesson in humility" only from the First Soul perspective. It was never the Great Guardian intention in the first place.

It is wrong indeed. However, you can't place any fault on the First Soul. These wars would be caused by his creations and them alone. I mean... We need to do everything on our power to save lives and stop murder and wars. But that applies to us because we are human and we don't have so much power. While we can save lives, and some of us can save alot, we can't stop wars by ourselves. However, the First Soul has the power to do so. I think that trying to apply this same logic to him is wrong. He is different. If he did everything he could, then free will would suffer a titanic blow.

To be fair, I'm mainly discussing the logical implications of the behavior of such a powerful entity. Your "to hell with free-will" is a very heartwarming idea for me, and among the countless contributions you already made, it may be the biggest one. A world with the First Soul caring for us with all his power is going to be better, because he is such a nice guy. To tell the truth, the doubt over whether or not he should act to stop every evil he could come mostly from his head. When he finally met the Great Guardian again and asked if he could do so, the Great Guardian replied something along the lines of "Why wouldn't you?" :P

If you are wondering, the First Soul does have a weakness. Well, it isn't as much a weakness as is a logical limit. He's only omniscient/present in the dimension he is in. Maybe I wasn't clear, but the First Soul didn't create just one planet on the Road, but an entire dimension (although his dimension had only one world on it). When he crossed the portal to his dimension to begin creating, he left the Road entirely. And then, much shit (much much much much shit) happened because he wasn't there. After all, he was the "Guardian Angel" of the Road before the Great Guardian gifted all sapient beings with his souls and the Ethereal Arts. When he returned and saw all the shit... He got angry for the very first time. And it wasn't pretty. But that's a story for another comment. At the time, the Orb of Creation was his most powerful Orb. Some (long) time after those events, he made the Orb of Logic and overcame his "weakness" and was finally nigh-omniscient/present on all dimensions.