Asklemmy

It's not really a guessing game, it's a there's his gospel, we follow his gospel and we're rewarded, which he will ensure everyone has an opportunity to, or they can choose otherwise and receive the level of reward they so desire. No one's going to force somebody to live in a specific way; That's against the point.

It's my understanding that if we know of it in this world and deny it then that's the choice we make, correct? If so, and if all other religions claim the same veracity with the same level of proof/evidence, what makes it different than a guessing game?

And God is good because he gives us a choice. Choice means we can become our own individuals, make our own mistakes, learn, and grow. Which to us is the fundamental answer to the purpose of this life. (Buddhism "Life is Suffering") Otherwise, what's the point of it all? We'd be hollow machines, always living in a good but un-understanding state of being with no opportunities to grow and move forward.

I'm currently having a discussion with someone else in this thread about this basically. Yes we're given freedom to choose, but God created the world exactly how he wanted, with the knowledge of everything that would result, with the power to make literally anything happen, right? If he wanted to he could have created a world where we all freely choose the right thing, even when given the ability to choose the wrong thing. Not machines programmed to choose the right thing, just an omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent designer who sets things up to fall into place perfectly.

The example I just used in that other comment is like setting up dominos. You don't decide the physics of how they'll fall, you just intelligently set them up so they fall the way you want. If you're omnipotent and omniscient then this is trivial for you, and you must be able to do this for people's choices such that they just always choose the right thing. If you're benevolent then this is what you want. You still make just as many choices, but they just all happen to be good.