Assuming there is a God, why did he create humans in the first place? It seems to me there can only be 3 motivations here:
1) He had a “need” for humans.
2) He “wanted” humans.
3) He had no need or want, but just created us willy-nilly, so to speak, attaching no significance to us.
I think we can rule out number 1, because an omnipotent, omniscient, self-sufficient, supreme being certainly has no “need” for anyone or anything else. Otherwise, he would lose his status as omnipotent. And certainly, as inferior beings, we cannot offer him anything that he cannot attain without us.
What about number 2? Why, after what can presumably be an infinite period of time existing in blissful solitude, did he decide that he “wanted” humans? (let’s sidestep the whole issue of Angels here, as the same arguments can be made of them). Was he merely lonely? Bored? However, the qualities of loneliness or boredom don’t strike me as very “Godlike.” And besides, if he was lonely and/or desirous of "sharing his love and compassion", then why not just create us immediately in his heavenly realm? Why the “test” of an earthly existence first? And why has he created (and continues to create) billions of souls? (100 billion humans have come and gone by some estimates). Doesn’t he have enough souls? Is he STILL in need of companionship (if that’s the case)? And why send those souls that are deemed not worthy to eternal damnation if all you wanted was to share love in the first place?
What about number 3? Were we just a cosmic “experiment”, created by a being that is indifferent to us? If he didn’t necessarily WANT us, but created us anyway, then clearly we can’t be that significant to him.
I know that some may say that “we cannot know the mind of God”, and that it’s useless to speculate on his reasons for creating us. But surely there must be SOME logic to his actions. I cannot accept that a (benevolent) God does not employ logic and meaning in his actions.
So then, why would a God need/want inferior beings in the first place? To me this is a topic that doesn’t get enough play when it comes to arguments for and against there being a God.