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Imagine this scenario:

There's this dude. He somehow came to be without any cause. Imagine that! Now he's got infinite powers. So he comes up with an idea...he'll create a place with some finite, though intelligent, beings. This place will be perfect (except for the fact that there's an evil snake in it, and the people are capable of sin). Then when they do, he'll curse all of their offspring forever to burn in hell...unless of course they believe that a dude (who won't come for another 4,000 years...God's lazy) died for them and that because he did, they won't burn in a torturous nightmare for all eternity.

Then he won't say or do anything for another 2,000 years that would make an intelligent person think he exists, except write a book (well...have some people write the book, that is) that is wrought with contradictions. Other people will write books about other fake gods, but God doesn't think that taking the same route to reveal His existence that other people have taken to reveal the existence of other gods will be confusing, or damage his credibility to intelligent people. He'll also structure the universe and humans in such a way to make man, through centuries of scientific development, come to the rational conclusion that they evolved from other animals, by doing things like making us with tailbones, and filling the earth with million year old fossils. And if they get thrown off by this, they burn in hell forever. At least two thirds of these people will end up with this horrible fate.

He'll also pack it full of mosquitos, dung beetles and honey badgers. Why? Shut up.

So God thinks about this plan, understands what it entails, and knows all the consequences. Maybe he considers other plans that don't involve so much suffering, superfluousness, and logical contradictions, but in the end, he likes his plan, and goes through with it.

Good job.

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Hi.