Dave, I really did not intend to suggest that we could, or even should, avoid the issue of the thread. I, for one, do not want to deny the applicability of reason to this question, or any question regarding religion. Of all the gifts man has, I believe one of the most beautiful is that of reason and intellect. If God did not want us to use it to ponder his nature he would not have given it to us period. What I am saying is that when we move into the realm of the metaphysical or the Divine we must use a different measuring tool. As I said in my very first post, to measure God's wisdom or knowledge or goodness or power by that of my own is to become idolatrous. That I am not willing to do. However, I believe I can legitimately use other tools available to me to attempt to intelligently approach this and similar questions. In my last post I attempted to do so by positing that there are ways that a good and all powerful God can demonstrate that goodness other than eliminating everything and anything that one human or another might label as "evil" at some point in history. One way, albeit not the only way, is to allow humans to become his partners in overcoming that said evil. We can do that by discovering vaccines, liberating the oppressed, providing shelter for the homeless, or just holding the victim of a crime.

I truly believe there are things about God that we cannot know. That, however, does not stop me from using every gift I have to discover the things I can know. And I enjoy and benefit from the searches of others as well, agnostic as well as believer. Just because we approach the issue from different angles does not mean we cannot assist and benefit from each other.

Many thanks for the posts.

Freightdawg