For me, eternal progression means gaining the capacity to love more, becoming less selfish, more patient, more kind, more respectful, more wise, more happy, etc. I don't follow the rest of your post.
Those are all fine qualities, and plenty of people I know, both Christian and not, pursue them. But in what way are they eternal and not concerned with the limited lives we who pursue them lead? And what, other than the assumption that there is a God who knows better than we do, does this have to do with questions of evil, suffering, inaccuracy of biblical accounts, or the apparent inability of a miracle-performing god to perform miracles that convince anyone who isn't already convinced?
I'm not sure in what way you don't follow the rest of my post. It is a common trait of theists, and certainly of many mainstream Christians, that God performs miracles and responds to prayer. And yet, as we see over and over again, people who pray die, and miracles are usually invisible, matters of interpretation, or just plain silly. Transubstantiation, Mary on a tortilla crust, last quarter touchdowns. Meanwhile, when an innocent person dies, religious leaders comfort the bereaved with assurances that it's all part of God's complicated plan, and the poor soul who prayed fervently for comfort is being enfolded in the creator's bosom. The answer to failed prayer is often that the person praying did not have enough real faith, but when he dies his faith becomes wonderful and a guarantee of divine preference.
And I repeat the question: if eternal progression is all you say it is, then how does an atheist who behaves accordingly stack up against a Christian who does not? What would your idea of a God do in this case? The usual dodge is that it's a matter of faith, not works. Which is it to be, then?
