QuoteProject
God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent - it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks, please. Cash and in small bills.
Robert A. Heinlein
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote critiques the belief in an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good God while highlighting the absurdity of such faith.

Robert A. Heinlein's quote challenges the rationality of believing in a deity who embodies omnipotence, omniscience, and omnibenevolence simultaneously. By using humor and sarcasm, he suggests that accepting these attributes as coherent can lead one to be taken advantage of, implying that such belief is illogical or a financial scam, thus inviting deeper reflection on faith and reason.

Themes

GodFaithBeliefPhilosophySarcasm

In practice

Example use cases

In a sermon discussing the nature of God and faith.

More from Robert A. Heinlein

The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
An armed society is a polite society.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Long human words (the longer the better) were easy, unmistakable, and rarely changed their meanings . . . but short words were slippery, unpredictable, changing their meanings without any pattern.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere.
Robert A. HeinleinRead

Similar quotes

Time present and time past / are both perhaps present in time future.
T. S. EliotRead
There can be no tyrants where there are no slaves.
Jose RizalRead
The public interest is not always the same as the national interest. Going to war with people who are not our enemy in places that are not a threat doesn't make us safe, and that applies whether it's in Iraq or on the Internet. The Internet is not the enemy. Our economy is not the enemy.
Edward SnowdenRead
Each finite creature can reflect only a fraction of the divine nature; thus, in the diversity of His creatures, God's infinity, unity and oneness appear to be broken into an effulfgence of manifold rays.
Edith SteinRead
Consciousness surely does not depend on language. Babies, many animals, and patients robbed of speech by brain damage are not insensate robots; they have reactions like ours that indicate that someone's home.
Steven PinkerRead
Time really is one big continuous cloth, no? We habitually cut out pieces of time to fit us, so we tend to fool ourselves into thinking that time is our size, but it really goes on and on.
Haruki MurakamiRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Robert A. Heinlein | QuoteProject