Some people say that God was making Abraham test himself, so that Abraham, not God, would know the quality os his own faith. But this is silly rationalization dismissed by the biblical text itself. Open your Bible in Genesis.
Gen 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God.
Which part of the "now I know" you don't understand? The word “now” makes the whole thing even more disturbing, like a nail in the coffin of “omniscience”.
One Christian once tried to duck the problem another way, saying that the angel said it, not God. But let us use the rule that the Bible interprets the Bible. Angels are mere apearences of God. The end of the verse proves my case:
“…for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me.”
End of story. The episode contradics Christian theology.
2006-11-21 00:31:42 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It contradicts nothing,The Bible is a instructional book,This story
was to teach US God is first in all things.
2006-11-21 00:37:46 · answer #1 · answered by gwhiz1052 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
God knew that he would pass the test, but Abraham didn't, until the actual event.. And it wasn't actually a test from God, it was a fulfillment of His plan, even Abraham's obedience.. All mankind will see and know the fulfillment of Gods plan, when the experience happens. But no man will know His plan without first the experience. Man must experience the knowing of Gods outcome, for the outcome is Gods plan.
2016-05-22 05:41:11 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I do not think that God was testing Abraham as much as He was giving an example of how Christ would be sent to be a sacrifice.
In this example, Abraham was God the Father and Christ was Isaac. God would give His own Son as a sacrifice to save a lost people.
7And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
2006-11-21 01:05:20 · answer #3 · answered by paulsamuel33 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Things aren't as "cut and dry" as people want to make them! There
are 7,000,000,000 people in this world with "free will"! Sometimes
people got to be stepping on other peoples toes! There are just accidents! Etc, etc.!
Personally, I think the 'God" of the Old Testament, and the WE in the Quran,
are the powers and principalities. The Elohim. That term just suggests that
there is a type of government in the "spirit" world.
They do Gods will in that God (lets) them be in power. But they don't do
Gods will in that God gives "orders" for everything! The Word says God will
punish the Hosts of Heaven too! So evidently, not everything they do is
righteous in the eyes of God.
2006-11-21 00:44:09 · answer #4 · answered by THE NEXT LEVEL 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God tested Abraham as one of his lessons to the rest of the world, and that lesson was Obedience to him.
He already knew what Abraham would do, but Abraham himself did not know how much he loved and feared the Lord until he was put to the test. When he Obeyed that command from the Lord he truly knew himself and so received the Blessing of many nations that God had in store for him all along.
So Obedience was the key to that test.
2006-11-21 00:56:46 · answer #5 · answered by fxyldy_627 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The stories in the Bible are for us to read and understand how God works. He knows everything yes, but these things are counted unto us as evidences that he indeed tests us. And if you realize all through Bible God only tests those people who He knows will not fail Him in advance, look at another story about Job for instance. Read your Bible prayerfully and you will see.
2006-11-21 00:37:10 · answer #6 · answered by Damian 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It was an illustration of what was to come. Abraham was "God's Friend" and Jehovah here allowed Abraham to feel a bit of what He Himself would feel at the time of sacrificing his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, for all of us.
Abraham was an excellent example for us all of what it truly means to be faithful.
2006-11-21 00:56:07 · answer #7 · answered by krobin 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
God was testing Abraham's faith. God told Abraham that Sarah was going to have a son, then God told Abraham to kill him to prove to God that he believed even after God told him to kill his son, he was going to stick with his word. And he proved his faith to God, he didn't know that his son really wasn't going to die, but he trusted God enough to know that he was going to keep his word.
2006-11-21 00:49:05 · answer #8 · answered by shronda s 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
G-d might have known, but Abraham didn't and had to learn-to realize-how strong his faith was in G-d.
2006-11-21 00:36:16 · answer #9 · answered by Shossi 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you really expect to get a satisfactory answer from us ?
2006-11-21 00:38:15 · answer #10 · answered by gonzalocamilez 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋