If God is all knowing, doesn't that make him powerless?

Question

We are taught that God is all-powerful, and all-knowing;He knows everything that has happened, that is happening, and (and this is important) everything that will happen. Doesn't this mean that, from God's point of view everything has already happened, and He is, therefore a powerless passenger in a series of events that, for Him, have already occurred ? And, if he is powerless, then He's not omnipotent, and therefore, He's not God. And if he believes he can change things, then He doesn't know everything, and is also, therefore, not God.

Answer 1

Stop driving yourself nuts with this drivel!

Answer 2

If u really want some intelligent answers (answers that cannot be undone easily by your or anybody's logic) to this and many many more such questions please read the book "Mystic's Musings" available at www.indiayogi.com (for Indians) and at www.amazon.com otherwise.

According to our concept of omnipresent and omniscient, God is the past , the present and the future. Now how do you break that down?
See the point is that the Creator is said to be omnipresent- which means he has to be everywhere in time as well as in space, isnt it? Now who or what can be everywhere? Only something that has no form can be everywhere. The moment you say 'something' u r implying that there is a form- which means u r not talking about the creator anymore. Only that which has no form can be 'everywhere'. In other words only 'no-thing' can be everywhere. That is why in the yogic traditions the creator is referred to as nothingness or emptyness.
Does this sound absurd?
The point being that one cannot talk logically about the creator. That dimension of existence which is referred to as the divine or creator cannot be understood logically. One has to go beyond the intellect or logical mind to understand or grasp the dimensions v r talking about here.

Another way to look at this is: using only your conscious mind you r trying to grasp that which created u. Now scientists tell us that our conscious mind is only 7%-8% or our total mind. Do u think the creator can be understood by so easily? Take my word for it- he cant be. So one needs to learn to use the remaining 92%-93% of his mind and when that happens one will automatically come face to face with the creator- this is what is called "enlightenment" which happened to people like Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha and to so many others.

If you really want to know more pl read the book I suggested.

Enjoy

Answer 3

I'd say you have a good argument. It also shows that the God or should I say the Gods in religions are clearly created by none other than man. Further proof of that is that each religion claims that their God is the only real one !!! With this claim, there is a lot of totally unnecessary fighting and bloodshed and loss of brotherhood among all men in the world. If one would care to ponder on these things as a responsible person, then the sorry plight of a divided humanity becomes quite clear. If one would embark on a truly intelligent enquiry only, perhaps, one would have a chance of discovering the real God (not man created Gods of religions) that is responsible for creating the marvel of human being and all the other astonishing variety of creatures together with this wonderful earth with all its natural magic.

Answer 4

Humans created the past, present and future. In reality, there is only now. God knows everything that is going on now and knows how now came about. The present isnt caused by some pre-determined idea. It is creative, and this is the power of God, creation. Creation didnt happen when the world began, it happens every instant. We have God's power to choose now how God experiences himself. So, in a sense, God only has as much power as we give him, but in another sense, His power of creation and renewal can never be destroyed.

Answer 5

Well if He knows all possible outcomes. It means He can choose which path to follow. This doesn't limit Him at all or make Him powerless.

In a way think of it as a chess game. Some people are so skilled they can determine from the first or second move how to beat you. God being immensely more powerful know all possibilities as well as what is the best choice. We still have free will He gives us the the choice of choosing. Shouldn't we follow God know He knows the best choice?

Answer 6

Think about it from this perspective. Yes God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere at the same time. (You forgot the everywhere part).

God created this universe. That means that he created all the laws of physics and all of the dimensions including time. In order to create the time dimension, He had to be outside of it. So God knows everything (including what he will do) and all powerful (able to do anything He chooses) and is in the past, present, and future at the same time to do anything he wants.

With all that said, God can be omniscient and omnipotent at the same time if He is also omnipresent.

Answer 7

Between people of different faiths, or indeed even between people of the same faith, the term omnipotent has been used to connote a number of different positions. These positions include but are not limited to:

1) God can not only transcend the laws of physics and probability, but can also transcend logical truths (for example, God could create a square circle, or could make one equal two), because God is not bound by any limitations.

2) God can intervene in the world by superseding the laws of physics and probability (i. e., God can create miracles), but it is impossible (and in fact meaningless) to suggest that God can contradict logical truths.

3) God's omnipotence does not transcend the laws of physics or logic; rather his omnipotence is measured by his mastery of these laws to which he himself is also subject. God is omnipotent in that he has reached the full potential of his species (mankind) and is as powerful as his species can be. What may appear as a miracle to a mere mortal is simply an example of God's omniscience with respect to the laws of nature and his consequent ability to make use of that omniscience.

4) God is able to do everything that is in accord with his own nature. He has no external power exerted on him, and is the source and origin of all power. The nature of God includes logic, and thus God cannot do anything which is logically absurd. God is able to alter the laws of physics since they are not part of his nature (strictly speaking, though they may be reflective of it), they are only a means to an end.

Answer 8

Apart from the logic, let us examine this as humans, so powerless that we donot have a certainty about our life and its engagements for just 'a' tomorrow. So what would your comments be on the power, on the knowledge, on the limits of a human ? Once we have known ourselves, we shall begin to know The Lord of the Universe, call Him Allah, Yahweh, Wahguru, ParamIshwar, God' whatever may appeal to you.

Answer 9

He knows this too, all that you have said, for fun. That is why He choose to ignore, so that you may get away with things at times. And do something instead of trying to ask clever questions.
God is also aware of what I have just written, and that you are reading this!

God is loving, He is kind, Out of His kindness and love new realities are born, now possibilities are opened up , new worlds are brought into existence. Feel love and kindness and worry not about things!

Answer 10

And when they are asked, "What is it that your Lord has sent down"? they say these are mere fairly-tales of the ancients. They say such things so that hey should bear the full brunt of their own burdens on the Day of Resurrection together with some of the burdens of those whom they are leading astray in their ignorance. Behold! What a heavy responsibility they are taking on themselves! Many of those who have gone before them also contrived such cunning devices to defeat the Truth, but behold! Allah smote the edifice of their evil designs at its foundations and its roof fell down upon their heads from above them, and the scourge overtook them from the direction they little dreamed that it would come.

ALLAH AKBAR..

Answer 11

I think the paradox you raise is not a necessary one. It seems that you are trying to reconcile the obvious freedom of choice by humans with God as being all-powerful. It is important to understand that we are not considering absolute sovereignty vs. absolute sovereignty. Man only has limited freedom of choice; he cannot choose where to be born, he cannot chose to change the laws of physics (although he may discover new things about them), etc. Man however, can choose things such as what to eat, whom to date, what to read, where to go on vacation, etc. This is a freedom given by God whom is indeed completely sovereign and can thus offer the freedom of choice to man.

An important factor that must not be overlooked is that the time/space that we experience is part of that which has been created by God. He himself is not limited by his own creation. Thus, God operates outside of the chronological and positional constraints we (as part of the same created order) experience. He knows the entire story as if having the completed work in hand. Having given man a limited sovereignty and knowing man’s choices from beginning to end with the scope of time/space splayed before Him, God acts within His creation to accomplish to effect. This is done concomitant with the free actions of man as discussed above.